FRYS.COM OPEN, Jonas Blitx wins Maiden Tour Event

 

Jonas Blixt/Laberge/Getty Images

Jonas Blixt won the Fry’s.Com Open, for his maiden US PGA Tour victory, with a tournament total of -16 under par.  Swede Jonas had a half-dozen fans walk the round with him wearing Swedish yellow ribbons, with “Jonas” written on white T-shirts, the support seemed to focus Jonas on the task in hand. He said his putter was a nuclear weapon, and the statistics proved the point, with him returning putting rounds of 25-28-27-25, for a tournament-best total of 105 putts. He finished first in strokes gained-putting and was ranked third in SGP coming into the week, he did not have a three-putt all week. Jonas also sported bright orange shoes, belt and shirt, very sort of  Rickie Fowler.

Jonas said he really wanted to be a hockey player;

” I was more interested in hockey, I wanted to be a hockey player, it’s the greatest sport ever, the lockout just kills me. I never really got big enough or good enough to play. Golf kind of suited me pretty well. The weird part is I’ve been working on some stuff with my swing, and I wasn’t feeling completely 100 % about my swing, I just told myself; Just give it a good hit every time and see what happens. Just focus, you can’t do anything better than your best. That’s what I did on every shot. You learn something every time, last week I didn’t play very well in the final round. I got a little too cute with some shots and wasn’t aggressive enough.”

Tim Petrovic and Jason Kokrak tied for second, with Tim posting a last round of 64, and Jason had  a 68, with both players finishing on -15 under par for the tournament.

Tim eagled the par-5 ninth hole, hitting a 2-iron to 2 1/2 feet, and making the putt to take the lead, he said;

“I think we were about 240 yards into the wind, hit into the bank and it bounced right up there. Almost went in. I played today like I was going to have to Monday qualify next week, and I played it like the Monday qualifier. That was kind of my mindset when I started today. I was going to play like a one-day shootout. Throughout my career I’ve always done well in the Monday qualifiers, I guess because I just kind of dial in, focus. I tried to have that mentality today.”

Jason also had an eagle, on the 17th hole and then closed with a par.

“It’s just nice to play well this week, it gives me confidence going into the rest of the year.”

 

McIlroy Wins Honda Classic & is World #1

Sunday at PGA National

AP

Rory McIlroy won The Honda Classic, and with it the World Golf Ranking of #1. Rory had a last round of 69 for a tournament total of -12 under par, two shots clear of the field. Tiger Woods finished joint second after a marvelous round of -8 under par, and a total of -10 at the end. He shared second place with the ever present and consistent Tom Gillis, who made a mockery of his lowly world ranking with four rounds in the sixty’s in this tournament. Justin Rose sadly could not improve on his overnight score, finishing with a level round of 70 and a -7 total. Ricky Fowler also had a good last round, with a 66, to finish tied 7th, looks like he may be getting used to those new Cobra clubs of his.

Tiger Woods eagled the 18th, which sent a massive roar around the golf course, Rory heard it all the way back on the 13th green, just as he was about to put for a birdie, he said;

“I could hear the huge roar, and it definitely wasn’t a birdie roar.I was able to hole that putt, which was very important. I knew if I could just play the last five holes at even par, it was going to be good enough. Great to get the job done, and very happy to come out on top.”

“It was tough today, especially seeing Tiger make a charge, I knew par golf would probably be good enough. To shoot 1 under in these conditions, when you go into the round with the lead, is very nice. And I was just able to get the job done.”

On becoming World #1 Rory enthused;

“It was always a dream of mine to become the world No. 1 and the best player in the world or whatever you want to call it. But I didn’t know that I would be able to get here this quickly. Hopefully, I can hold onto it for a little longer.”