Herman celebrates ‘out of the blue’ Wyndham win

Golf

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jim Herman rallied to win the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his third PGA Tour title and a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, shooting a 7-under 63 for a 1-stroke victory over Billy Horschel.

Known for his friendship with President Donald Trump, Herman overcame a 4-stroke deficit in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club. He overtook Horschel with a birdie on the 71st hole.

The 42-year-old Herman finished at 21-under 259.

Horschel closed with a 65. He had a final chance to tie on the 72nd hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt slid left of the cup.

Herman got into the playoffs, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the race for the 125 spots. He hoisted a trophy for the second straight season and third time since 2017.

Si Woo Kim, the third-round leader, had a 70 to tie for third at 18 under with Kevin Kisner (64), Webb Simpson (65) and Doc Redman (68).

Herman had two birdies and an eagle — from 59 feet — on his first five holes to catch up to Kim. Then, trailing Horschel by a stroke, Herman stuck his approach to No. 17 to just over 3 feet for a birdie to reach 21 under. He gained the lead when Horschel missed a 12-footer for par on 16.

It was quite a week for Herman, who had three birdies over his final four holes Friday simply to make the cut. He followed that up with a career-low 61 on Saturday to get into striking distance before taking the victory.

Horschel looked as if he would be the one to rally as he moved from 3 behind Kim to the lead with a birdie-eagle-birdie run on the front nine while Kim struggled with a double bogey and a bogey over his first eight holes.

Kim was a birdie machine with 21 birdies and a hole-in-one the first three rounds. But he stumbled out of the gate and a pair of bad drives cost him his first win since the Players Championship in 2017.

He drove right on No. 6 into a hazard of thick grass and, despite six people searching, could not find his ball. Kim made double bogey to fall from the top.

Two holes later, Kim wound up near a cart-path bridge for a bogey to fall 4 shots off the lead.

Articles You May Like

Braves’ Sale, Tigers’ Skubal win Cy Young Awards
Maple Leafs put Knies on IR despite improvement
Soto, Bregman, 10 more opt for MLB free agency
Australia Great Crafts ‘Bash’ Virat Kohli Plan, Says “Have Him Jump, Duck, Weave, Bend”
Anders falls ill; fight with Weidman off UFC 309

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *