England’s Justin Rose defeated Shawn Stefani of the USA at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club in Maryland.
England’s Justin Rose defeated Shawn Stefani of the USA at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club in Maryland.
Rose looked to have lost his chance of victory when he found the water with his approach to the 72nd hole. He holed a 15-foot putt for a bogey at the last, but it left him one shot behind Shawn Stefani.
But the American bogeyed his penultimate hole and was unable to find a birdie at the last. He joined Rose on a four-round total of 280. Nobody else could match that number so a playoff for the title between Rose and Stefani ensued.
On the first playoff hole, the 18th at Congressional, Stefani made the same error Rose had in regulation play. After taking a line-of-sight drop from the grandstands, he turned his punched approach shot too much and it found the water.
Rose played the hole in regulation, finding the fairway then the middle of the green. He had a comfortable two-putt for par and the victory. It was his first PGA Tour win since the U.S. Open of 2013 on a course that hosted that Major championship back in 2011.
“I really enjoy this type of golf and this type of test,” said Rose. “I think it tested all of us. I’m delighted.”
Patrick Reed started the final round with a two-stroke lead and maintained that advantage to the turn. But he fell apart on the back nine, coming home in 41 for a 77.
No fewer than seven players had a lead or share of the lead during the final round. Brendon Todd was there until a double bogey at the 10th and the names of Marc Leishman of Australia and Brendan Steele of the USA also appeared at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
There was consolation for Steele who lost his chance at Congressional with a double-bogey on the 72nd hole. He, together with Stefani, Charley Hoffman and Ben Martin claimed qualifying spots for the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Quicken Loans National Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland Jun 26-29, purse $6,500,000, par 71
1 Justin Rose (Eng) 74 65 71 70 280 $1,170,000 2 Shawn Stefani (USA) 74 68 68 70 280 $702,000 T3 Charley Hoffman (USA) 72 72 68 69 281 $377,000 T3 Ben Martin (USA) 72 68 70 71 281 $377,000 T5 Andres Romero (Arg) 70 72 72 68 282 $237,250 T5 Brendan Steele (USA) 74 66 71 71 282 $237,250 T5 Brendon Todd (USA) 72 70 69 71 282 $237,250 T8 Brendon de Jonge (Zim) 71 68 71 73 283 $188,500 T8 Billy Hurley III (USA) 69 73 70 71 283 $188,500 T8 Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 66 73 74 283 $188,500
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
