• Straka, sada 14. na poretku FedExCup-a, zaostao je za pet šuteva u finalnoj rundi i ubacio se u ptičicu na kiši na posljednjoj rupi i pobijedio Shanea Lowryja jednim udarcem i postao prvi austrijski pobjednik u istoriji PGA TOUR-a. U nedjelju je pogodio 4-ispod 66 i završio na 10 ispod i zaradio 1,44 miliona.

  • Lowry shot his third consecutive round of 67, his 9 under total for the week coming up one short. First-round leader Kurt Kitayama (68) was alone in third at 8 under, and Daniel Berger — who led by six shots with 19 holes left in the tournament — simply fell apart Sunday, his round of 74 leaving him 7 under for the week and three shots behind Straka.

  • Lowry needed to make a 45-footer for birdie on the final hole to force a playoff. It missed, and with that, The Honda Classic had a new champion — one who came into the week ranked No. 176 in the world, has never been higher than No. 129 on that list, and whose claim to fame as a pro probably was being the first round leader at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.

  • He's a PGA TOUR winner now.

  • "The third round, I definitely didn't have my best stuff," Straka said. "I just hung in there and grinded out a good round. I hit the ball really nice today and really could take advantage."

  • The victory ensures that Straka — who played his college golf at Georgia — will play the Masters in April. His wife took a flight in to be at the course on Sunday, just in case, and Straka hadn't even seen her until he got to the practice green before teeing off.

  • They'll have quite a bit to celebrate, after Straka matched the biggest come-from-behind win this season. Luke List was also down by five entering the final round at San Diego last month.

  • Berger needed a miracle at the end, and it didn't happen. His second shot at the par-5 18th went into the water, and with that his hopes were officially gone.

  • Lowry je također zaostajao za pet pogodaka u dan; taj deficit je nestao nakon samo pet rupa.

  • Poništavanje za Bergera je zaista počelo u subotu kada je otišao na 18. tee sa šest-metova prednosti, a onda je napravio bauk. Ipak, vođstvo od pet- šuteva kroz 54 rupe odgovara najvećem u istoriji Honde, a za momka iz rodnog grada sastojci su bili na mjestu za nezaboravnu pobjedu.

  • Sunday had different ideas. He was paired with Lowry for the final round, and it didn't take long for the leaderboard to considerably tighten.

  • Lowry je napravio ptičicu na prvom; prednost je pala na četiri. Berger je ubacio tee loptu u borovu slamku na par-5 trećem, zatim je dao loptu zakopati u pijesak bunkera sa zelene strane i napravio dupli bogey 7 kako bi vidio vodstvo smanjeno na dva.

  • Lowry je ubacio ptičicu na četvrtom. Vodi do jednog. Berger tri-ubacio sa 60 stopa na peti za bauk. Vodstvo je nestalo. A kada je Berger promašio 15 stopa za par u šestom, Lowry je iznenada porastao za jedan.

  • Straka was in the group five shots back to start the day, then made bogey on the opening hole. But slowly and steadily, he clawed back — a birdie on the par-4 ninth got him to 7 under, followed by another birdie on the 14th.

  • A 20-footer on the 16th pulled him into a tie. That's when weather decided to show up, too.

  • Kao da je finišu trebalo više drame, jednostavno je počelo pljuštati kako su finalne grupe završavale. Kitayama i Straka su kampirali na 18. plovnom putu, ne želeći da izađu ispod svojih kišobrana da odigraju svoje druge udarce u finišnu rupu par-5.

  • Obojica su na kraju uspjeli, svaki je pogodio na oko 50 stopa i postavio orlovske udarce. Straka dva-ubacio, a zatim čekao da vidi može li Lowry doći do 10 ispod.

  • He couldn't. And Straka is on his way back to Georgia.