Winners and Losers from the 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
Unlike last week's Wells Fargo Championship, which was a two-horse race down the stretch, the 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was anybody's game late Sunday.
On greens that were receptive to say the least, players had the opportunity to attack Colonial Country Club.
And attack they did. Ultimately, Chris Kirk poked his head out of a scrum that saw 25 players within four strokes of the lead Sunday for his third victory in the past two seasons.
Who, along with Kirk, were this week's winners? Who wasn't so fortunate?
Read on to find out.
Winner: Chris Kirk
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As mentioned, at one point Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, there were 25 players within four strokes of the lead. Ultimately, three players finished one stroke behind Chris Kirk at 11 under par and five golfers finished at 10 under.
In other words, it was a crowded road to the top at Colonial. Kirk was a combined nine under on the weekend in Fort Worth. He held his nerve over a downhill seven-footer for par at the 72nd hole to outpace the likes of Jordan Spieth and Brandt Snedeker.
This win is Kirk's fourth career PGA Tour victory.
Loser: Ryan Palmer
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Ryan Palmer, a native of Amarillo, Texas, should have been comfortable at Colonial this year. After all, he's a member at the North Texas course.
Palmer, who played college golf for Texas A&M, tied for fifth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial last year. And he's tallied three straight top fives at the track.
So when he didn't make it to the weekend, it was a surprise. Palmer opened with 69, but stumbled to 73 in the second round. He found himself one stroke outside the cut line.
Signs that all was not well in Palmerville appeared in his last start when the golfer missed the cut at The Players thanks largely to a messy opening-round 77.
He was a top-five favorite to win at most major sports books entering the week, so a missed cut is particularly unexpected.
Winner: Adam Scott
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Former world No. 1 Adam Scott arrived at Colonial needing to right the ship.
The Australian missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship after a disappointing tie for 35th at The Players. Scott suffered two poor putting performances entering the Crowne Plaza Invitational in a season marred by difficulty with the flagstick. How bad? Scott is currently 196th in strokes gained putting, losing .807 strokes to his competitors on the greens.
Scott still lost strokes to his competitors on Colonial’s greens, but he was impressive with his approach play. A pair of 66s in his second and third rounds showed signs of life. However, he'd have liked to do better than a final-round 70.
Still, he showed more consistency with the putter in a trying week on soggy greens. Even at a tie for 24th, Scott is a winner this week.
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Loser: Kevin Na's Birdie Dance
4 of 7Among recent entries to the pantheon of golf celebrations, Kevin Na's "birdie dance" isn't going to get a prominent place.
No, Na's wing-flapping won't earn him a spot alongside Justin Rose’s “Hips Don’t Lie” Masters post-putt wiggle or James Hahn's solo dance from the viral sensation "Gangnam Style" at the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Further, Na was upstaged by another golfer this very week. At the BMW PGA Championship, the irrepressible Miguel Angel Jimenez, now the European Tour’s hole-in-one king, aced Wentworth's par-three second hole from 154 yards with a 9-iron.
Then, he did this.
Winner: Gunn Yang
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21-year-old amateur Gunn Yang didn't get a great deal of attention this week, but he should have.
Playing on a sponsor's exemption, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion played his first round at Colonial in two under par.
Yang opened with 67 at the Fort Worth track. And although he finished tied for 65th, making the cut at a difficult pro track as an amateur is a victory in itself.
This was the San Diego State University student's first made cut in five PGA Tour starts.
Loser: Kevin Na
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Oh, Kevin Na. How you delight and frustrate.
Na, who has one PGA Tour victory to his name, led Ian Poulter by a stroke at 12 under entering the final round.
Fresh off a tie for sixth at The Players Championship, the South Korea native got things started with an opening-round 64 and seemed well on his way to victory as Sunday dawned on Fort Worth, Texas.
Instead, nervy, confidence-lacking Na showed up for the final round. Things were going OK until the ninth hole, when Na's poorly struck approach shot found the water. He played the back nine in one over to fall into a tie for 10th.
Call it what you will, but Kevin Na didn't get the job done Sunday.
Winner: Refuting "Anonymous Pros'" Opinions
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Golf.com’s anonymous survey of PGA Tour pros cited Ian Poulter and Rickie Fowler as the tour’s most overrated golfers.
Rickie Fowler, of course, stepped up in a big way in the week after the survey hit the web, winning The Players Championship.
Ian Poulter, who has been playing decent golf this season, making 10 of 11 cuts, hadn’t played at Colonial since 2010 when he finished 76th (he usually plays the BMW PGA Championship this week).
Poulter fired an opening-round 65 that included six birdies. Unfortunately, even with a week of brilliant putting, the Englishman couldn't quite get the job done Sunday. He finished tied for fifth, two strokes behind Chris Kirk.
Still, Poulter stepped up this week and is a winner accordingly.
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