SCOTTSDALE - American Hunter Mahan closed with a six-under 65 and overcame a final-round challenge from South Korea's Yang Yong-eun to win the Phoenix Open.
PGA champion Yang, who started the day six strokes behind the lead, had also fired a 65 and was in control of the tournament before he threw away a two-stroke advantage on the 17th with a costly bogey when he pulled his drive into the water.
Mahan, 21, made a 14-foot birdie putt on the raucous 16th hole then capped his round with a six-footer for par to conclude at 16-under, one stroke better than fellow American Rickie Fowler, and claim his second PGA Tour title.
"This means a lot, to play the way I did down the stretch," Mahan said after coming from four back to win his first event since 2007.
Fowler had missed a 30-foot putt on 18 that would have given him a tie for the lead, though a decision to play cautiously on the par-five 15th when he chose to lay up with his second shot instead of attacking the pin was not a factor in whether he won or lost, he said. - Reuters
Mahan edges Fowler
SCOTTSDALE - American Hunter Mahan closed with a six-under 65 and overcame a final-round challenge from South Korea's Yang Yong-eun to win the Phoenix Open.
PGA champion Yang, who started the day six strokes behind the lead, had also fired a 65 and was in control of the tournament before he threw away a two-stroke advantage on the 17th with a costly bogey when he pulled his drive into the water.
Mahan, 21, made a 14-foot birdie putt on the raucous 16th hole then capped his round with a six-footer for par to conclude at 16-under, one stroke better than fellow American Rickie Fowler, and claim his second PGA Tour title.
"This means a lot, to play the way I did down the stretch," Mahan said after coming from four back to win his first event since 2007.
Fowler had missed a 30-foot putt on 18 that would have given him a tie for the lead, though a decision to play cautiously on the par-five 15th when he chose to lay up with his second shot instead of attacking the pin was not a factor in whether he won or lost, he said. - Reuters