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They described it as “ham-and-egg” golf, but it was a winning partnership nonetheless as Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak birdied 12 of their final 13 holes Sunday at Tiburon Golf Course in Naples, Fla., to rally from three strokes back to secure a one-shot win at the QBE Shootout.
“We got off to a poor start,” said Na of their lackluster first five holes, which included a birdie at No. 3 and a bogey at No. 5. They stood even par on the day and had fallen to five shots back heading to the sixth tee. “We kept telling ourselves there are plenty of birdie holes out there, kinda kept cheering for each other. … I started making some birdies and we got hot.”
In fact, the 38-year-old Na, who collected his fifth career title last January at the Sony Open in Hawaii and finished a career-high third place in the FedExCup last season, proceeded to rattle off seven straight birdies over Nos. 6-12 in Sunday’s better-ball format. That’s when Na said he looked over at his partner and asked, albeit jokingly, “Hey, man, when are you going to show up?”
Kokrak assured Na he’d be there on the back nine when he was needed the most, and the pair extended their birdie streak to nine straight to take a two-stroke lead through 14 holes. A par at No. 15 did nothing to disrupt the momentum, and Kokrak made good on his promise down the stretch, making three straight birdies of his own on Nos. 16-18 to seal the victory for the first-time team.
They closed with a 12-under 60, tying the tournament record in the four-ball format since the event moved to Tiburon in 2001. Na and Kokrak, who opened with a 59 in the scramble format on Friday and recorded a 64 in the modified alternate-shot on Saturday, finished at 33-under 183, falling one stroke shy of the lowest 54-hole score in the event (set by Fred Couples/Raymond Floyd in 1990, and Matt Kuchar/Harris English in 2013).
“We ham-and-egged it,” said Kokrak, who’s captured three Tour titles since the start of the 2020-21 season (2020 CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek, 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge, 2021 Houston Open). “I leaned on him all on the front nine. He told me on nine he was going to hoop it after he missed the green and he sure did, it was right in the middle. It was pretty impressive stuff to watch that and kind of inspired me a little bit to get the train going. I made a couple myself.”
Kokrak and Na came into the week among the betting favorites, listed at +600 via PointsBet Sportsbook alongside three-time Shootout winners and defending champions Harris English and Matt Kuchar, and behind the favored duo of Sam Burns and Billy Horschel at +450. Horschel chipped in for birdie at 18 on Sunday to break out of a tie for runners-up, and he and Burns finished with a 61 to secure solo second at 32 under.
“Obviously we knew they were making birdies; we didn’t know if it was one or both of them,” said Horschel, who was making his ninth consecutive start in the event and chasing his first Shootout win with Burns, who was making his tournament debut. The pair carded rounds of 61-62 the first two days.
“At the end of the day in this format you’ve got to give two opportunities on the greens and obviously if one guy gets hot, that’s great,” Horschel added. “I guess it was Kevin, and not shocking. You get that guy on the green, he can make a 50-foot putt look like a 5-foot putt. He can roll that rock with the best of them.”
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The all-Aussie pairing of Jason Day and Marc Leishman, listed at +800, commanded the lead through the first two days in Naples. They kicked off with a 16-under 56, one stroke short of the event’s scramble scoring record, to take a one-shot lead after the first round and followed up with an 8-under 64 to extend their lead to three. But they failed to get any momentum rolling Sunday, making just three birdies on the front, two on the back and an eagle at 17 to end with a 65 and finish two strokes back at 31 under, tied for T-3 with Kuchar and English.
“Just a little bit off, I think. Just cold putters,” said Leishman, who was making his second Shootout appearance but partnering with Day for the first time. “But Kevin and Jason, they played some unbelievable golf. I don’t even know what we shot. We just left too many shots out there and just couldn’t get it going. In four-ball, you have to see those putts drop in and we weren’t able to do that.”
Day, who was making second career appearance at the Shootout and first since winning in 2015 with Cameron Tringale, said he was pleased with his performance overall despite struggling with consistency in his swing as well as lingering pain in his back.
“It’s still not 100 percent. Obviously, every day I come off and I’m just a little bit in pain still because it’s just not quite -- it’s hard,” said Day, who missed the cut in his most recent start last month at the RSM Classic. “…There was some really good shots mixed in with some kind of old stuff. It’s making a slow move to the correct stuff, but yeah, I think overall I was very pleased how the week went.”
Kuchar and English, who began the final round three strokes back in their bid to become the third team to successfully defend a Shootout title, made eight birdies and an eagle at the par-5 17th to close with a 10-under 62. By virtue of their third win in last year’s event, the team holds the distinction of having collected the most team victories (2013, 2016 and 2020).
“It was a good run all things considered,” said Kuchar, who was making his 11th start in the event, while English was playing for a seventh time. The duo was the only same-partner team to return this year.
“I don’t think either one of us were on our best form and I think we partnered up fairly well. There were a couple holes Harris was out that I was able to kind of hold on, recover, even make some birdies, which was fun. And then Harris just kind of owns this back nine and put it on on the back nine. Really, really kind of got us back in at least with a chance on the last hole.”
Other notable finishes Sunday included five-time Shootout veteran Kevin Kisner and debutant Max Homa (listed at +750 ahead of the week), who reeled off 11 birdies, including six straight on Nos. 13-18, to finish T-5 at 28-under 188.
After opening with rounds of 59-66, Bubba Watson and LPGA star Lexi Thompson (+3000) carded the high round of the day Sunday with a with a 4-under 68 and finished ninth at 23 under. Watson was playing in his seventh Shootout while this year marked five for Thompson, who recently finished eighth in the 2021 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon and won there in 2018.
Up next: PNC Championship
Tiger Woods will make his highly anticipated return to action next week at the PNC Championship, where he’ll tee it up with 12-year-old son Charlie for a second time at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. Justin Thomas and his father, long-time PGA of America professional Mike Thomas, are set to defend their title from last year.
The 45-year-old Woods made the announcement last Wednesday on Twitter, writing: “Although it’s been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the PNC Championship with my son Charlie. I’m playing as a Dad and couldn’t be more excited and proud.”
The parent-child tournament (traditionally a father-son event) had been holding a spot for Woods, who suffered significant injuries to his right leg in a horrific single-car accident in February. The 15-time major champion had been teasing his return to action for a few weeks, most recently with several practice sessions on the range at the Hero World Challenge, where he was tournament host and spotted wearing his signature red on Sunday.
Last year at the PNC, Tiger and Charlie finished seventh in their tournament debut. It also marked the last time Woods played competitive golf before his accident. In taking the 36-hole title, the Thomas duo birdied their first seven holes in Sunday’s finale and finished with a 15-under 57 to best Vijay Singh and his son, Qass, by a shot.
Among the 20 golfers to tee it up in this year’s event are Olympic gold medalist Nelly Korda and her father, tennis star Petr Korda, and golfing greats Nick Faldo (son, Matthew), Tom Watson (son, Michael), Lee Trevino (son, Daniel), Nick Price (son, Greg) and 85-year-old Gary Player (grandson, Jordan).
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