MICHAEL THOMPSON won his first PGA Tour event after a steady final round Sunday (Monday morning in Manila) in The Honda Classic.
Thompson, 27, had a one-shot lead as he stood in the 18th fairway, some 240 yards from the flag with trouble in the way in the shape of a large lake. Instead of laying up, he drilled a 5-wood into the bunker left of the green, setting up a simple sand shot and a birdie he didn’t even need.
He closed with a 1-under 69, one of only five rounds under par on a punishing day at PGA National to finally become a PGA Tour winner.
“That for me kind of sealed the deal,” said Thompson, who picked up 500 FedExCup points to move to 11th in the standings. “It allowed me to walk up the fairway and enjoy the experience, see the crowd and … just finish strong.”
The start wasn’t bad, either.
Thompson holed a 50-foot eagle putt on the third hole, relied on a superb short game around the toughest part of the golf course to build a four-shot lead, and hung on for a two-shot win over Geoff Ogilvy that takes him places he always wanted to be.
He gets into his first World Golf Championship next week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral, and qualifies for two more WGCs this year at the Bridgestone Invitational and at the HSBC Champions. He’s in the PGA Championship, gets to start next year in Hawaii and earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Noli Cruz