J.B. Holmes tees off on the 18th hole at Riviera Country Club on Sunday during the final round of the Genesis Open in Los Angeles.LOS ANGELES - A marathon finish was only part of the challenge facing J.B. Holmes.
He also had to contend with a four-shot deficit against Justin Thomas on greens that were increasingly bumpy with so many footprints over nine hours, plus wind that made Riviera Country Club tougher than ever.
With one good break, two big putts and plenty of help from Thomas on the back nine, Holmes won the Genesis Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title in nearly three years, earning a trip back to the Masters in April.
So difficult was the final round of his 34-hole day that Holmes didn't make a birdie over the last eight holes and closed with a 1-under-par 70.
"I knew it was going to be very difficult to shoot a low score," Holmes said. "I needed some help from Justin."
Thomas shot a 65 in the morning to complete the third round with a four-shot lead. Holmes said his caddie, Brandon Parsons, asked him at one point if he thought Thomas would get to 20 under, a score only two other players have reached at Riviera.
"I was like, 'You mean this round?' He was playing unbelievable there that third round," Holmes said.
Thomas played a big part in Holmes' victory, however. He took 19 putts in a wild back nine that featured three two-shot swings because of putting.
Thomas, who closed with a 75, three-putted from long range on the 10th as Holmes made birdie for his first lead of the week. Holmes returned the favor on the next hole when he turned birdie into a shocker of a bogey, three-putting from three feet.
Then it was back to Thomas, and what turned out to be the decisive moment.
Holmes missed the 13th green to the right and chipped to 12 feet from the cup. Thomas was some 65 feet away and lagged his putt to eight feet away from the hole. Holmes made the par putt, and not only did Thomas miss his putt for par, he lipped out the next one for a double bogey.
That took Thomas from one ahead to one behind, and he never caught up.
Holmes delivered another dagger with a 12-foot par save on the 16th right before Thomas made birdie to avoid another two-shot swing, and Thomas couldn't convert birdie chances from six feet and 20 feet on the last two holes.
"To take two steps back with a double is huge because it was so hard to make birdies, especially with 14, 15, 16 coming up, three holes dead into the teeth," Thomas said, alluding to the wind. "I'm sure he would say that was probably the biggest turning point of the round for him, and that putt on 16."
Thomas said he struggled putting in the wind and it "showed a flaw in my game."
"J.B. won. He played great," Thomas said of his fellow Kentuckian, whom he has known since he was a kid. "It's always a bummer to hand a tournament (to someone else). I feel like I should have won that thing."
Holmes, who finished at 14-under 270, will move up from No. 100 to No. 42 in the World Golf Ranking, making him eligible for the World Golf Championship in Mexico City this week. But it's been a long stretch, and he has decided not to play. As for that invitation to Augusta National?
"Let me think about it," he said with a grin. "No, it's always good to go back."
Tiger Woods shot a 65 to finish his third round in the morning, though he was never in range of winning. Woods closed with a 72 in the afternoon and tied for 15th.
"I got tired," Woods said. "I don't know if I'm the only one, but I definitely felt it today. Wind, cold. I was at 10 (under) and I slipped four shots coming in. That's the way it goes."
Si Woo Kim had a 66, the low score of the final round, and finished third. Rory McIlroy almost got back in the game when he holed a bunker shot on the 16th to get within two shots, but he failed to birdie the par-5 17th and was fooled by the wind in making bogey on the final hole for a 69. He tied for fourth with Marc Leishman (68).
Baylor School graduate Luke List (68) tied for 15th at 6 under. Another former Red Raiders standout, Stephan Jaeger (76) shared 70th at 6 over.
Jordan Spieth's final round included a birdie, a par, a bogey, a double bogey, a triple bogey and a quadruple bogey, the latter on the 10th hole when he hit four shots out of bunkers. He wound up with an 81, his second-highest score as a pro.
Nelly Korda joins family club
ADELAIDE, Australia - Nelly Korda added to her family's impressive sports pedigree Down Under with a win in the Women's Australian Open.
The 23-year-old American golfer led by three strokes after the third round, increased her edge to four with a tap-in birdie on the 10th hole Sunday and added a 25-foot birdie on the 11th to stretch her advantage to five.
She had a third consecutive birdie on the 12th to help her secure a two-stroke victory with a closing 5-under 67 at The Grange Golf Club. Korda finished at 17-under 271, with 2018 tournament champion Jin Young Ko (64) forced to settle for second.
South Korea's Ko avoided bogeys in the final round, but it wasn't enough to catch Korda, who had rounds of 71, 66 and 67 the first three days to set up her second LPGA Tour victory.
Korda's father Petr is a former Australian Open tennis champion, with the Prague native having won the men's singles tournament in 1998. Her golfing sister Jessica, 25, won the Australian Open seven years ago, and her tennis-playing brother Sebastian won the Australian Open boys' singles title last year.
"I'm just happy to finally be a part of the club," Korda said at the trophy presentation. "There's maybe something in the air here. We love coming Down Under, and we really enjoy our time here.
"I just got off the phone with my dad, and he's like 'Well, congratulations, you're part of the Korda Slam now.'"
Petr and his wife Regina, also a pro tennis player who represented Czechoslovakia at the 1988 Olympics, watched their daughter's triumph from their home on the west coast of Florida. Jessica, currently sidelined from the LPGA Tour because of a wrist injury, watched from Florida's east coast. And Sebastian tuned in from Turkey moments before he played a Futures Tour match.
"When I was left out (of winning in Australia) they didn't try to rub it in too much," Nelly said. "Now that we all have a win down here, it's going to be really special obviously there was pressure, but I think I finally carved my own way."
Taiwan's Wei-Ling Hsu (68) was third at 12 under, a shot ahead of Japan's Haru Nomura (70) and U.S. golfer Angel Yin (66).
Miguel Angel Jimenez wins playoff
NAPLES, Fla. - Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Chubb Classic for his seventh PGA Tour Champions title, beating Olin Browne and Bernhard Langer by making a five-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff.
Jimenez closed with a 5-under 66 at The Classics at Lely Resort to match Browne (66) and Langer (68) at 13-under 200 for 54 holes.
"I'm working hard and I practice and go to the gym, apart from smoking and drinking," Jimenez joked.
"This is what I love to do," he said. "I love to play golf. To me, competing is my life. I go to any competition, I want to win. I'm working for that."
Jimenez has won at least once in each of his six seasons on the 50-and-older tour. The 55-year-old Spaniard won two majors last season - the Regions Tradition and the Senior British Open.
Browne made a double bogey on the par-4 18th in regulation, missing a chance to avoid the playoff.
"I didn't hit a very good tee shot in regulation, and I had a lot of club in," Browne said. "I was in between and I thought there was more wind, and frankly I hit a poor shot, but I ended up in a horrible situation."
The 61-year-old Langer, who was coming a win the week before, is a three-time Chubb Classic winner (2011, 2013, 2016).
Woody Austin and Kevin Sutherland each closed with a 69 to finish a shot out of the playoff. Stephen Ames, tied for the second-round lead with Glen Day and Ken Tanigawa, had a 71 to tie for sixth at 11 under with Retief Goosen (69), Tom Lehman (65), Sandy Lyle (68) and Colin Montgomerie (70). Day and Tanigawa each closed with a 72 and tied with Steve Stricker (70) for 11th at 10 under.
Chattanooga's Gibby Gilbert III (78) tied for 52nd as he finished at par.
Ryan Fox is superior
PERTH, Australia - New Zealand's Ryan Fox won the World Super 6, beating Spain's Adrian Otaegui in the match-play final at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.
Fox topped Jazz Janewattananond, Kristoffer Reitan and Paul Dunne on the way to the final before defeating Otaegui in the decider, going up three holes with two to play to end it. It was the 32-year-old Fox's first European Tour victory.
Fox, whose father Grant was a World Cup-winning rugby union player for the New Zealand national team, was forced to give up rugby after a series of concussions.
Otaegui, No. 71 in the World Golf Ranking, qualified for the six-hole decider by beating Scott Vincent in their semifinal shootout, winning three of the first four holes to set up the showdown with Fox.
The first three rounds of the tournament were stroke play. The top 24 players from that qualified for the final-day match play, which consisted of a series of elimination six-hole shootouts.
Mark Hubbard's first Web win
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - Mark Hubbard won the LECOM Suncoast Classic for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Maverick McNealy.
Hubbard, a 29-year-old former San Jose State golfer, finished at 26-under 262 at Lakewood National Golf Club.
McNealy, who also closed with a 67, finished a shot ahead of Rick Lamb (64) and Jimmy Stanger (68) as they shared third.