Puerto Rico Open 2015: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More
The Puerto Rico Open serves as a golden opportunity for the lesser-known PGA Tour players to gain FedEx Cup points while the circuit's very elite tee it up in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
PGA Tour alluded to the considerable strength this year's Puerto Rico Open field boasts:
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Chesson Hadley was the defending champion this year and is proof of what the tournament at Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande can mean. Using his maiden victory as a springboard, Hadley wound up as the 2013-14 season's Rookie of the Year.
Read on to see how each day of the tournament plays out, featuring highlights and analysis of all four rounds, as Alex Cejka went on to claim victory in a five-way playoff.
Leaderboard
| 1 | Alex Cejka (won in playoff) | 70 | 67 | 75 | 69 | -7 |
| T2 | Sam Saunders | 72 | 72 | 69 | 68 | -7 |
| T2 | Jon Curran | 70 | 71 | 70 | 70 | -7 |
| T2 | Emiliano Grillo | 69 | 70 | 72 | 70 | -7 |
| T2 | Tim Petrovic | 75 | 71 | 68 | 67 | -7 |
| T6 | Will MacKenzie | 75 | 69 | 70 | 68 | -6 |
| T6 | Scott Pinckney | 70 | 71 | 71 | 70 | -6 |
| T6 | Boo Weekley | 74 | 71 | 68 | 69 | -6 |
| T6 | Will Wilcox | 77 | 69 | 69 | 67 | -6 |
| T10 | Brendon de Jonge | 71 | 70 | 71 | 71 | -5 |
| T10 | Rafael Cabrera Bello | 70 | 75 | 68 | 70 | -5 |
| T10 | John Daly | 72 | 70 | 72 | 69 | -5 |
| T10 | Chris Smith | 69 | 73 | 68 | 73 | -5 |
| T10 | Rod Pampling | 70 | 71 | 73 | 69 | -5 |
| T10 | Scott Brown | 73 | 70 | 67 | 73 | -5 |
Full leaderboard can be found at the PGA Tour website
Day 4 Recap
Young Argentine Emiliano Grillo bogeyed the 72nd hole, opening up a five-player playoff in Sunday's final round of the Puerto Rico Open. Grillo was two-under for the day, while Sam Saunders and Tim Petrovic finished strong with scores of 68 and 67 respectively to match others at seven under overall.
Jon Curran also participated in extra holes, but it was veteran Alex Cejka who emerged victorious. The players went back to the par-five 18th, and Cejka was the only one of the quintet to card a birdie.
ESPN's John Buccigross highlighted the career-defining moment for Cejka:
Golfweek's Adam Schupak added more context:
After playing the first six holes in four under, Cejka cooled off and made all pars to go with one bogey from there on in. It was a testament to his resolve that he managed a birdie to finish like a true champion.
Cejka spoke afterward about the grind he faced on the tough course, per The Associated Press (via ABC News):
"I'm speechless. I'm glad it's over. It's been a grinding week, tough week. The first victory is always the toughest. ... These guys are good. I mean this is the slogan. At least I can say I played the PGA Tour for a long time and I won. So that's a good sentence I can use when I retire.
"
A hot start saw Petrovic card two birds and then eagle the par-four third hole to get to four under on his round quickly. He played the remaining holes in just one under, but it was still enough to have a chance at the trophy.
Three birdies in the first six holes saw Curran get his day off to a proper start. When he could have posted eight under in the clubhouse, though, he too dropped a shot at No. 18 to finish off a two-under 70.
Saunders was the only one who had a realistic birdie opportunity to match Cejka's four on the 18th. However, he failed to convert a putt from inside 10 feet, which effectively ended the playoff.
Amanda Herrington of PGA Tour communications noted how unlikely a playoff scenario seemed on Sunday:
None of the playoff participants at Trump International Golf Club were household names per say, but Saunders' golfing pedigree can't really be questioned.
PGA Tour Media dropped the hint:
This tournament has become known for players going low, but blustery conditions forced players to grind through adverse circumstances. It's fitting that someone like Cejka, waiting years for his big breakthrough, stood above the rest to get to the winner's circle.
Even the very best players in the world, many of whom were competing at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, would have had trouble in Rio Grande this week. The hope is that experienced players who had a renaissance of sorts at the Puerto Rico Open like Cejka and John Daly can carry this momentum forward and apply it to better PGA Tour opportunities.
Although the likes of Curran, Saunders and Grillo have to feel like they lost out on golden chances at career-changing wins, they're all still in their 20s and took a big step forward this week.
Day 3 Recap
There was a great deal of change on the leaderboard after the third round at the Puerto Rico Open. Scott Brown, who entered Saturday at one-under par, was terrific by playing a bogey-free third round with five birdies that put him at six-under for the tournament and tied for the lead.
This isn't a new position for Brown, as he won this tournament in 2013 with a birdie on the final hole. In a little bit of history repeating, the 31-year-old birdied the final hole on Saturday to close his round with all the confidence in the world.
After his round, Brown told reporters that the big thing for him on Saturday was success on the greens, via The Associated Press (h/t Newsday):
"Got a few more putts to go in today and ended up shooting a good round," Brown said. "The wind died just a little bit for us this afternoon. Putting has been tough early in the week with the wind blowing as hard as it's been. It's still blowing around a little bit, tough to get it close."
Brown shares the lead with Chris Smith, who wasn't as flawless on Saturday with two bogeys but offset them with six birdies. This has easily been Smith's best PGA event of the year, as he hadn't finished higher than 43rd in two other tournaments.
As positive as things were for Brown, Smith and others near the top of the leaderboard, Saturday was a rough day for Alex Cejka and John Daly. Here's where things stood early in the third round, before Cejka had started and Daly was on the front nine, via Golf Central:
Starting with Cejka, who ended the second round in the lead at seven-under par, Saturday was a humbling day. His third round started out fine and seemed like it would end with him no lower than in a tie for second, but the 44-year-old shot four-over on the final four holes which included a double-bogey on the par-five 18th.
As quickly as Cejka's fall from grace happened, Daly's was more like a king slowly coming to grips with the fact that his kingdom had outgrown him. Just looking at the scorecard to see he shot a 72 is misleading.
Will Gray of The Golf Channel even tweeted out early in Daly's round that a win by the veteran would be the biggest golf story of the weekend:
Daly's four-under came from four consecutive birdies from No. 2 through 5 and he finished the front nine with a 32.
Per Jason Sobel of The Golf Channel, Daly's descent started quickly after he made the turn:
Daly had three bad holes on the back nine that dropped down the leaderboard and likely out of contention on Sunday. He bogeyed No. 12, double-bogeyed No. 15 and bogeyed No. 17 to finish with an even-par 72 for the day.
The 48-year-old is at two-under par, four shots off the lead. It's not improbable that he could make up four strokes, as it happened early on Saturday, but a lot of things would have to fall in place for that to happen on consecutive days and avoid the collapse that cost him on Saturday.
Even with Daly out of contention, Sunday promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the Puerto Rico Open. There are 10 players within two strokes of the lead and another group of 10 only three shots behind Brown and Smith.
With the number of high scores that were put up on Saturday, no one can afford to breathe on the final 18 holes. Brown has history on his side, having won this event two years ago, but he didn't look like a contender after two rounds.
The final round will provide its share of surprises.
Day 2 Recap
Alex Cejka and Brandon Hagy tied for the best round on Friday at the Puerto Rico open with a five-under 67. On the heels of their solid efforts in round 1, those scores are good enough to have them sitting in the top two spots heading into Saturday.
The 44-year-old Cejka was spotless in the second round, firing five birdies with no bogeys to take a one-shot lead. He's struggled this season with just five made cuts in 12 events, but this is shaping up to be his best event since winning the Columbia Championship in February 2014.
After his performance, Cejka talked about the weather conditions at Trump International Golf Course to reporters, via ESPN:
"It's windy all day long. Sometimes it gusts a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less. But it's a consistent wind, and since we got here on Monday or Tuesday, all these players, it's been the same. Same direction, same kind of strengths of the wind, so you can adapt to the wind condition.
"
The wind does help to explain why the scores haven't been very low through two rounds, though credit Cejka for doing what he must to adapt.
Hagy, who improved his opening-round score by four shots, looked like he was going to take over this tournament. He shot a 31 on the front nine with five birdies before falling back on the final nine holes with two bogeys that offset two more birdies.
Per the PGA Tour Canada, while Hagy was on his early run, he held an early three-shot lead Friday:
Even though the lead went away, Hagy has to feel good about his standing entering Saturday. He's knows that one good run is in him, which has to give him confidence even with less-than-ideal weather conditions.
On the whole, per PGA Tour Media, a total of 76 players will be around for the weekend after the cut line was set at two-over par:
Lower down the leaderboard, John Daly continues to linger. He's five shots back at two-under par thanks to a 70 on Friday. The 48-year-old has missed the last three cuts in PGA Tour events, so this is a nice step in the right direction.
Per Golf Week Magazine, with a move up over the weekend, Daly has a chance to finish in the top 10 of a stroke play event for the first time in four years:
Daly has always been a fan favorite and certainly one of the most entertaining personalities on the PGA Tour, so seeing him around for the weekend is always a treat. If anything more comes of it, that's icing on the cake.
Saturday will be interesting for Cejka, Hagy and Emiliano Grillo. They have a nice cushion over the rest of the field that another strong performance will effectively eliminate the rest of the field after 54 holes.
However, given how fickle the course has been due to the weather, that triumvirate must continue to take advantage of opportunities to avoid falling back to the pack. There's no breathing room for anyone at this stage of the tournament, so expect Saturday to provide plenty of drama.
Day 1 Recap
Rookie Mark Hubbard fired a four-under 68 to grab a one-stroke lead through Thursday's first round. Starting on the back nine, Hubbard made the turn at one under before birdieing Nos. 4 through 6 to jump out ahead of the field.
This savory development comes after Hubbard made a rookie mistake of sorts in his last appearance at the Honda Classic. For failing to officially register, Hubbard was disqualified following the first round.
Golf Channel's Jason Sobel couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at Hubbard for his recent mishap:
Hubbard spoke after the round about how he hung tough on a day that presented adverse scoring conditions, per The Associated Press, via ESPN.com:
"It played tough out there with the wind, but I hit a lot of really good kind of three-quarter and half-shots into the wind. I actually probably played the into-the-wind holes better than the downwind holes where I had to just hit normal shots. But I drove it pretty well, kept it in the fairway and made a lot of solid 5-, 6-footers.
"
An eclectic threesome stands at three under in 48-year-old Billy Mayfair, young Argentine Emiliano Grillo and longtime PGA Tour veteran Chris Smith.
Grillo is 110th in the world rankings and shouldn't be dismissed. A win could open all kinds of doors for the rising star at just 22 years of age. After bogeying the par-four 10th to drop back to even par on Thursday, he shot a three-under on his final eight holes.
The massive pack of golfers who shot 70 is headlined by none other than former world No. 1 David Duval.
Golf Central was pleased to see Duval making an early move in Rio Grande:
Despite taking on an analyst role at Golf Channel, Duval is still evidently intent on proving he can tee it up occasionally. He has persevered through injuries, and it is pleasing to see him play well to start.
Ball-striking star Brendon de Jonge is the only player ranked inside the top 100 in the world at the Puerto Rico Open. De Jonge lurks just three shots off the pace set by Hubbard, so he'll be worth monitoring along with Hadley, who also shot 71 to start his defense.
Windy conditions made first-round scoring rather difficult. The local forecast from Weather.com suggests it will continue to be blustery, so red numbers may be harder to come by at Trump International Golf Club than has been the case in the previous two years.
Hubbard has just one finish in the top 20 as a rookie, so it will be interesting to see how he sleeps on the overnight lead. There are plenty of seasoned veterans and fellow up-and-comers chasing him, adding to the test Mother Nature is expected to bring.
Note: Stats courtesy of PGATour.com unless otherwise noted.
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