PGA Results: 2011 Nedbank Golf Challenge
BIG weekend in golf, especially for what is normally the "off" season. The big news?
Nedbank Golf Challenge
Lee Westwood won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City South Africa. Despite shooting a mediocre final round 73, Westwood still won by two shots over Robert Karlsson and four shots over Graeme McDowell. More world top 10's were in the top 10 at the Nedbank, including 2010 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer.
UBS Hong Kong Open
In other big news, speaking of top 10 players in the world, Rory McIlroy managed to win the UBS Hong Kong Open by two shots over Gregory Havret despite not felling like he had his best game. Other notables close to the lead included Ian Poulter, Alvaro Quiros and Y.E. Yang.
Who Am I Kidding!?!?!?
Okay, okay. The joke is over. The real big news this past weekend, which I'm sure you've already heard or seen, is that Tiger Woods broke his two year win-less streak by finishing one shot ahead of Zach Johnson at the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California at Sherwood Country Club.
The tournament started out with a hot K.J. Choi, who took the lead on the first day after starting with five straight birdies. Tiger Woods then leapfrogged (ahem) a struggling Choi and took a three shot lead on Friday. Tiger struggled a bit in the wind on Saturday though, carding a 73. Zach Johnson's third round 68 gave him a one shot lead over Tiger going into the final round.
The final round pairing of Woods/Johnson was fun to watch as both players traded punches like a pair of boxers. Johnson had a one shot lead going into the par-3 17th when Woods made his first relatively long putt of the day for birdie. The two teed off tied for the lead on the 18th. Both players hit excellent approach shots and hit the green. It came down to putting at that point. Johnson putted first, missing his birdie putt on the low side by about a foot. This opened the door for Tiger to drain his birdie putt for the win, just like the days of old, and a trademark Tiger fist pump. BOOM. Game over.
