Round 4 - Patton Kizzire claims first PGA Tour title

November 13, 2017

American Patton Kizzire battled through numerous weather delays to capture his first PGA Tour title Sunday by winning the OHL Classic on a 36-hole final day.

Kizzire fired a four-under 67 in the final round at the Playa del Carmen course to edge Rickie Fowler by one stroke with a 19-under 265, capping a tournament that was delayed for over seven hours because of thunderstorms.

The 31-year-old Kizzire won his first tournament in 63 US Tour appearances by holding a share of the lead after each round.

"I was glad to get it done," Kizzire said. "Rickie made me work hard."

He shot a 66 in the third round early Sunday morning then returned in the afternoon to close it out with a 67.

Fowler also fired a 67 and finished the tournament at 18-under. He shot a 65 in the opening round and posted 67s in each of the final three rounds.

Fowler set the stage for a dramatic final hole finish by making long birdie putts on Nos. 16 and 17.

On No. 18, Fowler's birdie attempt was short while Kizzire's approach shot landed near the hole. Kizzire tapped in the winning putt to seal the victory.

By winning the event, Kizzire clinched a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour along with spots in the field at the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua and PGA Championship.

South Korea's Kim Si Woo finished with a 65 to claim third, four shots adrift of Kizzire. He was foiled by a double bogey on 14.

Charles Howell (66) and Martin Piller (65) finished five strokes behind.

Round 3 - Three top leaderboard

November 12, 2017

Rickie Fowler woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday and played three holes in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. It was enough to get him a three-way share of the 36-hole lead going into a marathon finish in Mexico.

Fowler and Patrick Rodgers had to wait out a five-hour rain delay just to resume their second round Saturday. Fowler saved par from a bunker on the 18th hole for a 4-under 67. Rodgers finally make his first bogey of the tournament on his 17th hole had to settle for a 65.

They shared the lead at 10-under 132 along with Patton Kizzire, who hasn't hit a shot since his 70 on Friday.

The last three groups didn't have enough light at El Camaleon Golf Club to even start the third round, leaving them a 36-hole finish on Sunday. But that's only if the weather at this rain-plagued event allows. More thunderstorms, with heavy downpours, were in the forecast for the next two days.

''We deal with weather every once in a while on the PGA Tour, around the world, really,'' said Fowler, at No. 10 the highest-ranked player at Mayakoba. ''You kind of just learn to play when you get to play, relax when you get to relax. Rest when you can, tee it up when you can.''

Fowler had three tough finishing holes Saturday morning, and they were even more challenging after another storm moved through. There was mud on the golf balls, and it didn't help when Fowler twice wound up in bunkers. Both shots came out a little hot, but we managed to escape with pars.

Rodgers finally dropped a shot when he missed the green on the par-3 eighth and failed to get up-and-down. But he saved par from right of the ninth green to at least keep in a share of the lead going into the final day. With the forecast, there was no guarantee of getting in 72 holes.

Players will be allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls through the green for Sunday.

John Oda, playing the PGA Tour for the first time as a pro, shot a 65 and was one shot behind along with 31-year-old rookie Brandon Harkins and Brian Gay, neither of whom hit a shot Saturday because they were already done with their second rounds.

Charles Howell III already was 4 under through six holes of the third round when darkness halted play. Howell was at 8-under par.

Seventy-nine players made the cut at 1-under 141, but there will not be a 54-hole cut because the groups will stay the same over the final two rounds. Patrick Reed bogeyed three of his last four holes to miss the cut by one.

Fowler hasn't played since Oct. 1 at the Presidents Cup except for a few casual rounds. He is playing at Mayakoba for the first time under the tour's ''strength of field'' policy that requires players to go to a tournament they haven't been to in the last four years.

So far, he has no regrets, and not much rust.

''I'm very happy, coming from basically five weeks of very little golf played,'' Fowler said. ''There were only two rounds last week when I was playing at home that were consecutive. All the other ones were spread out. It was never far off, so I was looking forward to getting down here. Hard not to enjoy yourself when you're at a place like this where you can go hang at the beach and really throw your feet up and relax.''

Rodgers is trying not to press.

He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation's top college golfer when he was at Stanford, and it has been frustrating to see friends from his high school class of 2011 already have PGA Tour titles - in the case of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, plenty of them.

Rodgers and Thomas once were roommates in south Florida when they turned pro.

''To be honest, at times it's been really hard because I feel like I have the game that everyone else has and I feel like I work as hard as everyone else does, but everyone has a different process and I have to be patient with that,'' Rodgers said. ''But I've always felt that I have the game to win a lot out here and I'm looking forward to a good chance this weekend.''

Round 2 - Patrick Rodgers leads weather hit day

November 11, 2017

Patrick Rodgers kept making birdies until his name was atop the leaderboard and it was too dark to play any longer Friday.

Rodgers, a former Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the top player in college, ran off four straight birdies on the back nine and reached 11-under par until the storm-delayed OHL Classic at Mayakoba was suspended by darkness.

Rodgers hit his tee shot on the par-5 seventh hole, one of the three holes he will have to complete Saturday morning.

Rickie Fowler, playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup, was at 10 under with three holes left. The second round was halted for 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Patton Kizzire, the 18-hole leader after a 62, overcame the wind and the rain - at times both - and a double bogey on his 10th hole. He made three straight birdies for a 1-under 70 and finished 36 holes at 10-under 132.

Brian Gay and Brandon Harkins, the 31-year-old rookie from northern California, were at 9-under 133.

Martin Piller was at 8 under and still had nine holes to play.

Rodgers, who was 7 under for his round when play was stopped, is one of the few players from the fabled high school class of 2011 who is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory. He grew up in junior golf with fellow class members Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Emiliano Grillo and Xander Schauffele.

Rodgers, who grew up outside Indianapolis and starred at Stanford, has yet to make a bogey at El Camaleon in 33 holes.

For all the attention on the youth movement golf, Harkins is a different kind of rookie. He has toiled on the smaller tours, particularly in Canada on the Mackenzie Tour, to finally earn his card. He began his rookie season with a tie for ninth at the Safeway Open.

He finished up the second round of the OHL Classic with his name on the leaderboard, though it wasn't quite the finish he had in mind. Starting on the 13th hole, Harkins alternated making birdies and bogeys until he drove into a fairway bunker on the 18th, didn't get on the green and failed to get up-and-down.

''Definitely exciting,'' he said of his name on the board. ''But to be honest, I didn't really watch any board. Wasn't quite the finish I was looking for, trading birdies and bogeys like that, but I really can't complain in the wind like this.''

Kizzire also had to lean on patience in the tough weather.

''I had a few hiccups out there, but with the wind and the rain - and with the wind and rain together - it was tough,'' Kizzire said. ''And the stop and start was tough. But I hung in there, made a few birdies there toward the end of my round and then survived that really tough rain that we had there at the end.''

Oscar Frausto had a 66 and at 7-under 135 had the low score among the five Mexican players in the field. Roberto Diaz, who also competed in the World Golf Championship in Mexico City earlier this year, had a 65 and was another shot behind.

Beau Hossler, who had a chance to win last week in Las Vegas, shot 66 to reach 6-under 136.

Round 1 - Patton Kizzire leads after a 62

November 10, 2017

Patton Kizzire shot a nine-under-par 62 to grab the first-round lead at the PGA Tour's OHL Classic on Thursday.

The 31-year-old American rolled in 10 birdies and had his only blemish with a bogey at the 18th hole to leave him with a two-shot lead over Vaughn Taylor.

Kizzire, who is seeking his first win on the Tour, finished tied for fourth last week in Las Vegas, closing with a final-round 64 that included birdies on four of the last five holes.

Kizzire stormed up the leaderboard Thursday with six straight birdies from Nos. eight to 13 and needed 25 putts in his career-low round. He tied the tournament record held by Fred Funk for the lowest first-round score.

Taylor had five birdies and an eagle in his bogey-free round to grab sole possession of second place. He is one stroke ahead of four-time PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler and Brandon Harkins.

Fowler, who is competing for the first time since the Presidents Cup, is the highest ranked player in the field at No. 10. He had three birdies on each side in his bogey-free round, while rookie Harkins closed with four birdies over his final six holes.

South Africa's Retief Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, led a group of six players in a tie for fifth place at five-under 66. Goosen is looking for his first win since 2009.

Among the players bunched with Goosen was rookie Keith Mitchell, who started his round with a flourish with a hole-in-one on his first shot at the par-three 10th hole.

Defending champion Pat Perez opened with a 67 and was in a 10-player tie five shots off the pace. John Huh, the 2012 tournament winner, also carded a 67.

Scores