Seven strokes down heading into the final round, PGA TOUR Champions pro Duffy Waldorf fired off the best score of the tournament to chase down overnight leader Kevin Sutherland and win the 2017 TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational Presented by Dell EMC.
If a seven-shot rally in the final round at Pebble Beach sounds familiar…
Here’s what else we’ll remember from this week’s thrilling tournament:
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1. THE FRONT NINE AT PEBBLE BEACH DELIVERED FIREWORKS
The 55-year-old Waldorf, a winner four times on the PGA TOUR and twice on the PGA TOUR Champions, began Sunday’s final round at even-par, seven shots behind Sutherland. But Waldorf, who won here at the 1984 California State Amateur, quickly applied the pressure with a scorching start, going 6-under through the first seven holes, including a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on Nos. 4-7. His 6-under 30 on the front nine, combined with birdies on all four Pebble Beach par-3s, helped Waldorf shoot a tournament-best 7-under 65 to snag a one-stroke win over fellow PGA TOUR Champions pros Sutherland and Tom Pernice Jr., and Web.com Tour player Sam Burns.
It was tough luck for a weary Sutherland, who had just captured the PGA TOUR Champions season-ending Charles Schwab Cup playoff last week. Sutherland, a winner of this event in 2000, grabbed a share of the lead after two rounds and held a three-stroke advantage after 54 holes, but closed with a 1-over 73 to pick up his second straight runner-up finish at the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational Presented by Dell EMC.
2. THE BACK NINE AT PEBBLE BEACH BIT BACK
Max Homa had a wild 27th birthday on Sunday. Homa, the 2013 NCAA Individual Champion at Cal, began the final round alone in second place, three strokes behind Sutherland at 4-under. After a Sutherland eagle at No. 2 grew that deficit to five, Homa fought back and shrank it to one with back-to-back birdies on No. 6 and 7 to reach 7-under.
Homa made the turn a 6-under, before sinking a birdie at No. 10, and holing out for eagle at No. 11 to vault into the lead at 9-under. But then Homa came crashing down, carding a triple-bogey on No. 12 and a double-bogey on No. 13. Homa played his final seven holes in 9-over to close with a 4-over 76 and finish at even-par for the tournament.
3. THERE’S A NEW SCORE TO BEAT AT SPANISH BAY
To add to Homa’s rollercoaster week, the PGA TOUR pro shot a 6-under 66 from the back tees at The Links at Spanish Bay on Friday, besting the 67s shot by Tom Watson on Opening Day, and PGA TOUR winner Parker McLaughlin in last year’s event. PGA TOUR Champions pro Skip Kendall also shot a matching 6-under 66 at Spanish Bay on Friday, playing from tees roughly 300 yards shorter. Winter rules were in effect after the field battled some brutal elements Thursday.
4. IT WAS A PERFECT WEEK — EXCEPT FOR THURSDAY
When sideways rain attacked the field Thursday, only one player managed to break par across the three courses — Fran Quinn, a 52-year-old PGA TOUR Champions pro who shot a superb 1-under 71 at the exposed Spanish Bay. Waldorf was the only player to shoot par, posting an opening 72 at Spyglass Hill that might have been rivaled his closing 65 at Pebble Beach. The lowest scores at Pebble Beach were 73s by PGA TOUR Canada pro Max McGreevy, who logged the clinching point for Oklahoma in this year’s NCAA final, and Sutherland.
5. THE LPGA PROS MADE A RUN AT THE TITLE
No woman has won this unique multi-tour tournament since Juli Inkster in 1990. But through two rounds, LPGA Tour rookie Lindsey Weaver was atop the leaderboard with Quinn and Sutherland after firing a sizzling 6-under 66 at Pebble Beach to reach 3-under-141 for the tournament. While Weaver ultimately finished at 2-over 290 — one stroke ahead of Inkster — European Solheim Cup player Georgia Hall shot a 5-under 67 at Spyglass Hill and a 4-under 68 at Pebble Beach over the weekend to tie for seventh at 3-under 285, just four behind the winning Waldorf.