Coming off of a second place finish at The Masters two weeks ago, Justin Rose followed that up with a -22 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to win in impressive fashion.
Bad weather forced the third round to be completed early this morning, and then finish up the fourth round this afternoon. The PGA Tour decided to keep the 72 hole format instead of just cutting the tournament short to 54 holes. It led to a weird finish as Rose was well into the clubhouse waiting to be crown the winner, with plenty of golfers still on the course finishing up their rounds. The PGA Tour decided to not re-pair after the third round, and sent players off in threesomes in waves from both the front nine and back nine. So some players finished their rounds up at the 9th, while others finished their rounds at 18.
Rose, who entered the tournament ninth in the world, shot a -7 (65) in the third round in the morning, and turned right around to close with a 66 at TPC Louisiana for his 7th PGA title.
The Englishman has won on tour at least once for six straight years. It is the second longest streak on tour, behind Dustin Johnson’s eight straight.
Rose made six birdies during the final round, and played the final 66 holes without posting a bogey. He finished with a -22 (266).
“On my way to the course this morning I was thinking, 2010, 2011, 12, 13, 14, and trying to work it out,” he told Sky Sports. “Six years in a row is not easy to do and I’m incredibly grateful and proud of that stat.” This tournament had been plagued by bad weather since a thunderstorm struck on Friday afternoon. Play was suspended on Saturday evening with everyone still out on the course, leading to a busy Sunday.
Rose’s final two putts on 17 and 18 were from 10 and 13 1/2 feet to hold off Cameron Tringale by a stroke (-21). Tringale birdied 18 to finish one shot out of a playoff.
First round leader, Boo Weekley, finished at -20 to come in third. Jim Herman and Jason Day, who is sixth in the world, finished in a tie for fourth at -19.
As the final putt on 18 went in for a birdie, Rose punched his right fist high in the air and looked straight at the fans seated at the 18th green. Zurich, the tournament’s primary sponsor, had a hospitality tent behind the green which erupted in cheers for Rose, who is also sponsored by Zurich.
Justin took off his cap and flexed his right arm showing the Zurich logo on his sleeve giving love to the sponsor.
“It was quite a big break from right to left, about a foot, so when it went in I was pumped up.”
“This is great to build on,” added Rose.
“The Masters was huge but it’s a second place. You can take a lot away from that but to knock down those last couple of putts here, as a player you can build on that and, if I find myself in a good position in a major championship, I can look back at those and take some confidence.”
Rose began the day tied for the lead with Jason Day at -16, but Day soon found trouble by shanking his drive into the trees lining the left boundary of the second fairway. On the very next swing, his ball smacked a tree, and bounced right back to him.
He wound up with a bogey on the par 5 he had birdied in the first and third rounds. That left him a couple shots behind Rose, who was playing a couple holes ahead.
Later, Rose made birdie putts on the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth beyond 10 feet to get to -19. That was good enough to lead until Tringale birdied the sixth, chipped in for an eagle on the seventh, and birdied the eighth to get to -20.
The TPC Louisiana, a course that was carved out of cypress swamp just to the southwest of New Orleans, was soggy from rain that had fallen in the last month, including heavy downpours that delayed parts of the second round and the third round.
Standing water on edges of fairways, and mud in well-worn spots were things the players had to deal with this weekend while navigating the course. As players were making their way around the course, you could hear their foot steps sound like water being squeezed out of sponge.
Due to the conditions, it allowed players to lift, clean and place their golf ball in the fairways. With no consequences for bad bounces off tee and approach shots, players were swinging aggressively and aimed approach shots pin-high.
PGATour.com recap:
