Winners and Losers from the 2015 Humana Challenge
At the Humana Challenge on Sunday, it looked for a long time that we were going to see a six-man uber playoff for the title.
Bill Haas had other plans.
Haas, who has a penchant for getting things done on the final hole (see 2011 Tour Championship), handled the unfortunate results of his tee shot en route to a closing par and a one-stroke victory. He finished at 22 under ahead of a pack that included Charley Hoffman, Sung Joon Park, Matt Kuchar and Steve Wheatcroft. Webb Simpson, heartbroken Justin Thomas and Boo Weekley finished just two back.
With some early-season excitement just in our rearview, let's take a look at the winners and losers from La Quinta.
Winners: Sunday Sprinters
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Bill Haas, of course, with his five-under 67, was the best leaderboard climber of the final round. Haas' steely play and calm under the pressure of a terribly awkward lie and uncomfortable path to getting the job done at the final hole were tops. And that was good enough for a one-stroke victory over his hard-charging peers.
Take a look at the leaderboard bunched up behind Haas and what the near-winners shot on Sunday.
- T2: Charley Hoffman (64)
- T2: Brendan Steele (64)
- T2: Sung Joon Park (65)
- T2: Steve Wheatcroft (67)
- T2: Matt Kuchar (67)
- T7: Webb Simpson (64)
- T7: Justin Thomas (69)
- T7: Boo Weekley (65)
In other words, there were final-round fireworks aplenty in La Quinta.
Loser: Justin Thomas, 16th Hole
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For 71 holes at the Humana Challenge, tour rookie Justin Thomas played brilliant take-no-prisoners golf.
Thomas' second-round 63 created a stir, and the Alabama alum rode the momentum to his first taste of contention on the PGA Tour.
Things were going well for the rookie on Sunday: He was four-under through 15 holes. Standing on the tee of a hole where he'd stuffed his wedge approach for birdie the previous day, Thomas had to be feeling good.
After finding a fairway bunker with his approach, however, Thomas rinsed his second shot and was untidy with his remaining efforts en route to a double bogey.
It's tough to call a tour rookie a loser, but that's surely what Thomas feels like as he replays the image of the splashdown.
Winner: Ryan Palmer
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Ryan Palmer nearly carded golf's magic number at the Humana Challenge. Playing the back nine first during his second round, the Texas native fired 29 for his opening nine holes, including two eagles.
He was 10-under through 10 holes but promptly made two bogeys before carding three birdies on the way in. He finished at 11 under for the day, carding a 61.
“You have that feeling inside you that there’s no way I can miss this. You get in that zone. They could put that pin anywhere they wanted and I could have found it," Palmer said, per Ryan Ballengee of Yahoo Sports.
The brilliant round moved Palmer from just inside the cut line to three strokes behind the leader. He ultimately finished tied for 10th, but when you're chasing 59, you're a winner in this book.
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Loser: Webb Simpson's Long Putter
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Broken in two, pining for its owner in a case next to the U.S. Open trophy, Webb Simpson's long putter is a loser again this week.
That's because its owner has put together another quality week of play and putting with the conventional-length flatstick in his bag.
Through the first two rounds last week at Waialae, Webb Simpson gained more than five strokes on his competitors thanks to his putting.
This week, Simpson tallied 1.4 in strokes gained putting, much better than the .3 strokes he gained on the greens last season with the long putter.
Simpson rode a hot putter to seven final-round birdies en route to a closing 64. He finished at 20 under for the week and notched a top-10 finish.
Winner: Erik Compton
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Here's a platitude: Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton is a winner every week merely by walking the fairways of the PGA Tour. However, as last year's runner-up finish at the U.S. Open showed, Compton wants to be a literal winner on golf's premier circuit.
Through three rounds, Compton put himself into position for a Sunday victory run thanks to tidy rounds of 66, 66, 67.
Compton didn't go low enough Sunday to taste victory, managing only a 70 when everyone around him at the top of the leaderboard seemed to be shooting 65.
He finished tied for 10th.
Loser: Charlie Beljan
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Long-hitting Charlie Beljan shot the seventh-worst score at the Humana Challenge.
However, it didn't start out all bad for the bomber. After the first round, however, Beljan's scoring was an illustration in how not to get better as the tournament progresses.
He opened with a 67. Good work, right? Then, Beljan carded a 73. Needing to rebound Saturday, Beljan penciled in his worst tally of all: a brutal 82 that featured a double-bogey five and a quadruple-bogey eight back-to-back.
Not good.
Winner: The Mickelson Family
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In his first tournament of the 2015 calendar year, Phil Mickelson had an up-and-down week that ended in a respectable top-25 finish.
As Mickelson said following his third-round 68, via Reuters: "It had a lot of potential and I ended up making too many bogeys and letting some birdie opportunities slide. ... I am looking forward to tomorrow's round and getting that one more round under my belt of competitiveness and see if I can get it all to kind of fire."
Unfortunately, everything didn't exactly "fire" for Mickelson on Sunday, and Lefty was only able to manage a 69.
However, it's the Mickelson family that is a real winner this week. Why? Because as the patriarch announced, he'll be skipping a few tournaments he particularly enjoys so he can spend more time with Evan, Sofia and Amanda.
The Hall of Famer told the press he won't be at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am or the Northern Trust Open this year.
Mickelson said, per The Associated Press (via The New York Times):
"Those are two of my favorite events, two of my favorite courses. But with the kids in two schools with different spring breaks, I’ll take that time off. They’ve accommodated my schedule enough over the years. It’s time for me to accommodate theirs.
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Loser: Late-Saturday Matt Kuchar
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Through two rounds at the Humana Challenge, Matt Kuchar had just two blemishes on his scorecards: a pair of bogeys.
Rounds of 65 and 64 put the affable Florida native at the top of the leaderboard. In his third round, Kuchar was four-under through his opening 14 holes before bogeying three of his final four holes to lose outright possession of the lead.
Regarding the finish, the eternally upbeat Kuchar said, per the Associated Press (via Yahoo): "It's too bad, but it's what happened."
Still, Kuchar went from two strokes ahead as he stood on the 15th tee Saturday to a stroke behind when he holed his final putt at the 18th.
Ultimately, the final four holes on Saturday cost Kuchar a victory on Sunday.
All stats via PGATOUR.com.
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