Rick Monday
American Rickie Fowler fired a final round 68 to post 15-under-par 269 to win the DBC by a shot over Sweden's Henrik Stenson. 2010 champ Charley Hoffman reaffirmed his horse-for-course status taking third three shots further adrift to round out the podium.
Why This Performance Doesn’t Surprise:
This was his third victory in his last 11 starts worldwide (THE PLAYERS, Scottish Open) and his fifth top 10.
Fowler did everything but win a major last season with four finishes inside the top five so his game was moving in the proper direction entering this season.
He's now stared down Rory McIlroy for his first win, a playoff payoff at WFC in 2012. He defeated smoking-hot Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia in a playoff to win this year's PLAYERS. He went after, caught and passed Matt Kuchar at the Scottish Open in July. And now he adds the "Ice Man" to his trophy case after playing his last 14 holes bogey-fee to win this week.
The majors started off well with T12 at Augusta but his next three left gamers snake-bit with MC-T30-T30. He jumped back into the conversation with T10 at WGC-BI but left last week before the weekend with MC at The Barclays. It's not as consistent as last year but any thoughts of him "fading" should be now gone.
Why This Performance Surprises:
Coming off a MC last weekend on the back of T30 at the PGA didn't inspire confidence in gamers but luckily I added him last-minute to my Yahoo! lineup and stole a victory.
Fowler had never finished better than T23 at the DBC and he had only posted five of his last 18 rounds in the 60s at TPC Boston. For a tournament where 18-under had been the average winning score it's easy to see why he might have not made it on to the radar this week.
After a misplaced drive one No. 1 and two consecutive bogeys following his eagle on No. 2 gamers were probably sitting on the edges of their chairs. He couldn't chase down Troy Merritt at the QLN but he must have learned from it as he didn't make a bogey or worse in his final 14 holes on Sunday. Strong.
How Fowler Won This Week:
He's proven that he's mentally tough enough to shrug off a MC last week and come back and win on a course that hasn't been in his wheelhouse. He also did this after MC at Chambers Bay where he won his next start in Scotland. That's a characteristic that gamers must be aware of moving forward.
As is the usual around TPC Boston Fowler had to be solid from tee-to-green and on the greens and was. He sixth in GIR, sixth in SGTTG, fourth in PPGIR and second in SGP.
He only carded four bogeys for the week and only carded one "other", a double on Friday so his 19 birdies (T7) and one eagle were magnified. Half of his rounds this week were bogey-free as well. He didn't shoot himself in the foot.
He posted all four rounds in the 60s. His best effort here was two rounds last year.
Moving Forward:
Hopefully folks can get off the "overrated" angle with Fowler as his three wins worldwide this year trail only Day and Spieth who have won four. Another positive was to see him bounce back after MC to not only compete but run down a top world-ranked player in Stenson. Fowler has now won THE PLAYERS, two loaded field events (Wells Fargo/Scottish Open) plus an FEC Playoff event. He'll now have a chance to add a TOUR Championship in three weeks in Atlanta. He has the total package and should not be dismissed as one of the favorites.
With This Win:
Fowler racks up 2,000 FedExCup points, $1.485 million and a spot in Atlanta for The TOUR Championship.
Déjà vu All Over Again?
Only 18 of 45 players have closed the 54-hole lead this year as Stenson's one-shot lead evaporated with his water ball on No. 16 on Monday. He led by as many as three with six to play. Ouch.
This tournament turned into three flights on Monday. Fowler and Stenson were never pressured by the peloton and Charley Hoffman took third place alone by three shots. The wind was up early in the week but the course played firm and fast and gave plenty of the world's best players fits. Fowler was the only player to place all four rounds in the 60s. The top 43 players were under par but only the top three were in double digits. For the second year in a row 15-under was the winning score. So much for the birdie bonanza that we have seen in the recent past on this Gil Hanse redesign. Noted.
Young Guns Versus Prime Time Versus Old Guys:
I annually keep track of the age of the winners on TOUR because I’m an ageist. GET OFF MY VIAGRA.
FINAL RESULTS FROM 2014-15
Under 30 -- Young Bucks
age in ( ) at time of victory
Sangmoon Bae (28) Frys.com
Ben Martin (27) Shriners
Robert Streb (27) McGladrey
Nick Taylor (26) Sanderson Farms
Patrick Reed (24) HTOC
Brooks Koepka (25) Waste Management
Jason Day (27) Farmers, RBC Canadian, PGA Championship, The Barclays
Jordan Spieth (22) Valspar, Masters, U.S. Open, JDC
Rory McIlroy (26) WGC-Match Play, Wells Fargo
Rickie Fowler (26) THE PLAYERS, DBC
David Lingmerth (27) Memorial
Danny Lee (24) Greenbrier
Troy Merritt (29) QLN
Shane Lowry (28) WGC-BI
Prime Time Guys -- 30-39
Ryan Moore (31) CIMB Classic
Charley Hoffman (37) OHL Mayakoba
Bubba Watson WGC-HSBC Champions
Jimmy Walker (36) Sony Open, Valero
Bill Haas (32) Humana
Brandt Snedeker (34) AT&T Pebble Beach
James Hahn (33) Northern Trust
Dustin Johnson (30) WGC-Cadillac Championship
Matt Every (31) Arnold Palmer
J.B. Holmes (32) Shell Houston
Justin Rose (34) Zurich
Chris Kirk (30) Colonial
Steven Bowditch (31) AT&T Byron Nelson
Fabian Gomez (36) FedEx St. Jude
Scott Piercy (36) Barbasol
Zach Johnson (39) The Open Championship
Crusty Veterans -- 40-up
Padraig Harrington (43) Honda
Alex Cejka (44) Puerto Rico Open
Jim Furyk (44) RBC Heritage
Davis Love III (51) Wyndham
Hindsight
What I learned from the finishers in the top 10 this week.
Henrik Stenson: The big Swede led by as many as three shots early in the round but couldn't put Fowler away. His misjudged tee shot on No. 16 found the drink and he couldn't convert a pair of 14-footers for birdie on the final two holes to make Fowler nervous. For the second week in a row he's finished solo second and gamers who rode the horse-for-course angle this week can't be completely disappointed with a million bucks and change for his effort. He's 42-under with a win and solo second in his last three here. His 22 birdies co-lead the field.
Charley Hoffman: The 2010 champ led by three shots after opening 67-63 but his 76 in the third round sunk his chances for joining Vijay Singh as the only multiple winner at the DBC. Hoffman's closing 67, the third-lowest round of the day, saw him post his best finish since his victory in 2010. Hoffman rewarded the course-horse players as he entered the week on the back of T31-MC-T62 and hadn't had a top 20 or better in his last four starts in Beantown.
Jim Furyk: Make it 27 top 25s in 33 FEC starts as he led the posse at T4. He's now 11-11 at TPC Boston and picks up his second top 10. Of his 44 rounds, 34 are par or better so Mr. Steady played his role to a T again this week. He didn't make anything on the greens, which is hardly a surprise, but he was T1 GIR and T2 in fairways. He only made six bogeys and racked up 50 pars.
Patrick Reed: Sure, why not! Send me an email if you can figure him out because I cannot. Here's what I wrote as I faded him this week: I never get him right so make sure to play him this week. Shot 82 here last year in round three to throw away a six-under start. Remember, 15-under was the winning score. Has three of seven rounds 72 or worse. After opening with 72 he seemed to be in "normal" mode but a pair of 67s in the middle saw him make up ground. His 70 on Sunday moved him into the top 10 so that tells you how difficult the course played on the final day. He played his last 13 holes one-over par so I'm not sure, again, what to make of any of this. He was 65th in fairways, T59 GIR but was eighth in putts per GIR so he made the few he saw.
Hunter Mahan: Welcome back, Mahan! After MC at The Barlcays last week, Mahan's streak of playing in EVERY SINGLE FEC PLAYOFF EVENT was in serious jeopardy. He played his last 11 holes in two-over and finished T4 so that reaffirms that TPC Boston had some teeth this week and Mahan still had what it takes to perform when the heat is on. The key to his week was 64 in round three to move to T11 and his final round 70, like Reed's, moved him well into the top 10 at T4. This was his first stroke-play top 10 since T9 at Augusta, a span of 12 events. Like Furyk, he found success is avoiding bogeys (T2) with six and holed 52 pars. Not bad after 71-78 MC last week!
Sean O'Hair: His T4 was his third top 10 in his last seven at TPC Boston. After entering the week with five MCs in his last eight and nothing better than T45 in his last four, O'Hair changed his putting routine and it paid dividends. He starting lining up his ball in the center of the putter and trusting it no matter what he "saw". He only made two bogeys in his first 54 holes but he made five on Monday to drop to T4. He ended the week gaining over three shots on the greens. It was his first week in the black on the greens in his last four.
Matt Jones: The Aussie also struggled with 74 on Sunday as he couldn't take advantage of three rounds of 68 or better in the first three rounds. Jones opened the inward nine double-bogey-double and limped home in 39 to drop to T4. This was Jones's first top 10 since T3 in Memphis before the U.S. Open in June. He'll get a look in two weeks as his T4 moved him to No. 33 in the standings and only the top 30 move on to Atlanta for the TOUR Championship.
Daniel Summerhays: His final round 68 saw him jump 16 spots into the top 10 for the fourth time in six events with T9. His form has him quietly in the conversation and his putter was the difference again this week (eighth, SGP; T13 PPGIR). He's now four from four at TPC Boston and this is his best finish. He now sits No. 26 the FEC standings and is worth keeping an eye on moving forward because of his current form. Stay tuned.
Matt Kuchar: He had gamers hoping for a back-door big finish as he sat on 10-under with just seven to play. Kuchar responded with a stretch of making four bogeys in five holes before a final birdie on No. 18 snuck him back into the top 10 at T9. Make it seven in a row for "Furky Junior" at TPC Boston and this was his second top 10 in his last three. That's now 22 weekends in 23 tries this season. That streak is safe as the last two events are without a cut. He's a solid 20th in the standings but look up his numbers in Atlanta before saving him.
Jerry Kelly: The University of Hartford alum continues his solid play this summer with his third T11 or better (T9) in his last five starts. His top 10 moved him to No. 65 and another chance to make it to Atlanta but he'll need a monster in two week in Chicago. The Wisconsin native will have big support there as well and could make a very tasty off-the-beaten path selection again.
Chalk Dust
A quick recap of what happened to the Chalk from my preview column:
Jason Day: All good things come to an end and his streak of 22 rounds under par did just that with 73 in round three. I think he'll survive but it shows again how amazing Tiger Woods was in his prime as he posted 52 rounds in a row at par or better. If you're scoring at home, it was 66 in a row if you count his events worldwide. His T12 extends a fantastic run of form and he'll lead the troops to the BMW as No. 1 in the standings.
Rory McIlroy: Admittedly rusty with the scoring clubs, McIlroy checked in with Dave Stockton for a few putting tips and found 66 on in the final round to finish T29. It's rarely his ball-striking folks!
Henrik Stenson: Solo second, again, see above.
Bubba Watson: Make it no top 10s in 10 starts for the lefty at TPC Boston but his 68 on Monday moved him to T29.
Jordan Spieth: MC for the first ever in consecutive events (72 events as a pro). Said he was not in a very good place mentally and will enjoy the time off before the BMW to get it straightened out. He switched back to his old irons this week after putting new ones in the bag last week but that didn't work. His putter was ice cold and so were his wedges. Spieth claims to like this track but almost half of his rounds here, four from 10, are over par. Minus his superb 62 in the final round of 2013 he's just seven under par over three events. Each year he'll get more experience on how to figure out his schedule, club rotation, etc. so I'm not putting an X on the DBC. Yet.
Justin Rose: Not even his hot form could overcome his course history at the DBC as the Englishman MC for the third time in five events. Remember he skipped this event last year to send his kids off to school so it's not a secret he doesn't die to play in this event. Here are his last 18 rounds here: 69-70-77-66-70-73-70-70-72-74-75-70-70-63-69-69-71-75. Only five in the 60s on a course where 18-under is the average winning score. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Brooks Koepka: Another surprise MC this week as Koepka had only two of them on the season including last week. He hit it all over the map on one of the easiest driving courses and didn't make any putts to boot. Make it three weeks in a row for his putter losing strokes to the field. He entered the week No. 11 in SGP. Young kids always are going to have their ups-and-downs but McIlroy, Furyk and Stenson provided more than ample coverage in Yahoo! this week.
Dustin Johnson: Not this again. He began the round T20 and with the course playing tough it should have been a day he moved on up. He shot five-over 76 to drop to T44. Sigh. I'd mention that he came out of the blocks bogey his first four holes and five of his first six but I'm worn out after this weekend.
Robert Streb: After five consecutive finishes of T18 or better, Streb has now posted back-to-back T39s to start the playoffs. He's 12th in the standings and is firmly playing the final two events with house's money. That's 12 cuts in a row if you're counting. I am.
Ryan Palmer: Maybe the emotion of his father recently passing finally caught up with him. Or he was distracted by the start of Texas A&M's football season. He backed up his opening round of 68 with 77 and never challenged in the final two rounds. He dropped from No. 33 to No. 40.
Zach Johnson: Just four shots out of the 36-hole lead, ZJ bombed out with 74 in round three to stunt his chances of a big finish. He finished T22 and has never bested T16 in 10 tries.
Hideki Matsuyama: The T25 will encourage the weekend warriors who didn't pay attention. Matsuyama began the day T6 and was seven-under with four holes to play. He finished bogey-par-bogey-double to fire 75 and crash out. His splits across the board were hardly encouraging so move forward cautiously, if at all, in the final two events.
Brandt Snedeker: Didn't break par in either of his first two rounds but made the cut by a shot. His second life resulted in 68-72 but nothing inspiring on the weekend for the third straight try for gamers. T44.
Webb Simpson: Opened with 74 and that's a death wish around these parts. Made up those three shots in the final three rounds to finish even and T44. Another who is starting to play himself into certain courses rather than in bunches. I'll sit back and try and let that putter acclimate. He made 12 birdies and was 70th PPGIR.
Jim Furyk: T4, see above.
Justin Thomas: Hit it all over the shop and only made 11 birdies. Didn't he make NINE in a round at THE PLAYERS earlier this year? T56.
Tony Finau: Missed DFL by two shots as 76-74 killed gamers who were relying on his power and ability to go low this week. He hit 11 of 28 fairways, 21 of 36 greens and made absolutely nothing. Other than that it was a solid performance. Sigh.
The New Bubble
Only the top 70 get into the field at the BMW in two weeks.
No. 65: Kevin Streelman; T69, down to No. 75, OUT.
No. 66: Sean O'Hair; T4, up to No. 38, IN.
No. 67: Fabian Gomez; T33, up to No. 62, IN.
No. 68: Kevin Chappell; T12, up to No. 57, IN.
No. 69: Ian Poulter; T33, up to No. 66, IN.
No. 70: Boo Weekley; T56, down to No. 76, OUT.
No. 71: Keegan Bradley; T25, up to No. 63, IN.
No. 72: Morgan Hoffmann; Solo 73rd, down to No. 87, OUT.
No. 73: Alex Cejka; T39, up to No. 71, OUT. Harsh.
No. 74: Charles Howell III: T56, down to No. 79, OUT.
No. 75: Matt Every; MC, OUT.
Coming NEXT TUESDAY:
Don't forget the TOUR is OFF this week before returning to Conway Farms for the BMW September 17-20.
I’ll publish my weekly preview, Range Rover, around lunchtime, children permitting. I’ll focus on history, current form, course characteristics, winning qualities and those who I think will and will not.
Coming NEXT TUESDAY Afternoon:
Playing the Tips will be up and running this and every Tuesday late afternoon and will list all of the Rotoworld experts picks in the GolfChannel.com game, the Yahoo! Fantasy Golf game, DFS plus the European Tour! Oh, and my One-and-Done feature. Look for it every Tuesday until the Presidents Cup.
Coming NEXT Wednesday:
And the analysis doesn't end here. Rotoworld's Rob Bolton and I will be co-hosting a one-hour live chat NEXT Wednesday, September 15 at 12 ET. We will be breaking down the field at the BMW plus answering your questions.
Simply return to the golf home page to join in on the chatter. Don’t forget to follow Rob (http://twitter.com/RobBoltonGolf) and Glass (http://twitter.com/mikeglasscott) on Twitter.
