Patrick Reed held his nerve down the stretch to score a one-shot victory in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. The 23-year-old from Texas, a growing force on the PGA Tour, made it three wins in his last 14 starts after a level par 72 gave him a winning total of four-under at the revamped and toughened up Blue Monster course in Miami, Florida. And in doing so he became the youngest ever player to capture a World Golf Championship event. It looked as if it was turning into a cruise for Reed as he held a four-shot lead on the back nine but a bogey at 14 gave the field hope and Welshman Jamie Donaldson birdied 17 to pull within a shot. However, Donaldson bogeyed the last which dropped him back into a tie with clubhouse leader Bubba Watson and it gave Reed the cushion he needed. Playing the par four 18th as if it were a par five, Reed took an iron off the tee, laid up with his second, wedged a third onto the green and two-putted for a winning bogey. Joint runners-up Donaldson and Watson (-3) were the only other two players in the field to finish under par for the tournament. Tiger Woods, who had roared into contention with a third-round 66, suffered a miserable Sunday. He looked out of sorts from the start, showed further signs of the back trouble that had caused him to withdraw from last weeks Honda Classic and eventually carded a six-over 78 to slump from fourth at the start of play to tied 25th. That put him into a tie with Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, who also experienced final-day frustrations. McIlroy, whose only birdie of the day came at the opening hole, returned a two-over 74 while Scott fired a 73. The Masters champion could have gone to world no 1 with a victory but failed to break par in any of the four rounds. Birdie burst Starting as overnight leader, Reed looked firmly on course for victory after opening up with three birdies in four holes - he bogeyed the par-four second - taking him to six under par overall. However, he would not make another birdie for the rest of the day, which left him hanging on for his third PGA Tour victory, having triumphed at the Wyndham Championship in August 2013 and the Humana Challenge earlier this year. Watson birdied 15 and 16 to put himself in with a chance but two closing pars werent enough. Nevertheless, his closing 68 means hes now finished in the top two in his last three strokeplay starts, a run that includes a win in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Donaldson played a steady front nine of level par 36 but birdied 10, 14 and 17 to crank up the pressure on Reed. But at 18, a loose second shot found a greenside bunker and he was unable to save par. South African Richard Sterne (71) and American Dustin Johnson (72) tied for fourth on even par, the latter double bogeying the 18th when a birdie would have seen him tie for second.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:30:05 +0000
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