Drew Weaver Wins PC Financial Open in 3-Hole Playoff
Drew Weaver Had Good Reason To Smile After Surviving The Five-Man Playoff To Win The PC Financial Open At Point Grey GC - Image Credit Bryan Outram
by Alfie Lau, Inside Golf
American Drew Weaver spoiled the party for the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada’s 2015 opening event at Point Grey Golf & Country Club.
After Weaver finished regulation in a five-way tie at (-12) with fellow American Ross Beal and a trio of Canadians, Surrey’s Adam Svensson, Victoria’s Riley Wheeldon and Richmond Hill, ON’s Taylor Pendrith, Weaver won the PC Financial Open on the third playoff hole.
After Wheeldon, Pendrith and Beal were all eliminated with pars on the first playoff hole, Svensson and Weaver both made birdie on the second playoff hole.
On the third playoff hole, Weaver was in the bunker after his second on the par-5 1st, but he hit a spectacular bunker shot to four inches for a tap-in birdie. He then watched Svensson miss his six-foot putt, which gave Weaver the title and the $31,500 winner’s cheque.
“It was an incredible finish. I had a pretty consistent week all in all,” said Weaver. “I tried to keep a really level head and thankfully, I was able to maintain that in the playoff.”
Weaver said he was happy to make birdie on the final hole. “All I know is I’m glad that last putt was four or five inches. I knew somebody was going to blink at some point, so I just had to keep on hitting good shots.”
Svensson looked like the player to beat all day, even when it came down to just him and Weaver in the playoff. But it wasn’t to be for the Surrey native looking for his first professional win in Canada.
“Weaver made some nice putts on top of me,” said Svensson. “I had fun, I’m not too disappointed. I thought that putt was in. I thought I hit a good putt, but it just missed.”
Svensson was on the way to victory, sitting at (-13) after the ninth hole, but after hitting his drive left and then trying to hit a heroic second that stayed in the trees, he finally pitched out on his third and made double bogey. “The shot on number 10 kind of cost me the tournament,” said Svensson. “I hooked it to the left, made double and it took a lot of momentum out of me.”
This Is What Five Professional Golfers Look Like Trying To Manoeuvre Around Each Other On The Same Green In A Playoff - Image Credit Bryan Outram
Wheeldon made a clutch birdie on the 18th hole to get into the five-man playoff, but after leaving himself with a 25-foot uphill birdie putt, he couldn’t convert when it slipped by the right side of the hole.
“It was a tough putt to leave myself to make birdie,” said Wheeldon. “I’m happy with how I hung in there. It was nice to have a chance to win in front of these local fans.”
Pendrith provided the first big thrills for Canadian golf fans early on Sunday afternoon. Pendrith, who just turned 24 on Saturday, turned in the low round of the week, a (-8) round of 64, which included four birdies and two eagles, at the par-5 12th and 18th holes.
His drive at 18 was bombed 366 yards, and Pendrith joked that was because of the Egg McMuffin he had before his round that allowed him to hit that fairway for the first time this week. “I had 149 (yards left) so I hit a little pitching wedge, trying to run it up there. It was actually a really bad swing, but a nice chip,” Pendrith said of his closing eagle to get him to (-12) for the tournament.
Pendrith was happy with his round, his first tournament on PGA TOUR Canada since turning pro eight months ago. “It was solid,” said Pendrith. “I really didn’t make any mistakes. I think I missed four or five greens but I got it up and down each time.”
Pendrith was congratulated by fellow Golf Canada Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes after his round and Pendrith said there’s a lot of friendly competition on the team, which also includes Corey Conners, Albin Choi and Svensson. “We’re all really good buddies and we’re trying to beat each other,” said Pendrith, who added that having Svensson on top of the leaderboard did provide him a good target to chase.
A couple strokes back of Pendrith, but happy with his performance was Vancouver’s Ryan Williams, who had the added pressure of representing Point Grey as a sponsored player.
Williams made six birdies and only one bogey in a final round 67 (-5) to move up the leaderboard into the top 10. His (-10) total left him in a tie for seventh place.
“It was quite stressful playing at home in front of family and friends. I only get to do it once a year so I guess the pressure is self-inflicted. I played solid all four rounds, but didn’t get much out of the par-5s on the first 3 days, but I’m happy I did today,” said Williams of his three birdies on the four par-5s.
Williams said he hasn’t played a full four-round tournament since Web.com Q-School in December, so he’s happy to get off to a nice start to his 2015 season. “I think this will be a good building block for my season and I’m really encouraged by what I’ll be able to do in Victoria,” Williams said of his next PGA TOUR Canada start.
As for the news that Pendrith made eagle on the 18th after his mammoth drive, Williams could only laugh. “Yeah, that scares me a bit,” Williams said. “But that shows you how confident he is to hit driver on a tree-lined hole. It tells me he doesn’t have a lot of nerves. I don’t even hit driver there. I hit 3-wood to stay away from the bunkers.”
Also finishing at (-10) for the tournament was West Vancouver’s Seann Harlingten, who shot a final round 69. Ontario’s Albin Choi was another stroke back at (-9) while Bryn Parry of North Vancouver shot a (+2) round of 74 to finish at (-7) for the tournament and a tie for 16th place.
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