Mahan wins Barclays
After a sizzling back nine, Hunter Mahan snatched a superb win at The Barclays on Sunday.
Mahan carded a final round of seven under 65 which took him to 14 under for the tournament, enough to win by two strokes and his first on the PGA tour since April 2012.
After starting the day one stroke behind co-leaders Jason Day and Jim Furyk, the American had a slow start and found him two under for the round on the eleventh tee.
Birdies on the eleventh and 13th saw him move up the leaderboard, but it was his string of three birdies that won the title for Mahan.
The run started with a great two on the par three 15th, that was followed by a wedge to within two feet of the pin on the 16th for a tap in birdie. Mahan then rolled in a 20 foot birdie putt on the 17th for a three shot lead going into the final hole.
However, it seemed as though he tried to lose it. On the 18th tee, a confident Mahan took out the driver and pushed it into the trees. He was forced to chip back into the fairway, then he pulled his approach shot into the rough and eventually sank an eight foot bogey putt for the win.
“To get a win in an event like this, and the timing that it was, it feels unbelievable,” the 32-year-old told golf.com.
“This game is all about winning. You can have a great year and if you don’t win, it just feels like you missed out on something. So to get a win, and do it in a tournament like this in this kind of fashion with a 65 on Sunday, feels great.”
Two shots off the pace was Stuart Appleby, Jason Day and 27-year-old Cameron Tringle, who could have finished by himself in second but bogeyed the final hole.
World number one Rory McIlroy carded a two under 70 to finish on five under, while Adam Scott will rue his third round 75, but made a decent comeback to close out at seven under par.
Mahan was excited about his sixth PGA Tour win, which is important for the FedEx Cup standings.
“This is a FedEx Cup play-off event, this is where all the best players are and this is where you need to peak your game and play some great golf,” added the Californian.
“To do it on Sunday like I did and hit so many great shots and so many big putts near the end feels great.”
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