La Quinta, California – While John Ram He had plenty of chances to pump his right fist after nice shots on Sunday, look of relief on his face after holding off rookie Davis Thompson Keep in mind his American Express win.
The Spanish star capitalized on Thompson’s mistakes over the adventurous final three holes and closed with a 4-under 68 to win by one stroke, his second PGA Tour win in the same number of starts this year.
“I am, in a strange way, glad that the day went the way things did,” said Ram. “I enjoyed some wild wins, I enjoyed some comebacks, but today was definitely a struggle. Of the five birds I made, what is it, one, two, three of them were players, and the other two were basically 6 feet. And that tells you the story.” .
Ram pumped his fist last time after taking advantage of two bonus putts on No. 18 at the PGA West’s Stadium Course.
Ram and Thompson tied with three holes to play when Thompson, who had led through 36 holes and shared the lead with Ram entering Sunday, pulled his car into a deep vault in the fairway on the 5th and 16th and ended up with even par. Ram made a birdie to take the lead.
In Round 17 of its Match 3, Thompson elected to let the pin put his 50-foot birdie putt on the green, and the ball hit the pin directly and rolled away. The 23-year-old from Georgia dropped his bat and put his hands to his face. As he walked to the 18th tee after par, he pulled his jersey over his mouth in frustration.
“I usually let the stick in from a distance,” said Thompson. “I feel like it helps me with speed. I’ve probably been playing the ‘what if’ game in my head for too long, unfortunately. I got a great read. I probably hit it hard. If it was too fast he’d hit the flag and fall over. But we’ll never know. I’m proud of myself for that.” the week. “
Ram hit his jersey in a bunker on the 18th but recovered nicely with a putt to 15 feet and a fist pump. Thompson’s drive found the fairway but his approach bounced onto the green and ran down the slope behind him. The rookie hit a daring loose putt that settled a foot to the right of the hole. Shot 69.
“I had a great week,” said Thompson, who made five eagles over the first two rounds, tying the PGA Tour record for eagles in the 72-hole event. “Competing against the best in the world is my dream and I did it today and proved I can stay with them. It was so much fun. A lot of nerve and I hit a lot of quality golf shots under pressure, which was really cool.”
Ram finished 27-under-261 and won for the ninth time on the PGA Tour. It moves up one spot to No. 3 in the world. He’s playing this week in Torrey Pines, while world number one Rory McIlroy He will make his debut in 2023 in Dubai on his European tour.
Ram has now won four of his last six starts – winning twice on the European Tour at the end of last year. It was his seventh consecutive top 10 in the all-around, a streak that began after the Tour Championship in late August.
He became the third player since 2000 with multiple wins on the PGA Tour in January, joining him Justin Thomas (2017) and Ernie Els (2003). It was the third career end of his career aged 27 or younger, as he broke a tie with him Phil Mickelson For most tours in history.
“Heck, a start,” said Ram, who won the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago in Kapalua. Sentry and this course are obviously very different golf courses and very different golf. You still have to go low on both. So luckily the mentality is the same.
“The body felt good. The hammock felt really good. And it shows, right?. Even when I say I may not be as comfortable as I want to be, I shoot 64s because everything comes off when you need to.”
Xander Schavellitwo weeks after he pulled out due to back pain, and closed at No. 62 and finished two years out Chris Kirk (64). It was his third career round of under 10 or better, making him the only player in the last 40 PGA Tour seasons to have three Finals at that level.
Taylor Montgomery He would challenge Ram and Thompson until he put his tee shot into the water on the 17th. He closed with a score of 66, finishing in fifth place.
Scotty Scheffler Closed at #67, tied for eleventh. He narrowly missed a birdie putt on the final hole that would have allowed him to return to first place by a fraction of a point over McElroy. Scheffler will not play this week.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information and the Associated Press was used in this report.