March 27, 2017
D.A. Points posted his first win on the PGA Tour in four years with a six-under 66 in the final round of the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday.
Points opened his final round with a burst of five straight birdies. He also had three bogeys over a five-hole span but managed to right the ship with a strong back nine on the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club course in Rio Grande.
The 40-year-old American birdied the par-five 18th hole to finish at 20-under 268 and win by two strokes for his third career PGA Tour win.
"I can't even begin to explain what this means," said Points, whose last win came at the 2013 Houston Open.
"Couple really awful years, I pretty much hit rock bottom. Put my family through a lot. To be able to find the strength and courage to stay calm and win is something I didn't know I had in me."
South African Retief Goosen posted eight birdies to move into a three-way tie for second place with Bill Lunde and rookie Bryson DeChambeau.
Points began the day one shot behind leader Chris Stroud. He started quickly but hit a snag with bogeys on six, eight and 10. He turned it around with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th.
Former US Open champ Goosen rolled in birdies on the second and fifth and from the seventh through 10th, and added two more at 14 and 18 to shoot his third bogey-free round of the tournament.
DeChambeau carded birdies on three of his last five holes to finish with a final-round 67.
Sam Saunders shot a 65 for one of the best rounds of the day. He opened with birdies on the first three holes and tacked on four more in a bogey-free round.
The tournament offers a chance for lesser lights on the PGA Tour to contend while top-ranked talent plays at Austin, Texas, in the World Golf Championships Match Play tournament.
March 26, 2017
Chris Stroud capped his five-under 67 with a birdie to seize a one-shot lead after three rounds of the US PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open on Saturday.
Stroud broke out of a three-way tie atop the leaderboard, finishing 54 holes at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club with a 15-under par total of 201.
He was one shot in front of fellow Americans D.A. Points and Bill Lunde, who had shared the second-round lead with Bryson DeChambeau and both carded 69s.
DeChambeau fired a 70 to join a group of six players sharing fourth on 203 that also included England's Andrew Johnston, South Korean Kim Whee, Puerto Rican Rafael Campos, New Zealander Tim Wilkinson and American Jonathan Randolph.
Stroud, who started the third round one shot off the lead, had five birdies without a bogey to put himself in position to challenge for a first US PGA Tour title Sunday.
His previous best finish was a playoff loss at the Travelers Championship in 2013.
"I feel like I'm way overdue," Stroud said. "I'm playing very, very well. I'm making some nice putts."
He said his approach on Sunday would be simple.
"Nothing fancy -- just go out there and hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. There's a lot of guys behind me. I'm just going to keep looking forward."
Points had four birdies and a bogey in his round, but couldn't find a birdie after the 12th.
Lunde, seeking a second US PGA victory almost seven years after capturing his first, had joined the second round leaders with three pars to end his weather-disrupted 68 on Saturday morning.
He followed with a three-under effort that included five birdies and two bogeys.
Johnston stormed up the leaderboard with a bogey-free six-under par 66. His six birdies included two to cap his round.
Whee carded a 67 and Randolph a 68. Wilkinson followed up a second-round 63 with a 69 and Campos, who had seized sole possession of the lead with five birdies on the front nine, settled for a 69.
The tournament offers a chance for lesser lights on the PGA Tour to contend while top-ranked talent plays at Austin, Texas, in the World Golf Championships Match-Play tournament.
March 25, 2017
Bryson DeChambeau, D.A. Points and Bill Lunde were locked in a three-way tie for the lead when darkness suspended second-round play on Friday at the Puerto Rico Open.
The three Americans were knotted at 11 under par on the rain-softened Coco Beach course, with Lunde having three holes to complete as one of 45 players returning early on Saturday to finish the round in Rio Grande.
DeChambeau fired a seven-under-par 65, Points a 69, and Lunde was four-under for the day after an opening 65.
New Zealand left-hander Tim Wilkinson joined a large group one off the lead with a sizzling 63, playing his last eight holes in seven under par.
PGA Tour rookie Trey Mullinax, who grabbed the first round lead at 63 five days after getting married, remained at nine under par after 13 holes when play was halted.
With nearly all of the game's top players competing at the WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin, a weak field at the Puerto Rico could provide a springboard to success for the eventual winner, though the champion will not receive an invitation to the Masters next month.
March 24, 2017
Five days after marrying his high school sweetheart, American rookie Trey Mullinax fired a bogey-free nine-under par 63 to seize a one-stroke lead Thursday at the storm-hit Puerto Rico Open.
Mullinax, who married Abi Essman in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, matched the best opening round in tournament history with his lowest PGA round to seize a one-stroke lead over compatriot D.A. Points.
Lightning halted the first round of the US PGA Tour event with 36 players still on the course, the nearest of them to the lead being American Jonathan Randoph at six-under with three holes remaining.
Final groups will complete their opening round Friday morning and then move into the second round at the event, a chance for tour lesser lights while top-ranked talent competes at the World Golf Championships Match-Play event in Austin, Texas.
Mullinax began on the back nine with three consecutive birdies and added another at the par-5 15th. He added back-to-back birdies to open his second nine, two more at four and five and his last at the seventh.
Despite not playing for six weeks, Points also had a bogey-free round starting off the 10th tee. He opened and closed with birdies in going 4-under on the back side, then added birdies at three and seven before holing out from the fairway at the ninth for an eagle from 146 yards with a 9-iron to finish on Millinax's heels.
Points, 40, seeks his third PGA title after the 2011 Pebble Beach Pro-Am and 2013 Houston Open.
Americans Bill Lunde and Xander Schauffele shared third on 65 with Canada's David Hearn and Americans Harold Varner, Ricky Barnes, Kevin Tway and J.T. Poston on 66
