Charl Schwartzel triumphed again in America after Scott Hend stayed above the fray in Thailand

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

CHARL SCHWARTZEL won his second PGA Tour title thanks to a sensational final round of 67 in the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort. On a cold and windy day, the South African returned the best score of the day to come from five shots back and beat Bill Haas, of America in the first hole of a playoff.

Schwartzel's only other victory in America came at The Masters in 2011 and it is hard to believe that he has had to wait five years to taste victory on American soil again. He is still only 31 years old and possesses one of the best swings in the world. Last month he won the Tshwane Open in South Africa for his 11th victory on the European Tour, but it is in America where he wants to make his name.

Haas went into the final round as a warm favourite to win after working on his swing with his father, Jay, himself a former multiple winner on the PGA Tour. But the American, with six wins to his credit, struggled from the start, recording a one-over-par 72 to tie Schwartzel on seven under par.

Schwartzel birdied the first and third holes to signal his intent, but he seemed to be too far back to win, especially when he dropped a shot at the 10th after a wayward drive and a fluffed recovery shot. But the South African bounced straight back, hitting the par five 11th in two for another birdie. He bunkered his approach at the 12th and was unable to get up and down, but then came a tramliner at the 13th, followed by another birdie at the 14th and a swinging, 15-feet downhill putt for another birdie at the 17th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVryj2MY_dg

Haas and Schwartzel both parred the 18th and were tied at seven under par. Playoff. They returned to the 18th tee and when the American hit his drive way right it appeared to be game over, but he was able to take relief. He was unable to take advantage of his good break, however, and found the bunker with his approach. From the middle of the fairway, Schwartzel found the heart of the green. He was closer to the hole than he had been in regular play but on exactly the same line.

Haas had a simple enough bunker shot but he hit a stinker, striking the ball thin and leaving the ball fully 20 feet beyond the cup. It meant Schwartzel had a putt to win. He left it 18 inches short so Haas faced a putt he had to make to extend the playoff, but he came up short, handing the title to Schwartzel.

Ryan Moore was third on five under par but the performance of the week came from Lee McCoy, a young American amateur who played with Jordan Spieth and shot a 69 to finish fourth. An out of sorts Spieth struggled to a 73 and a share of 18th place.

Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHmkPXBPxks

True Thailand Classic

Scott Hend held his nerve and an amazing late charge from an unlikely source to win the True Thailand Classic.

The Australian began the final round at Black Mountain Golf Club six shots ahead off Thai golfer Piya Swangarunporn but found himself one adrift with five holes left.  Swanagarunporn played quite brilliantly to produce a course record 63 and moved to 17 under par.

Hend has a reputation for having a hot temper and has in the past crumbled under pressure, but he responded magnificently to the challenge. A birdie on the 14th put him back into a share of top spot, and when the big hitting Australian  took advantage of the driveable 17th for the fourth time in the tournament, that was enough to secure a 68 and his second European Tour title by a single shot.

The win for Hend means 2016 is the first season in the history of The European Tour to have five different Australian winners and makes it two winners from Down Under in a row after Adam Scott's stunning triumph at the World Golf Championship Cadillac Championship.

Thomas Pieters, who fired a closing 68 to finish third on 15 under and a shot clear of American Peter Uihlein, collected enough world ranking points to secure his place in the WGC – Dell World Match Play Championship.

An emotional Hend was thrilled with his performance but was quick to pay tribute to Swangarunporn. "For Piya to shoot 63 today was an amazing round of golf and he must have played extremely well all day. He set the score and the target and then I had to just try and keep making birdies to try and catch him. I learned from last year when I pushed too hard on the 17th here and lost my chance to win. So this year I knew I had to be patient and let the golf course come to me.

“The two three woods I hit on the 18th were among the best I have hit. Once I was on the green I knew that I just had to three putt somehow for the win. I hit a great drive on 17 and two putted for birdie which gave me the edge. This is a great win and I would love to try and kick on now and get another win, try and qualify for The Open and also try and get into the match play and see if I can do anything against the top 50 in the world.”

Swangarunporn said: “Today was one of the best rounds I have ever played. Everything about the game was good and it all came together for me. It is a big day for my career and I hope to play more big tournaments like this one in the future because this week has given me a lot of confidence.”

Pieters almost withdrew from the tournament after feeling ill earlier in the week. “If you had told me at the beginning of the week that I would have finished third here then I would have taken it because I was very sick. It’s a good result and I can take some positives into next week but I have a long journey to go back the America to get to Bay Hill. I drove the ball really well this week which was a huge positive. I also put a new putter in play this week and it kind of behaved itself so there are a lot of positives. I came here to try and get into the Match Play and I have taken care of that so I can take confidence from the fact that I came here to achieve that and manged to do it.”

Higlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNUg3-swyk