2021 Tournament Recap

2021RECAP

ROUNDONE

All four players on top of the first-round leaderboard took advantage of mild morning conditions under clear, calm skies that turned gusty as the day unfolded. Matthew NeSmith, in his first start at the WM Phoenix Open, had one of those days when “everything kind of lined up really nicely,” he said in a post-round interview, tied for the first-round lead. He made four birdies and an eagle on his outgoing nine on the way to a career-low-tying 8-under 63.

“I probably made the quietest almost hole-in-one ever on 16,” said NeSmith. “I got about six claps there and hit it to six inches.”

Mark Hubbard joined NeSmith at 8-under with a similarlooking scorecard anchored by five circles on the last six holes. His bogey-free 63 came a year after finishing T9 at TPC Scottsdale, T42 in 2017 and T60 in 2016.

“I love this tournament,” he said. “I really like this course a lot. I see the greens really well for some reason, and I just really love the energy.”

Two players – Nate Lashley and Sam Burns – finished the first round tied for third place, one shot back, at 7-under 64. Lashley, a local and 2005 University of Arizona grad, was happy to be home.

He explained that “getting it in the fairway” was the key to playing Arizona golf, “and then obviously making putts. It doesn't matter how great you hit it; if you don't make the putts, it doesn't do much for you. They are rolling as good as any green on the PGA TOUR.”

Meanwhile, Burns, who began on hole No. 10, made eight birdies in a 10-hole stretch to open with a 7-under 64.

In solo-fifth place, 2021 Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker made seven birdies and only one bogey. In addition to the competition, Stricker also took the opportunity to size up the field.

“I love to watch who is playing well and look for potential players on the Ryder Cup team,” said Stricker.

Notably, defending champion, Webb Simpson, shot an opening round 73, and eventual 2021 champion, Brooks Koepka, posted a 3-under-par 68, with a three-hole birdie run on holes 14-16, to sit five strokes off the pace.

ROUND 2

With top-20 or better finishes in his four appearances at the WM Phoenix Open, Xander Schauffele jumped into the second-round lead after a bogey-free 64.

After a “slow front nine” where he “stayed really patient,” Schauffele caught fire with consecutive birdies on 12, 13, 14 and an eagle-3 on the par-5 15th hole. He picked up one more birdie on 18 to lead by one.

“I think everyone in the field knows if you can play those holes properly you have the chance to make a lot of birdies coming in,” he said.

In his career to that point, the World No. 4 held the 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR four times without converting any of them into wins.

Steady Steve Stricker turned in another solid performance to sit tied for second place with Keegan Bradley at 11-under par. His second-round 5-under 66 looked much like his firstround 65, less one birdie. Stricker was making it look so easy that it was hard to believe the last of his 12 career wins on TOUR was in 2012. “Yeah, I haven't been in this position for quite some time out here, and obviously on the Champions Tour and a few tournaments here and there where I've won or been in contention,” he said.

While most players were making hay on the back nine, for the second day, Keegan Bradley blitzed TPC Scottsdale’s front nine. In the first round, Bradley reeled off five consec-

utive birdies on holes 3-7. Then in the second round, Bradley immediately caught fire with four consecutive birdies on holes 1-4. Bradley chocked it up to a hot putter. “Yeah, I made an adjustment this week. I tried to kind of replicate my belly putter setup, and my eyes way more outside the ball, trying to keep my hands inside the ball, and it's really working so far.”

Scottie Scheffler finished the second round tied for fourth place. He made the best of an early tee time off the 10th hole by carding birdies at 12, 14 and 16 before draining a 40-footer for eagle on the par-4 17th en route to a 6-under 65.

Defending champion Webb Simpson overcame a first-round 2-over 73 with a 6-under 65 in his bid to become the third player since 1970 to successfully defend his WM Phoenix open title. Brooks Koepka followed his first-round 68 with a 66 in the second to sit T8, five strokes off the pace.

ROUND 3

Saturday was all about Jordan Spieth. He tied his career-low score with a 10-under 61. His 61 also tied the lowest thirdround score in WM Phoenix Open tournament history, first set by Johnny Miller in 1970.

No doubt the nearly 126 feet of total made putts vaulted him into a share of the 54-hole lead alongside Xander Schauffele at 18-under par.

“I mean, to shoot 10-under, you got to do a lot right, but I also got quite a few really good breaks,” said Spieth. “Each shot that ended up in the desert, I think, I ended up playing those holes 2- or 3-under today.”

Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele overcame an early bogey at No. 2 by piling on seven birdies, including four on his last six holes, to maintain a share of the lead for the second straight round.

“I tried to hit a fade on 2 and a fade on 3, and I pulled one on 2 and overcut it on 3,” he explained. “Had a good number into 4, hit a good shot, and that settled the round.”

Schauffele then “settled” for more birdies at 6 and 9, and for the second day in a row, made birdie or better on holes 13, 14 and 15 before his final birdie of the day at No. 17. Schauffele summed up this stretch of holes as a doubleedged sword: “If you're hitting your ball on a correct line you'll have a bunch of good looks, and if you're not, those holes can penalize you.”

Continuing to impress, Scottie Scheffler followed his first two rounds (67, 65) with a third-round 5-under 66 to sit T-3 for the championship after 54 holes.

Louis Oosthuizen put up the second-best score of the day, 63, which included four birdies per side and no bogeys. In only his second start at the WM Phoenix Open (he finished third in 2017), Oosthuizen threw up his hands when asked why he seems to play well at TPC Scottsdale.

“I don't know,” he said. “Looks like I need to come back every four years. It's always like a little awkward for my schedule, but this year was a little different and I decided to come play. It's just great to see fans back.”

K.H. Lee worked his way into a tie for third place after his third-straight 66, which included an eagle-2 at 17 and a birdie at 18.

Although all eyes were on Spieth then, with 20/20 hindsight now, Koepka’s stellar play on Saturday turned out to be the harbinger of things to come. The 2015 WM Phoenix Open Champion birdied five of his last six holes to post a 5-under 66 for the second round in a row. At the post-round interview, Koepka liked his chances for Sunday.

“Yeah, just got to be within three on the back nine,” he said. “Anything can happen here. Obviously with quite a bit of water off the backside, especially on 11 and 15 and 17, you can make a bogey very quickly.”

FINAL ROUND

With 18 holes to play, co-leaders Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele both sat in the drivers’ seat. Unfortunately they were not able to get anything going in the final round.

Spieth was 3-over par after 11 holes, and Schauffele sat 2-over after 14 holes, with his hopes dashed when his drive found the water hazard at No. 17. He finished T-2, earning the superlative for the most runner-up finishes (10) of any player since the 2017-18 season. Spieth settled for T-4.

Not everyone struggled in the final round. Finishing T-2 for the first time after 70 starts, K.H. Lee finished off with a 68. Carlos Ortiz put up the lowest score of the day, 7-under 64, and 53-year-old Steve Stricker hit all 18 greens in egulation to finish T-4.

Stricker’s other playing partner that day, James Hahn, carded a 6-under 30 on the front nine to briefly lead the tournament before finishing in 10th place. Thanks to a hot putter, Rory McIlroy came alive in the final round to finish in 13th place in his first WM Phoenix Open appearance.

“I used the green book a bit, and I did that for three days and didn't really work,” he explained. “So I just sort of went with my eyes and my gut today and it helped.”

An indication of the talent on TOUR, Andrew Putnam became the second player that season to log 72 holes without a single bogey – and still lose. His 16 birdies and zero bogeys resulted in a mere T7 finish.

Through the melee, Brooks Koepka picked up his eighth TOUR victory in his 145th start.

Paired with Hahn and Stricker, Koepka entered the final round trailing by five strokes, and becomes the third player in tournament history to overcome the deficit in the final round to win.

“I think 2 kind of woke me up a little bit on 3,” he said after following a bogey on No. 2 with an eagle on No. 3. Koepka then strung together nine consecutive pars until a spark reignited his run.

“I think on 12, Ricky [caddie] said something to me about, ‘We're right there,’” Koepka said.

He promptly recorded birdies on the next three holes (1315). Despite this, the outcome of the tournament was still unclear until Koepka definitively seized the championship with a 98-foot pitch-in for an eagle-two on the par-4 17th hole.

“I felt like the chip…if I just caught it right in the fringe it was going to check up on me,” he said. “And it did perfectly. Took a nice little right kick and didn't look anywhere else but the hole.”

Despite all the drama at 17 over the years, Koepka was the first winner at TPC Scottsdale to eagle the hole during the final round.

With the win Koepka snapped a streak of three straight missed cuts, and more importantly, climbed back into contention following a long battle rehabbing a knee injury.

“No matter how much work and pain I was doing with Derek, my trainer, it just felt like it wasn't progressing,” he lamented. “But we stuck with it. Those dark places, a lot of tears, questioning yourself, and in dark places mentally.”

He also gave credit to Pete Cowen, Butch and Claude Harmon: “That old school, that generation, I've always admired them for being very blunt, honest.”

Not the least of which, Koepka tipped his hat to the fans.

“I struggled without fans to get momentum. I like feeling like you got to show off in front of people,” he said. “There is just no energy. Who knows how long we'll be playing like this. It was nice to have fans back. I do feel like I'm back.”