Round 4 - Tony Finau wins in a playoff
March 28, 2016
Tony Finau defeated fellow American Steve Marino with a birdie on the third extra hole to capture the Puerto Rico Open and claim his first USPGA Tour title.
The 26-year-old Finau was making his 46th start on the Tour and first appearance in a playoff.
Under cloudy skies with gusty winds, Finau and Marino made clutch birdies on the first two extra holes at the par-five No. 18 to send the pair back to the 18th tee for the third extra hole.
Marino was unable to match Finau's third straight playoff birdie. They both shot two-under 70 to finish at 12-under 276 in regulation.
Finau's best previous finish was a tie for seventh at the Shriners Hospital Open and the OHL Classic during his rookie season last year. He posted five top-10 finishes last year.
Marino recorded his first top-10 finish on the Tour since finishing runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational five years ago.
Ian Poulter, who led after 54 holes, closed with an even-par 72 to finish in a tie for third with Rodolfo Cazaubon of Mexico.
Puerto Rico native Rafa Campos posted back-to-back scores of even-par 72 on the weekend to finish in a tie for eighth.
Defending champion Alex Cejka of Germany fired a 71 on Sunday to reach eight under overall, four shots back of the leaders.
Round 3 - Ian Poulter takes over lead with a 68
March 27, 2016
Ian Poulter shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday at windy Coco Beach to take the third-round lead in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.
Playing the event for the first time after failing to get into the Match Play tournament in Texas as the first alternate, the Englishman got up-and-down for par from a greenside bunker on the par-5 18th, holing a 15-foot putt.
''It was a big save,'' Poulter said. ''Obviously it's a par 5, it's pretty much reachable in two off of a decent drive and I kind of left myself in an awkward spot. It wasn't lying very well on the right-hand side just short of the green. I guess I got a little bit too cute, hit it in the front trap, splashed it out to 15 feet, but I rolled that par putt in the middle. Each putt like that obviously makes a difference at the end of the week.''
Poulter bogeyed the par-4 13th and rebounded with birdies on the par-5 15th and par-3 16th. He's trying to win for the first time since the 2012 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China.
''We got here very late, early hours of Wednesday morning, but I felt comfortable,'' Poulter said. ''I like the windy conditions. It kind of takes me back to hitting some old-school shots and I feel comfortable on the course. The ball was kind of boring through that strong wind, so you're still able to get good distance out there. But I'm happy. I'm happy how I've hung in there nicely.''
He had an 11-under 205 total.
Tony Finau, Jonathan Byrd and Steve Marino were a stroke back. Finau shot 67, Byrd 68, and Marino 69.
''It's windy out there,'' Byrd said. ''You had to be kind of real purposeful with your shots and I did that for the most part of the day and I made some nice putts and just played really solid. I've played the par 5s beautifully for the most part this week.''
Puerto Rico's Rafael Campos, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had a 72 to drop into a tie for fifth at 9 under with Scott Brown (67) and Aaron Baddeley (69).
Campos didn't make a par until the eighth hole, opening with three bogeys, a double bogey and three birdies. He played the final 11 holes in 2 under, birdieing Nos. 12 and 16.
''I came off to a really bad start,'' Campos said. ''I was having some difficulty kind of getting my tempo going and coming over the top on most of the shots at the beginning. But I was fortunate to kind of get a good rhythm afterward, a good tempo especially coming into the back nine. ... I really didn't strike the ball well, as good as I wanted, but was able to at least recover myself a little bit at the end.''
Round 2 - Rafael Compos holds on to lead
March 25, 2016
Rafael Campos, who gets energized playing in front of his hometown fans, fired a one-under 71 to maintain the lead at the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.
The 27-year-old from San Juan has a one stroke lead after moving to nine-under on the tournament which is being played at the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club at Rio Grande.
American George McNeill is second after a one-under 71 while England's Ian Poulter (66) and defending champion Alex Cejka of Germany are part of a group of seven at seven-under. Cejka shot a 71.
Campos leads for the second straight day after opening with an eight-under 64 on Thursday.
Campos said he can relax when he's playing at home, knowing that his success will translate into more youngsters taking up the sport.
"It is great just having so much support," he said. "I like being in this position. I really do."
Poulter's six-under bogey-free 66 was the best score on Friday. He started quickly with three birdies in his first three holes than finished strong by making birdie on the final three holes of the round.
"It moves me up the board quite nicely," said Poulter of his strong finish.
Poulter and Cejka were tied at seven under with Americans Kyle Reifers, Steve Marino, Bronson Burgoon, Mark Hubbard and Will MacKenzie.
Australia's Aaron Baddeley and Freddie Jacobson of Sweden were in a group tied for 10th at six under, three shots back of Campos.
Round 1 - Rafael Compos leads with opening 64
March 25, 2016
Rafael Compos shot an 8-under 64 in front of his home fans Thursday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.
The 27-year-old Compos had eight birdies in a bogey-free round at windy Coco Beach. He made four straight birdies on Nos. 9-12, added another on the par-5 15th and parred the final three holes.
''I hit the ball very well. I kept the ball in play, which was the main goal today,'' Compos said. ''The truth is, I felt very comfortable. I had a great crowd - family, friends and all that - which helped me ease my way into the round. It was kind of easy, believe it or not. I know it was windy. I played really safe on the holes I had to play safe.''
He's the first Puerto Rican to lead a PGA Tour event since the 1979 Tallahassee Open, when Chi Chi Rodriguez was tied for the 54-hole lead and went on to win his eighth and final title.
George McNeill, the 2012 winner, was a stroke back. He had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth.
''I was hitting it really nice and I felt good about the way I was swinging it,'' McNeill said. ''For some reason, I figured something out today. Whether it continues on, we'll see. It feels like something I can hopefully work with for at least the remainder of the week.''
Compos and Dicky Pride are the only players to play in all nine editions of the event.
''I do rely on the info I've had in the past years,'' Compos said. ''Nine years, that's a lot. Actually, goes by very fast. I don't feel it's been nine years, that's for sure. But I do rely a lot on the information I have. I still have the same yardage book.''
He was trying to avoid distractions.
''I'm not turning my cellphone on today,'' Compos said. ''I really don't want to look at my cellphone. I told my caddie, 'We played good today, but I don't want to put any more pressure on me than I already have.' I want to perform good in front of the home crowd.''
Defending champion Alex Cejka was at 66 along with Aaron Baddeley, Frank Lickliter and Will MacKenzie.
''It was windy even in the beginning,'' Cejka said. ''The course is playing tricky.''
Baddeley eagled the 15th and closed with two birdies.
''I feel like I only really hit like two poor shots,'' Baddeley said. ''It's not easy in this wind, just got to be patient out here and that's what I was just trying to do. To have a fast finish like that was pretty exciting.''
English stars Luke Donald and Ian Poulter are playing after failing to qualify for the Match Play event in Texas. Donald opened with a 69, and Poulter shot 71. Poulter is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 67 in the world.
''I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens,'' Donald said. ''Would have liked to have finished a little stronger, missed a couple putts coming in, but otherwise I feel like I'm swinging well and giving myself lots of good chances.''
Scores
1 | USA | Tony Finau | -12 | 69 | 70 | 67 | 70 | 276 |
2 | USA | Steve Marino | -12 | 70 | 67 | 69 | 70 | 276 |
T3 | MEX | Rodolfo Cazaubon | -11 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 68 | 277 |
T3 | ENG | Ian Poulter | -11 | 71 | 66 | 68 | 72 | 277 |
T5 | USA | Scott Brown | -10 | 71 | 69 | 67 | 71 | 278 |
T5 | ARG | Andres Romero | -10 | 70 | 73 | 68 | 67 | 278 |
T5 | CAN | Nick Taylor | -10 | 70 | 71 | 67 | 70 | 278 |
T8 | AUS | Aaron Baddeley | -9 | 66 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 279 |
T8 | PRI | Rafael Campos | -9 | 64 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 279 |
T8 | USA | Will MacKenzie | -9 | 66 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 279 |
T11 | GER | Alex Cejka | -8 | 66 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 280 |
T11 | CAN | Graham DeLaet | -8 | 70 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 280 |
T11 | USA | Scott Langley | -8 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 69 | 280 |
T11 | USA | Kyle Reifers | -8 | 67 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 280 |
T15 | USA | Luke Guthrie | -7 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 281 |
T15 | USA | Tim Herron | -7 | 68 | 75 | 72 | 66 | 281 |
T15 | USA | Mark Hubbard | -7 | 67 | 70 | 72 | 72 | 281 |
T15 | SWE | Fredrik Jacobson | -7 | 69 | 69 | 70 | 73 | 281 |
T15 | USA | Kelly Kraft | -7 | 72 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 281 |
T15 | USA | Luke List | -7 | 70 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 281 |
T21 | USA | Derek Fathauer | -6 | 70 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 282 |
T21 | RSA | Retief Goosen | -6 | 73 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 282 |
T21 | USA | Jerry Kelly | -6 | 74 | 69 | 74 | 65 | 282 |
T21 | USA | Patrick Rodgers | -6 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 282 |
T21 | NZL | Tim Wilkinson | -6 | 71 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 282 |
T26 | USA | Michael Bradley | -5 | 67 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 283 |
T26 | ENG | Luke Donald | -5 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 283 |
T26 | USA | Brice Garnett | -5 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 283 |
T26 | USA | Frank Lickliter II | -5 | 66 | 72 | 75 | 70 | 283 |
T26 | AUS | Rod Pampling | -5 | 69 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 283 |
T26 | AUS | Cameron Percy | -5 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 283 |
T26 | USA | Scott Pinckney | -5 | 71 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 283 |
T26 | USA | Chris Stroud | -5 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 68 | 283 |
T26 | VEN | Jhonattan Vegas | -5 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 283 |
T35 | FRA | Gregory Bourdy | -4 | 69 | 72 | 77 | 66 | 284 |
T35 | RSA | George Coetzee | -4 | 71 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 284 |
T35 | USA | Billy Mayfair | -4 | 67 | 74 | 71 | 72 | 284 |
T35 | USA | Boo Weekley | -4 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 284 |
T39 | USA | Ricky Barnes | -3 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 285 |
T39 | RSA | Dean Burmester | -3 | 69 | 71 | 75 | 70 | 285 |
T39 | USA | Jonathan Byrd | -3 | 70 | 68 | 68 | 79 | 285 |
T39 | USA | Erik Compton | -3 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 285 |
T39 | SWE | Henrik Norlander | -3 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 73 | 285 |
T39 | USA | Sam Saunders | -3 | 71 | 69 | 74 | 71 | 285 |
T39 | USA | Michael Thompson | -3 | 68 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 285 |
T39 | USA | David Toms | -3 | 73 | 69 | 69 | 74 | 285 |
T47 | RSA | Thomas Aiken | -2 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 286 |
T47 | USA | Bronson Burgoon | -2 | 69 | 68 | 77 | 72 | 286 |
T47 | USA | Chad Collins | -2 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 286 |
T47 | ARG | Jorge Fernandez-Valdes | -2 | 72 | 69 | 68 | 77 | 286 |
T47 | USA | Bryce Molder | -2 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 72 | 286 |
T47 | USA | Darron Stiles | -2 | 67 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 286 |
T47 | CAN | Adam Svensson | -2 | 67 | 76 | 70 | 73 | 286 |
T54 | USA | John Rollins | -1 | 71 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 287 |
T54 | AUS | Cameron Smith | -1 | 72 | 69 | 70 | 76 | 287 |
T54 | USA | DJ Trahan | -1 | 71 | 69 | 76 | 71 | 287 |
T54 | USA | Steve Wheatcroft | -1 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 69 | 287 |
T58 | KOR | Whee-su Kim | Par | 71 | 71 | 71 | 75 | 288 |
T58 | USA | Andrew Landry | Par | 71 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 288 |
T60 | ZIM | Brendon de Jonge | 1 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 289 |
T60 | JPN | Hiroshi Iwata | 1 | 69 | 73 | 76 | 71 | 289 |
T62 | USA | Tyler Aldridge | 2 | 69 | 73 | 70 | 78 | 290 |
T62 | USA | Ken Duke | 2 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 290 |
T62 | RSA | Trevor Immelman | 2 | 69 | 70 | 80 | 71 | 290 |
T65 | USA | Derek Ernst | 3 | 69 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 291 |
T65 | USA | D.A. Points | 3 | 69 | 72 | 76 | 74 | 291 |
T65 | RSA | Tyrone Van Aswegen | 3 | 70 | 73 | 74 | 74 | 291 |
68 | USA | Ted Purdy | 4 | 70 | 73 | 73 | 76 | 292 |
69 | RSA | Drikus Van der Walt | 5 | 73 | 69 | 78 | 73 | 293 |
CUT | USA | Frankie Capan | Par | 73 | 71 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | ARG | Miguel Angel Carballo | Par | 70 | 74 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | John Daly | Par | 73 | 71 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | Tommy Gainey | Par | 74 | 70 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | Chesson Hadley | Par | 69 | 75 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | KOR | Michael Kim | Par | 73 | 71 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | Martin Piller | Par | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | Scott Stallings | Par | 73 | 71 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | USA | Brendon Todd | Par | 70 | 74 | - | - | 144 |
CUT | ENG | Brian Davis | 1 | 70 | 75 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | USA | Billy Hurley III | 1 | 72 | 73 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | CAN | Richard T. Lee | 1 | 72 | 73 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | MEX | Carlos Ortiz | 1 | 72 | 73 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | ITA | Renato Paratore | 1 | 70 | 75 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | USA | Dicky Pride | 1 | 72 | 73 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | USA | Alex Prugh | 1 | 73 | 72 | - | - | 145 |
CUT | USA | Eric Axley | 2 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | CAN | Wil Bateman | 2 | 74 | 72 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | Cameron Beckman | 2 | 67 | 79 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | AUS | Greg Chalmers | 2 | 74 | 72 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | Matt Dobyns | 2 | 70 | 76 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | Edward Figueroa | 2 | 71 | 75 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | Tom Gillis | 2 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | William McGirt | 2 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | PAR | Fabrizio Zanotti | 2 | 72 | 74 | - | - | 146 |
CUT | USA | Charlie Beljan | 3 | 70 | 77 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Jon Curran | 3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Jacob Eggers | 3 | 75 | 72 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Steve Flesch | 3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | AUS | Rhein Gibson | 3 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Bo Hoag | 3 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | CHN | Hao-Tong Li | 3 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Marc Turnesa | 3 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Johnson Wagner | 3 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
CUT | USA | Abraham Ancer | 4 | 71 | 77 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | USA | Fred Funk | 4 | 72 | 76 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | USA | Morgan Hoffmann | 4 | 74 | 74 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | USA | Tom Hoge | 4 | 71 | 77 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | USA | Peter Malnati | 4 | 73 | 75 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | RSA | John Mclean | 4 | 76 | 72 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | USA | Michael Putnam | 4 | 75 | 73 | - | - | 148 |
CUT | AUS | Robert Allenby | 5 | 75 | 74 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | PRI | Max Alverio | 5 | 71 | 78 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | USA | Robert Garrigus | 5 | 75 | 74 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | USA | Andres Gonzales | 5 | 74 | 75 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | USA | Jack Maguire | 5 | 74 | 75 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | USA | Tim Petrovic | 5 | 69 | 80 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | RSA | Rory Sabbatini | 5 | 77 | 72 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | USA | Kyle Stanley | 5 | 73 | 76 | - | - | 149 |
CUT | AUS | Mark Hensby | 6 | 76 | 74 | - | - | 150 |
CUT | AUS | Jarrod Lyle | 6 | 71 | 79 | - | - | 150 |
CUT | KOR | Seung-Yul Noh | 6 | 72 | 78 | - | - | 150 |
CUT | USA | Brian Stuard | 6 | 75 | 75 | - | - | 150 |
CUT | USA | Alan Morin | 7 | 77 | 74 | - | - | 151 |
CUT | USA | Rob Oppenheim | 7 | 72 | 79 | - | - | 151 |
CUT | USA | Wes Roach | 7 | 74 | 77 | - | - | 151 |
CUT | USA | Shawn Stefani | 7 | 78 | 73 | - | - | 151 |
CUT | PRI | Miguel Suarez | 7 | 76 | 75 | - | - | 151 |
CUT | USA | Connor Arendell | 10 | 78 | 76 | - | - | 154 |
DSQ | USA | George McNeill | -3 | 65 | 71 | 77 | - | 213 |
RET | CHN | Dong-Hwan Lee | 3 | 74 | - | - | - | 74 |
RET | BRA | Lucas Lee | 5 | 76 | - | - | - | 76 |
RET | USA | John Merrick | 8 | 75 | - | - | - | 75 |