This Week in Golf — March 12-15
Third-round leader Robert Garrigus struggled to a 4-over 75 in the final round to drop into a share of fourth place. Garrigus never recovered from a double- bogey at the sixth.
Senden also held off Kevin Na, who shot 72 in the final round to end one back.
The field this week includes five of the top-10 players in the world – Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Jim Furyk, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth. Furyk has five straight top-20 finishes at this event, including a win in 2010 and a playoff loss in 2012.
Senden will not only battle a strong field at Innisbrook, but history as well. There have been no back-to-back champions, and just three of the last 14 winners have finished inside the top-10 in the title defense.
Danny Lee and Nicholas Thompson are both slated to make their 14th start in 16 events this season.
Golf Channel will have coverage on Thursday and Friday, then early coverage on the weekend before handing off to NBC.
The PGA Tour wraps up the Florida swing next week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Matt Every beat Keegan Bradley by one stroke in 2014. Adam Scott led by three entering the final round, but stumbled to a 76 in the final round to fall into third place.
EUROPEAN TOUR
TSHWANE OPEN, Pretoria Country Club, Waterkloof, South Africa – The European Tour ends its run in South Africa this week with the Tshwane Open.
Ross Fisher was 13-under par after two rounds last year and entered the final round with a 5-shot lead. Michael Hoey closed within one on the back nine, but he found water at the 12th and that led to a double-bogey.
Fisher pushed his lead back to five as he rolled in an eagle effort at No. 15. He cruised home from there as he collected his fifth European Tour title, but first since the 2010 Irish Open.
The 34-year-old will defend his title against a field that includes Matteo Manassero, Andy Sullivan, who has won twice this season on the European Tour, and 2016 European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke.
Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds.
The European Tour will be in Madeira next week for the Madeira Islands Open, where Daniel Brooks beat Scott Henry in a playoff last year. The tournament was cut to 36 holes as fog plagued the event.
WEB.COM TOUR
BRASIL CHAMPIONS, Sao Paulo Golf Club, Sao Paulo, Brazil – The Web.com Tour remains in South America for the Brasil Champions.
Jon Curran fired a 10-under 61 in the opening round last year and he went on to win by four strokes. Curran finished with a tournament record score of 25- under 259.
His total was six strokes better than Benjamin Alvarado’s winning score in the inaugural event in 2013. Curran’s total of 259 matched the fifth-best score in tour history.
Curran will not defend his title as he has moved on to the PGA Tour.
The first three winners of the season – Mathew Goggin, Patrick Rodgers and Andrew Landry – are all in the field this week.
The Web.com Tour wraps up its South America swing next week with the Chile Classic. Adam Hadwin birdied the final two holes of that event last year en route to beating Alistair Presnell by one stroke.
Categorized in: PGA