OHL Classic at Mayakoba:
Pat Perez, a pre-tourney 80/1 outright, overcame a one-shot deficit with a final-round 4-under-par 31-36=67 to win the 10th OHL Classic at Mayakoba in a tournament-record-tying 21-under-par 263, besting 54-hole leader Gary Woodland by two shots and claiming his second PGA TOUR title in his 379th career start.
The 40-year-old wins for the first time since the 50th Bob Hope Classic in January, 2009, 182 starts ago. The Hope, now known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, was a scheduled 90-hole event back then and he won that in come-from-behind fashion as well, erasing a three-shot deficit with a 3-under 69 to win by three.
Last season, the Arizonian was limited to just 11 events, missing the cut in his last start at The Honda Classic in late-February. Twelve days later, he had shoulder surgery (3/8/16) and 34 weeks later, he opened the 2016-17 campaign at the CIMB Classic on a Major Medical Extension.
At the no-cut CIMB, Perez opened in 2-over 74 and chased with 67-71-68 for T33 (of 78 players). He followed with a T7 last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (66-66-69-68), his first top 10 since T5 at the 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational.
This week, the ASU product began with 68-66, T11 at the midpoint and five back of Woodland, and vaulted to solo 2nd after a week-low 62 to begin the finale one shy of Woodland.
Playing out of the final threesome (Woodland, Scott Piercy), he went out in bogey-free 31, circling Nos. 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 to take a three-shot lead at the turn. At that point, the leaderboard read:
1- Pat Perez: -22 (thru 9 holes)
2- Scott Piercy: -19 (thru 9)
3- Gary Woodland: -17 (9)
T4- Kevin Streelman: -16 (11)
T4- Luke List: -16 (10)
T4- Russell Knox: -16 (10)
After the break, Perez was never really challenged, coasting to the finish with eight pars and a lone bogey-5 at the 12th. Woodland shot 70 for solo 2nd and Knox finished solo 3rd after 66 (three back).
As mentioned, Perez began the season on a Major Medical and had 15 starts to earn 420.160 FedExCup (FEC) points or $670,050. In his third start, he easily satisfied the terms, pocketing $1.26M.
According to the TOUR’s Rob Bolton, Perez is the “first player to prevail via status on any medical extension for which the terms were not yet met since Harrison Frazar won the 2011 FedEx St. Jude Classic in the 10th of 11 allotted starts on a Major Medical Extension.”
Dating back to Perez’ opening 2-over 74 at the CIMB, he’s now posted 11 straight in the red and is a cumulative 42-under during that stretch.
This was the 10th anniversary of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba with all 10 editions contested at the El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, México. The 6,987-yard par-71 layout (36-35) played under-par in all four rounds with a cumulative scoring average of 69.609.
Perez, making his fourth appearance with a previous best of T13 on debut in 2007, posted rounds of 68-66-62-67. He was bogey-free 17-under on the front nine and 4-under on the back, including all four of his bogeys. Perez’ first-nine 29 in R3 is the low 9-hole score on TOUR this season.
With a Strength of Field rating of 150, he collects 30.00 world-ranking points and climbs 165 places to 106th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Perez’ career-high OWGR is 48th after the 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
In total, just FIVE of the Top 50 in OWGR were in the field this week: Knox (No. 19) finished solo 3rd; Emiliano Grillo (No. 26) finished T10; Jim Furyk (No. 32) missed cut; Piercy (No. 35) finished T4; Marc Leishman (No. 48) finished T24.
Perez collects 500 FEC points for the win, jumping 32 spots to a career-best 3rd in the FEC standings.
Trends:
Inclusive of Perez, FIVE of the first SIX winners this season have emerged out of the FINAL group on Sunday. Only Brendan Steele bucks the trend, coming from four back with a 7-under 65 to win the season-opening Safeway out of the third-to-last threesome.
Also, 54-hole leaders/co-leaders are now 1-for-6 in converting this season. Patton Kizzire (Safeway), Anirban Lahiri (CIMB), List, Chris Kirk (Sanderson Farms), Lucas Glover (Shriners) and now Woodland (OHL), have all failed to convert. Only Hideki Matsuyama (WGC-HSBC) has been successful.
Soap Box:
THREE of the first SIX tournaments this season have not employed ShotLink, including the OHL. When you couple that with the fact that the Masters, US Open and The Open Championship also do not use ShotLink, it can be misleading to reference “season-long” strokes-gained stats.
Example: Matsuyama has a solo 2nd (CIMB) and 1st (WGC-HSBC) and is 43-under-par in those two events – and has ZERO SG: stats. As such, this writer will focus on strokes-gained stats “by event” only.
Winner’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 72 players):
NOTE: N/A = No ShotLink data in use at OHL Classic
Eagle: 1 (T5)
Birdies: 23 (T8)
Bogeys: 4 (T3)
Par-3 Scoring: 2.75 (T18)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.82 (2nd)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.25 (T4)
Driving Distance: 292.3 (19th)
Driving Accuracy: 36/56 (T49) at 64.29 percent
Greens in Regulation: 55/72 (T11) at 76.39 percent
Proximity to Hole: N/A
Putts per GIR: 1.600 (T13)
Total Putts: 109 (T8); by round: 28-27-26-28
Scrambling: 13/17 (T9) at 76.47 percent
Leader(s) in Select Stats:
Birdie or Better Percentage: Kevin Streelman (finished T4), Scott Piercy (T4), Stewart Cink (T15) were all T1 at 36.11 percent
Birdie to Bogey Ratio: Perez was 1st at 6.00. Charles Howell III (finished T7) and Gary Woodland (2nd) were T2 at 4.80
Golf Channel Perfect Picks:
Golf Channel’s game is scheduled to begin with the Tournament of Champions Jan. 5-8, 2017.
Draw:
In total, 73 players from a field of 132 pros made the cut of 2-under 140.
40 (of 66) EARLY/late; (2 WDs)
33 (of 66) LATE/early
NOTE: Danny Lee made the cut but WD during R3 (migraine)
As far as making the cut, it was more advantageous for EARLY/late. Further, of the 12 players that finished in the Top 10, eight were EARLY/late, including the champion.
Through FOUR events so far this season where there’s been a traditional DRAW (minus the no-cut CIMB and WGC-HSBC), THREE of the winners have been EARLY/late. Only rookie Cody Gribble at the opposite-field Sanderson Farms was LATE/early. In fact, he teed off in the last threesome of the day off No. 1 tee in R1.
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
Like Golf Channel, the Yahoo! game is expected to begin with the Tournament of Champions.
That said, here were the low rounds:
R1: Chris Kirk (63)
R2: Xander Schauffele (63) **career low in 19th career round
R3: Pat Perez (62)
R4: Brian Gay (64)
What We Learned:
Last season, the pre-tourney odds-favorite(s) won just TWICE in 46 events: Jordan Spieth at the Hyundai TOC and the DEAN & DELUCA – NONE so far this season through six events.
Russell Knox: The 31-year-old, a pre-tourney fave at 14/1 outright, crafted a 5-under-par 34-32=66 in the final round to reach 18-under 266, up three spots to solo 3rd.
A playoff loser here last year, he began the finale in a four-way T6, five shy of 54-hole leader Woodland. This was the Scot’s third start of the season and third STRAIGHT event where’s been in the top 10 thru 54 holes.
In his first two starts, he was T2 and solo 2nd at the CIMB and WGC-HSBC thru 54 holes, eventually finishing T10 and T9, respectively, with 2-over 74s. Today’s result was much different, camouflaging two bogey-5s with seven birdies.
Last season, the Jacksonville University alum was one (of six) multiple winners on TOUR, winning twice en route to a career-best 8th in the FEC standings, and has opened this season with three straight top-10 finishes.
Gary Woodland: The second- and third-round leader backed up with a 1-under-par 37-33=70 in the final round to post 19-under 265, down one place to solo 2nd.
He led by one at the midpoint and by one (over Perez) at the three-quarter mark. It was the 32-year-old’s fifth career 54-hole lead/co-lead in his 177th career start and drops to 1-for-5 in that regard, and also drops to 0-for-2 as a 36-hole leader/co-leader. He was chasing his third TOUR title, first since the 2013 Reno-Tahoe Open (84 starts ago), where was the 54-hole leader.
Woodland wound up leading the field in GIR for the week at 86.11 percent, but was shaky from the get-go, squaring bogey-5s at Nos. 1 and 3 before birdie-4 at 7 to turn 1-over, now five back of Perez.
The Kansas alum exchanged birdie-3 at 11 with bogey-5 at 16 before finishing on an uptick with back-to-back birdies, salvaging his seventh career runner-up, first since solo 2nd at the Barracuda back in July. He does climb back inside the OWGR Top 50, up nine places to No. 45. His career-high OWGR is 24th following the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.
31: First-timers (of 132):
Chris Kirk: The 31-year-old was the top debutant with a three-way T7 on 16-under 268. He was the first-round leader (by one) with bogey-free 63 and chased with 70-68-67. The St. Simons Island, Georgia, resident is 4-for-4 to start the season with three top 10s, including a T2 two weeks ago as a 54-hole co-leader at the opposite-field Sanderson Farms.
17: TOUR rookies:
Cody Gribble: The 26-year-old shared top rookie honors with T15 on 12-under 272 (68-66-71-67). Two starts ago, in his eighth career TOUR event (second as a member), he won the Sanderson Farms by four, erasing a one-shot deficit with a 7-under 65. Last week, the Texan dipped to T65 in Vegas, but he’s now 4-for-4 to start the season with three top-15 finishes, tossing in a T8 at the Safeway.
Ryan Blaum: The 33-year-old is also 4-for-4 to start the season and shared top rookie honors with T15 on 12-under 272 (67-71-66-68). His season best is T11 (Sanderson Farms) and has now posted 16 straight rounds of par-or-better with 15 of those in the red. The Floridian is currently 25th on TOUR in scoring average at 70.105.
Defending Champ:
Graeme McDowell: The 37-year-old, a playoff winner here last year, opened with 4-over 75 to sit T121. He responded with 65 to make the cut on the number (T59) and finished up his third appearance with 65-68 for T24 on 11-under 273, seven shots worse than his winning aggregate last year. The Ulsterman opened the season with a missed cut (by one) at the Shriners (70-70).
Notable Finishes:
Scott Piercy: The 38-year-old, who celebrated his birthday Nov. 6th, stalled out to a 1-under-par 33-37=70 in the final round to post 17-under 267, down one spot into a three-way T4.
Piercy began the finale two back in solo 3rd and climbed to solo 2nd at the break. He bobbled down the stretch, including a double on the 72nd hole, giving up what could’ve been a two-way T2 with a par.
The Las Vegas native and resident has been in the top 10 thru 54 holes in FOUR of his FIVE starts this season but has posted closing rounds of 70-72-70-70. On an upside, he does record his third top 10 and second top 5 (T3, Safeway).
Chez Reavie: The ASU product rallied for a 4-under-par 35-32=67 in the final round to post 17-under 67, up two places into a three-way T4. It’s his first top 10 since T7 at the 2016 Shell Houston Open 32 weeks (18 starts) ago. The 35-year-old, who celebrated his birthday Nov. 12th, arrived off a T24 at the Shriners, where he followed an opening 76 with a career-tying-low 61 and 68-67, playing rounds 2 and 3 blemish-free. Reavie is 4-for-4 for the season with three top 25s.
Oscar Fraustro: The World No. 1178 and open-qualifier finished T13 on 13-under 271 (71-66-68-66). It was just his third TOUR start in 64 weeks following a missed cut here last year (sponsor invite) and a T26 at the 2015 Wyndham, which ended his rookie season (and lost his card).
John Peterson: Playing this season on a Major Medical Extension (left-hand surgery), the 27-year-old orchestrated a 3-under-par 36-32=68 in the final round to post 12-under 272, up nine places to T15. The LSU product opened with 71-69 to make the cut on the number, and chased with a bogey-free career-tying-low 64 and 68. This is the first time that he’s completed four rounds on TOUR since a 77th- and LAST-place finish at the no-cut CIMB Classic 54 weeks ago.
Keegan Bradley: The 30-year-old arrived off back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time since connecting four straight in 2013. He finished T15 on 12-under 272 (72-67-67-66). While the St. Johns alum’s top-10 streak ended, he’s 4-for-4 on the season with FOUR top 25s.
Cameron Davis: The World No. 1871 and sponsor invite finished T15 on 12-under 272 (66-70-66-70) in his TOUR debut. The 21-year-old Aussie, who turned pro three weeks ago with a T13 at the Isuzu Queensland Open, co-led the field in par-5 scoring average (4.08).
Up Next:
The TOUR heads to Georgia for The RSM Classic with Kevin Kisner defending a title for the first time.
The 32-year-old won last year’s edition as a first- and third-round leader in a tournament record 22-under 260. He posted rounds of 65-67-64-64 (two-course rota) to beat runner-up Kevin Chappell by SIX shots. The University of Georgia alum has been idle since a T70 (of 78) two weeks ago at the WGC-HSBC.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR prepares for a seventh (and final) tournament this fall prior to taking a seven-week break for the holidays.
