Munoz bags first TOUR win in sudden death

By
Mo Yoshimoto,

By
Mo Yoshimoto

Published September 23, 2019 08:55 AM

Sanderson Farms Championship

Country Club of Jackson

Jackson, MS

Winner’s Share: $1,188,000

This was the 52^nd edition (dating to 1968) and first as a stand-alone event on the PGA TOUR.

The 1^st-place prize increased a whopping $396,000 (from $792,000), while the FedExCup haul jumped from 300 points to 500.

The field size increased from 132 to the max of 156.

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Playing out of the final twosome, overnight leader (by one) and World No. 179 Sebastian Munoz battled to a 2-under-par 35-35=70 in Sunday’s final round to match Sungjae Im (66) on 18-under 270, and then defeated him with an up-and-down par on the first hole of sudden death, the par-4 18^th.

The 26-year-old, a pre-tourney 66/1 outright, improves to 1-for-2 when leading/co-leading after 54 holes and 1-0 in extra time.

He wins his first PGA TOUR title in 47 events after checking in off a T7 at last week’s Greenbrier, where after opening with 69 (T73), he wrapped with trip 66s to finish eight swings shy of good friend and Chilean Joaquin Niemann, who claimed his first TOUR win in his 44^th start.

This was the Colombian’s third SFC, brushing aside a previous-best T35 on debut two tries ago in 2017 during his rookie campaign.

Overall, it’s his sixth career top-10 finish, bettering a previous-best T3 at the 2017 Greenbrier, where he was the 54-hole leader by two and shot 2-over 72 out of the final twosome.

Im, two groups ahead, answered a bogey-4 at 13 with a hat-trick of red at 14-16 for 66, posting the clubhouse target, which Munoz matched with a clutch 14'7" walk-off birdie-3 to force the playoff.

In the extra frame, both players missed the fairway and the green, with Munoz saving par from 86'5" short of the green, dropping a 3-foot 8-incher, after Im, who had airmailed the green, missed his par-saver from 6'6".

With the win, the North Texas alum earns a two-year exemption and a host of goodies, including his first trip to the Masters later this season.

He ended up playing his final 56 holes in 16-under (18 birdies, 2 bogeys).

Im, the reigning PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, drops to 0-1 in playoffs. His runner-up is a career best in 39 events, eclipsing a T3 last season at Bay Hill.

First-timer Byeong Hun An, who led by two at the midpoint and co-led with eight holes to go in his lap on Sunday, finished solo 3^rd with 69, one swing short of the playoff, while Kevin Streelman (64) and Munoz’ final-round playing competitor Carlos Ortiz (71), shared 4^th place, two shy of the playoff.

Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):

P1- (-18) Sebastian Munoz (66/1)

P2- (-18) Sungjae Im (16/1)

3- (-17) Byeong Hun An (25/1)

4- (-16) Kevin Streelman (66/1)

4- (-16) Carlos Ortiz (125/1)

Note: Repeat top-10 finishers in the event: Ortiz (4-3)

Munoz’ Position by Round:

R1: T43 (6 back)

R2: T9 (5 back)

R3: 1 (by 1)

R4: T1

Im’s Position by Round:

R1: T15 (4 back)

R2: T9 (5 back)

R3: T5 (4 back)

R4: T1

Munoz on Sunday:

After opening with 70-67 and week-low, bogey-free 63, he led fellow Mean Green alum Ortiz by one, four clear of Im, who began T5 out of the third-to-last twosome.

Munoz hit six (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, posting 0.400 SG: Off-the-Tee, -0.164 SG: Approach, -0.716 SG: Around, and -0.479 SG: Tee-to-Green.

He squared a lone bogey-5 at the drivable 15^th (failed sand save), outpaced by three circles at 3, 11 and 18.

Munoz recorded 1.846 putts per GIR and 0.744 SG: Putting with 30 total putts, converting two scoring tries from between nine and 15 feet, and also saved par from 12 feet at the sixth.

OUT: 1-under 35 (1 birdie, 0 bogeys); co-leader (with An; 3-under thru 10).

IN: 1-under 35 (2 birdies, 1 bogey); WINS in playoff.

For the week, he tallied 21 birdies against just three bogeys and ranked No. 1 in Total Bogeys and Birdie to Bogey Ratio, while 4^th in SG: Off-the-Tee and 5^th in SG: Putting.

How Munoz Won the Tournament:

Ranked 1^st (or T1) in: Total Bogeys; Birdie to Bogey Ratio

Ranked 2^nd (or T2) in: N/A

Note: See “Strokes Gained Leaders Stats” at the bottom, along with his full stats.

Lowest-Ranked Stat(s): SG: Around-the-Green (ranked 40^th); Par-3 Scoring (T37); Driving Accuracy (T36)

Munoz at Sanderson Farms:

Starts: 3

Top 25s: 1

Top 10s: 1

Wins: 1

Form: 1-50-35

Note: Munoz was a cumulative 10-under in his first two appearances with a scoring average of 70.75 on the par-72 layout. His scoring average this week: 67.50.

Munoz’ TOUR Career:

Starts: 47

Cuts Made: 27 (57.4%)

Top 25s: 9 (19.1%)

Top 10s: 6 (12.7%)

Top 3s: 2 (4.2%)

Wins: 1 (2.1%)

Munoz’ Season:

Starts: 2

Cuts Made: 2

Top 25s: 2

Top 10s: 2

Top 5s: 1

Wins: 1

Season Form: 1-7

By the Numbers:

2/1: Munoz’ revised outright betting entering R4.

6: Munoz’ breakthrough makes it six straight first-time winners of the Sanderson Farms. That matches the Shriners for longest streak of first-time winners since the advent of ShotLink in 2003.

2014: Munoz is the first Colombian to win on TOUR since Camilo Villegas in 2014 (Wyndham).

63: In each of the prior three editions, the eventual winner carded the low round of the day in two of four rounds. Munoz did it once this week with a brilliant 63 in R3 (9 birdies, 0 bogeys), powering him to a one-shot lead.

117: Munoz finished a career-best 117^th in the FEC standings last season with three top 10s in 26 events in his second season.

28: This was the second event with the new cut rule of top 65 and ties. Sixty-eight (68) players made the cut, 13 (T58) on the number. Under the old cut rule, 80 players would’ve made the cut, resulting in a difference of 12 players. Through two events, 28 less players made the weekend as a result of the new cut rule.

0: None of the final three pairings on Sunday owned a TOUR win but interestingly, they each had won on other circuits. Additionally, they each had a prior top-2 or top-3 finish on TOUR, just no wins.

39: This was the first sudden-death playoff on TOUR since last season’s RSM Classic 39 (non-team) events ago, where 54-hole leader Charles Howell III beat Patrick Rodgers with birdie-3 on the second playoff hole for his first win in 4,291 days.

62: Ortiz was solo 2^nd after 54 holes. It was his first time in the top 10 after 54 holes since T7 at the 2015 Barclays (62 starts ago), where he finished T24. The 28-year-old ended this week with 71 (3 birdies, 2 bogeys) for T4.

67: After going 30 starts without being in the top 10 after 54 holes, Harris English has now been there two times in the last two weeks. He finished T6 on 15-under 273 (65-71-68-69), three shy of the playoff, after finishing T3 at last week’s Greenbrier. The 30-year-old, playing this season on conditional status, records his first back-to-back top 10s since three in a row in February, 2014 (67 months ago).

2: Im, who began T5, four back, records his first runner-up in 39 events and second top 3, eclipsing a T3 at last season’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

3: An’s solo 3^rd was good for top first-timer (of 29) and was the only debutant to finish in the top 30. It’s his fifth top 3 in 98 events, first since solo 3^rd at last season’s regular-season finale at the Wyndham, where he led/co-led after each of the first three rounds.

T16: 18 (of 21) TOUR rookies were in the field. For a second week in a row, Scottie Scheffler took top-rookie honors, this time with T16 on 12-under 276 (68-66-72-70). He finished T7 at last week’s Greenbrier (as a 36-hole co-leader) on 13-under 267 (65-62-71-69).

0: Through two non-team event this season, the pre-tourney fave/co-fave won zero times. Last season, two fave/co-faves won (in 45 non-team events): Rory McIlroy (12/1 co-fave) at THE PLAYERS, and Collin Morikawa at the Barracuda (10/1).

14/1: Last week’s winner Niemann was a pre-tourney 14/1 fave outright. He finished T54 (68-73-73-70), 14 swings adrift of the playoff.

41: Zero of the Top 25 in OWGR showed up – nine were at the Euro Tour’s BMW PGA in England, though four of the Top 50 were here. Brandt Snedeker was the top-ranked OWGRer in the field at No. 41. He finished T45 (69-69-71-73) in his tournament debut, 12 short of the playoff