Monday, August 9, 2021

Final-Round Notes - 2021 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Final-Round Notes – Sunday, August 8, 2021

 

Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 93. Wind SW 10-15 mph.    

 

Final-Round Leaderboard

*Abraham Ancer            67-62-67-68—264 (-16)

Sam Burns                      66-64-70-64—264 (-16)

Hideki Matsuyama         68-69-64-63—264 (-16)

Harris English                 62-65-65-73—265 (-15)

*won with a birdie on the second hole of sudden death

 

Things to Know

  • Abraham Ancer overcomes a 4-stroke deficit in the final round to become the fourth player from Mexico to win on the PGA TOUR; wins his first event in his first playoff on TOUR
  • Ancer becomes the seventh player to make a World Golf Championships his first career PGA TOUR victory
  • With a win, Hideki Matsuyama would have overcome a 9-shot deficit, the largest come-from-behind win on the final day since 2004
  • Sam Burns uses eight final-round birdies in bid to become the season’s seventh multiple winner, settles for second with Hideki Matsuyama
  • After holding a two-stroke lead after each of the first three rounds, Harris English cards 5-over 40 on the inward nine
  • Playing in the final pairing, Bryson DeChambeau records three bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine to close in 6-over 41

 

Category

Abraham Ancer

Age

30 (2/27/1991)

Country

U.S./Mexico

FedExCup

6

OWGR

10th (projected)

WGC-FESJI starts

2

WGC-FESJI wins

1

WGC-FESJI top-10s

1

PGA TOUR starts

121

PGA TOUR wins

1

PGA TOUR top-10s

20

Starts in 2020-21

24

Wins in 2020-21

1

Top-10s in 2020-21

7

 

  • Beginning the final round four strokes off the lead at 14-under 196, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer used a 2-under 68 to earn a spot in his first TOUR playoff
  • Birdie on the second hole of sudden death, the par-4 18th, secured his victory over Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama
  • Claims his first career PGA TOUR title at the age of 30 years, 5 months, 12 days in his 121st start
  • With the win, collects 550 FedExCup points and moves to No. 6 in the standings
  • With the win, is projected to move from No. 20 to inside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking
  • From Guadalajara, becomes the fourth player from Mexico to win on TOUR (Victor Regalado/1974 Pleasant Valley Classic, 1978 John Deere Classic; Cesar Sanudo/1970 Azalea Open Invitational; Carlos Ortiz/2020 Vivint Houston Open)
  • With the win, becomes the eighth player to earn his first victory at a World Golf Championships event and first since Russell Knox at the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions
  • Win marks his seventh top-10 finish of the season; has amassed four top-5 finishes in his last eight starts on TOUR
  • With the win, earns a spot in the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions
  • Was one of 19 players in this week’s field who competed in the Olympics; finished T14 at Kasumigaseki Country Club

 

Additional Player Notes

  • In his first start at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Sam Burns (P2/-16) offset a double bogey at the par-4 16th with eight birdies to close with a 6-under 64; claimed his first career PGA TOUR victory earlier this season at the Valspar Championship
  • 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational winner (Firestone Country Club) Hideki Matsuyama (P2/-16) followed a 6-under 64 in round three with a bogey-free 7-under 63 in the final round, highlighted by birdies on four of his last seven holes  
  • After holding two-stroke leads through each of the first three rounds, Harris English (4th/-15) recorded double bogeys on Nos. 11 and 14 – both par-3s – en route to a 3-over 73; with a win, the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic winner at TPC Southwind would have become the season’s first three-time winner
  • Daniel Berger (T5/-14), who claimed his first two (of four) career TOUR titles at the 2016 and 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind, birdied his last two holes to close with a 4-under 66
  • Seeking his fourth career PGA TOUR title and second of the season (Zurich Classic of New Orleans partnering with Marc Leishman), Cam Smith (T5/-14) closed with a 2-over 72 after making a double-bogey-six on the 72nd hole to lose a spot in the playoff; prior to this week, his best career finish in a WGC stroke-play event was T6/2019 WGC-Workday Championship; finished the week with 93 total putts, one shy of the all-time PGA TOUR record of 92 (David Frost, 2005 RBC Heritage); was one of 19 players in the field this week who competed in the Olympics; finished T10 at Kasumigaseki Country Club
  • In search of his first top-10 finish since the Wells Fargo Championship in May (T9), Bryson DeChambeau (T8/-12) posted a 6-over 41 on his inward nine that included a triple bogey at the par-3 11th; with a victory, would have become the season’s first three-time winner
  • Following an opening-round 2-over 72, Rory McIlroy posted three scores of 4-under 66 to finish T12 at 10-under 270
  • Webb Simpson (T15/-8) birdied his first three holes en route to a 6-under 64, tying his low score of the season; in last two starts in the event, followed a runner-up in 2019 with a T12 in 2020
  • After hitting four balls in the water, Si Woo Kim (65th/+13) took a 13 on the 155-yard par-3 11th, marking the highest score recorded at TPC Southwind; it marks the highest score on TOUR in a non-major since 2012 when Charlie Wi made a 13 on the fifth hole in the final round of the 2012 Valspar Championship; marks the highest score on a par-3 on TOUR (non-majors) since 1983
  • Garrick Higgo withdrew before the final round (illness)

 

Course Statistics

Toughest Hole                                 Easiest Hole

R1:         Par-3 14th (3.227)                             Par-5 16th (4.182)

R2:         Par-4 5th (4.348)                               Par-5 16th (4.439)
R3:         Par-4 5th/Par-4 18th (4.227)              Par-5 16th (4.167)

R4:         Par-3 11th (3.600)                              Par-5 3rd (4.677)

Week:    Par-4 5th (4.217)                                Par-5 16th (4.392)

 

Scoring Averages

              Front 9                 Back 9                  Total                    Cumulative

R1:         34.076                  34.318                  68.394                  ---

R2:         34.167                  34.030                  68.197                  68.295

R3:         34.773                  33.924                  68.697                  68.429

R4:         34.723                  36.200                  70.923                  69.053

 

Bogey-free rounds

R1 (2): Carlos Ortiz (64), Ian Poulter (64)

R2 (5): Cam Smith (62), Abraham Ancer (62), Sam Burns (64), Louis Oosthuizen (64), Adam Scott (66)

R3 (4): Harris English (65), Paul Casey (65), Daniel Berger (67), Martin Laird (69)

R4 (2): Hideki Matsuyama (63), Collin Morikawa (69)

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