CIMB Classic:
With a bogey-free 8-under-par 31-33=64, defending champion Justin Thomas erased a four-shot deficit in the final round of the CIMB Classic to post 23-under 265, good for a three-stroke victory over runner-up Hideki Matsuyama and his second PGA TOUR win in his 71st career start (67 pro).
The 23-year-old is the first defending champ to successfully defend their TOUR title since Matt Every at the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational, 75 events ago.
In his tournament debut last year, the Kentucky native’s winning aggregate was 26-under, a tournament record (to par), highlighted by a course-record 61 in round two. He led outright after 36 holes and co-led at the three-quarter mark, closing with 6-under 66 to win by one.
This week, the University of Alabama product co-led after a first-round 64 (with two others), led by two at the midpoint after a bogey-free 66, and trailed by four thru 54 holes with a 1-under 71.
Thomas won the event with a sparkling eight-birdie masterpiece out of the final threesome on Sunday, but will look back to the manner in which he finished his third frame as one of the most important factors.
As mentioned, Thomas began R3 with a two-shot lead but played his first 14 holes in 4-over, including a bogey, double bogey, bogey run on holes 10-12 to begin the back nine.
Beginning on hole 14 however, he rebounded to card five straight birdies to complete the lap, getting back to red figures for the round and fighting his way back into the final group for Sunday’s finale.
In the final frame, Thomas birdied the par-4 first and then reeled off three straight on Nos. 3-5. Dating to his finish in R3, he had played his last 10 holes in a ridiculous 9-under.
The third-year pro would add back-to-back birdies on 9 and 10 and 16 and 17 to complete his scoring, carding the LOW round of the day along the way.
Thomas deposits 500 FedExCup (FEC) points for the win, extending his exempt status on TOUR thru the 2018-19 season, and moves to No. 1 in the FEC standings, bumping last week’s winner of the Safeway Open, Brendan Steele, to No. 2. (Steele finished this week T26, dropping 17 places with a final-round 1-over 73 after beginning the finale in an eight-way logjam on T9).
With a Strength of Field rating of 335, Thomas banked 50.00 world-ranking points, bumping him 14 spots from 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to a career-best 21st.
This was the 7th playing of the CIMB, fourth overall and fourth straight at the TPC Kuala Lumpur. The 7,005-yard par-72 layout (36-36) played under par all four rounds with a cumulative scoring average of 70.298. NOTE: Preferred lies were in effect for all four rounds.
In his eight career rounds at the CIMB, Thomas is a cumulative 49-under-par with a scoring average of 65.88. He improves to 2-for-4 on TOUR as a 36-hole leader/co-leader: 2016 CIMB (won); 2015 John Deere (T5); 2015 Sony (T6).
In 28 events last season, Thomas led or co-led three times after ANY round, ALL at the CIMB (R2 / R3co / R4). He never led or co-led at any other time the rest of the season, but finished a career-best 12th in the final FEC standings with his win and four other third-place finishes among seven top 10s.
This was his second straight top 10 to open the 2016-17 season (T8, Safeway), and third straight dating back to a T6 at the TOUR Championship.
Winner’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 78 players):
Note: N/A = No ShotLink data in use at CIMB
Birdies: 29 (1st)
Bogeys: 4 (T6)
Double Bogeys: 1 (T32)
Par-3 Scoring: 2.88 (T12)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.65 (1st)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.56 (T20)
Driving Distance: N/A
Driving Accuracy: 41/56 (T13) at 73.21 percent
Greens in Regulation: 56/72 (T13) at 77.78 percent
Proximity to Hole: N/A
Putts per GIR: 1.625 (4th)
Total Putts: 110 (T7); by round: 26-29-28-27
Scrambling: 11/16 (T17) at 68.75 percent
SG: Off-the-Tee: N/A
SG: Approach-the-Green: N/A
SG: Around-the-Green: N/A
SG: Tee-to-Green: N/A
SG: Putting: N/A
CIMB Classic | |||||||
Player | |||||||
No Shotlink Data Exists for this Tournament | |||||||
Source: PGA TOUR Media
Golf Channel Perfect Picks:
Golf Channel’s game is scheduled to begin with the Tournament of Champions Jan. 5-8, 2017.
Draw:
Limited-field no-cut event (78 players)
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: Justin Thomas; Derek Fathauer; Keegan Bradley (64)
R2: Russell Knox (63)
R3: Scott Hend (63)
R4: Justin Thomas (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 two events.
There were a total FIVE pre-tourney co-faves this week in Malaysia at 14/1 outright: Hideki Matsuyama (finished 2nd), Ryan Moore (T17), Adam Scott (T10), Patrick Reed (T51) and Paul Casey (T21).
If you followed the above-mentioned formula you would’ve dipped below the FIVE co-faves and arrived at Justin Thomas (16/1).
We’ve only got two events in the books so far this season, but, the early trend shows you have to squeeze the 54-hole leader from last year’s event on your squad (somewhere).
Last week’s winner at the Safeway, Brendan Steele, was the 54-hole leader the year prior. In fact, he led after each of the first three rounds. Thomas co-led thru 54 holes at the CIMB last year as well as leading outright after 36 holes.
Players in the top 10 thru 54 holes in their last two starts: Steele, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Scott Piercy, Matsuyama and Thomas.
EIGHT of the OWGR Top 25 were in the field with THREE finishing in the top 10:
Hideki Matsuyama: The World No. 13 arrived off a three-shot win at last week’s Japan Open, his seventh international title, and was rock-solid again with solo second on 20-under 268 (69-64-69-66), three shy of Thomas.
Making his fourth straight appearance at TPC Kuala Lumpur, he’s now posted progressively better finishes of T25/2014, T21/2015, 5th/2016 and this week’s runner-up. It’s the 24-year-old’s second career runner-up in 84 career starts and second straight top 5 after finishing solo 5th at the 2016 TOUR Championship.
For the week, he tallied one eagle and 23 birdies against three bogeys and a double. Matsuyama bumps three spots to a career-high 10th in OWGR. Remarkably, he’s been in the OWGR Top 20 for 95 consecutive weeks.
Adam Scott: At No. 6 in OWGR, the 36-year-old was the top-ranked player and was also one of the FIVE pre-tourney co-faves. Making his first start of the season, he finished in a seven-way T10 on 13-under 275 (70-69-66-70), extending his top-10 streak on TOUR to FIVE straight.
The Aussie was the ONLY player to bag top 10s in all FOUR Playoffs events last season and his current run of T4-4-T4-T8-T10 has him a cumulative 47-under in his last 24 rounds. Last year’s CIMB runner-up finished this week with 22 birdies versus nine bogeys and remained at No. 6 in the world rankings.
Russell Knox: After opening his second appearance (T21/2016) in 70-63-68, the 31-year-old began the finale in a two-way T2 on 15-under, four back of 54-hole leader Anirban Lahiri. Playing out of the final threesome, he labored to a 2-over-74 to fall eight places into a seven-way T10.
Knox mustered just one birdie-4 in the final round, outpaced by a bogey-6 and a double bogey-6. For the week, he totaled 19 birdies versus four bogeys and the double, and remained at OWGR No. 20.
The Jacksonville University alum was one of SIX multiple winners on TOUR last season (Dustin Johnson x3, Jason Day x3, Rory McIlroy x2, Jordan Spieth x2, Adam Scott x2). This was his first top 10 since claiming the Travelers back in August, the second of his two wins in 2016 (WGC-HSBC Champions).
Notable Finishes:
Derek Fathauer: There were 22 first-timers at the CIMB and the 30-year-old was the top debutant with a career-best T3 on 19-under 269. Making his 87th career start on TOUR, this was only his third top-10 finish, first since a previous-best solo fourth at the 2016 OHL Classic, 28 events ago.
Similar to the OHL, the Florida native and resident was a first-round co-leader this week, carding a career-tying best 64, and chased with 70-68-67. Arriving off a T15 at last week’s Safeway, he totaled one eagle and 19 birdies against just two bogeys, T1 in that latter stat. The Louisville alum catapults 82 places from 248th in OWGR to 166th. His career high in the world rankings is 152nd.
Keegan Bradley: Making his third CIMB appearance with a previous best of 10th in 2014, the 30-year-old posted solo 6th on 16-under 272. He was a first-round tri-leader with 64, and followed with 72-68-68.
In 26 events last season, the St. Johns University alum led or co-led ONE time after ANY round, at the Valspar, but chased an opening 4-under 67 at Innisbrook Resort with an 8-over 79 to miss the cut.
This week, he tallied two eagles (T1) and 21 birdies against seven bogeys and one double en route to his first top 10 since T8 at the 2016 Memorial back in June. Bradley bumps 14 spots to OWGR No. 104, still a far cry from a career high 10th after the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone.
Anirban Lahiri: Making his fourth consecutive CIMB appearance, the 29-year-old opened in twin 66s and 65 to begin the finale with a four-stroke lead over Thomas and Knox. Three holes in, he gave up the top spot with a quad bogey-9 at the third. To his credit, he fought back to carve out an even-par 72 for a career-best T3 on 19-under 269.
This was Lahiri’s first 54-hole lead/co-lead in his 38th career TOUR start and his second lead/co-lead after ANY round. Last season, his first as a member, he co-led the CareerBuilder in January (with three others), eventually finishing T28.
Lahiri owns 16 international victories on various tours, including a 2015 win at this venue (Maybank Malaysian Open), and arrived off a playoff loss last week on the Asian Tour.
He totaled one eagle and 28 birdies against just three bogeys, but also ate two doubles and the aforementioned quad. He climbs 15 places to OWGR 68 – his career high in the world rankings is 33rd after the 2015 Valero Texas Open.
Paul Casey: The 39-year-old, one of the five pre-tourney co-faves, finished T21 on 11-under 277 (65-72-70-70), 12 back of Thomas. This was his best finish at the CIMB in his third appearance, previously T24 last year, but it ends his top-5 streak on TOUR at four.
Up Next:
It’s a double-dip for the TOUR this coming week with the 78-man no-cut WGC-HSBC Champions, the first (of four) World Golf Championships in 2016-17, and the 132-man opposite-field Sanderson Farms Championship.
Russell Knox is the defending champion at the HSBC Champions in China, which is being contested for a fourth straight time at the 7,199-yard par-72 Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, while Peter Malnati is defending the Sanderson Farms at the 7,421-yard par-72 Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi.
Interestingly enough, both players won last year’s editions in their tournament debuts.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR prepares for the third and fourth (of seven) tournaments this fall prior to taking a seven-week break for the holidays.
