James Hahn finished his delightful week at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina with a final round of 70. The American edged Robert Castro in a playoff hole to earned his second career win on the PGA TOUR.
Hahn handles pressure
Hahn began his final round with four consecutive pars to maintain his seven-under par score. His first birdie came after he holed an eight-foot putt to extend to eight-under par. But he quickly saw himself back to even-par on the day with a miscued bogey on the sixth, before sinking a 51-foot eagle putt on hole number seven. The American’s distance and accuracy off the tee pushed him through to a well-played three-under par front nine.
Hahn made the turn for the last nine holes of his fourth round. A disappointing bogey at 12 saw him give back another stroke as every stroke would eventually matter in deciding the winner of the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship. He maintained high quality golf throughout the closing stretch, and a birdie on the 15th hole saw him in reach of the glorious finish line. Two routine pars from Hahn followed as he then found himself on the tee box of his 72nd hole this week. But the American displayed nerves with a missed six-foot putt for the win. His disappointing bogey brought him to a playoff with a compatriot in Robert Castro.
Hahn and Castro made their way to the par-four 18th to play in a sudden death scenario for the trophy in North Carolina. Hahn just needed a par to seal his win after Castro carded an untimely bogey. The University of California-Berkeley alumni became the third straight American to victor on the PGA TOUR with his win on Sunday. Hahn will rise nearly 100 spots in the FedEx Cup standings as he is expected to rise from 120 to 26.
McIlroy, Mickelson, Fowler headline top ten
Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson both shot the lowest rounds of the day with both of them carding a six-under par 66 to finish in a tie for fourth alongside Andrew Loupe and Rickie Fowler, who squandered his 54-hole lead with a final round of 74. Justin Rose finished in solo third after a consistent week under-par. Lucas Glover, Danny Lee, and Fabian Gomez round out the top ten at five-under and six-under.
Next PGA TOUR stop
The elite worldwide golfers will head to TPC Sawgrass for practically the biggest golf event in the world that is not a major. Rickie Fowler will look to defend his 2015 title in Ponte Vedra Beach at The PLAYERS Championship next week.