Robert Streb produced a remarkable final day performance to win The McGladrey Classic via a playoff against fellow American Will MacKenzie and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge.
Robert Streb produced a remarkable final day performance to win The McGladrey Classic via a playoff against fellow American Will MacKenzie and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge.
Streb began the final round five strokes behind the leaders and a comeback didn’t look likely when he bogeyed his opening hole. But he went on a great run with five birdies on the front nine. A bogey on the 13th was a mere blip as he reeled off four straight birdies from the 14th.
The 27-year-old scored 63 and finished on 14-under-par. He was left to wait and see if those following could match or better that total. Brendon de Jonge had a chance to win the tournament outright but he missed make-able birdie putts on the 15th and final greens. He shot a closing 65 to tie Streb on a four-round total of 266.
Will MacKenzie was the only other contender to finish 14-under. He birdied the 17th then saved par from short of the green on the home hole to make it a three-way playoff.
At the first extra hole MacKenzie was eliminated when he failed to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker. On the second extra hole, the par-3 17th, Streb fired a brilliant 8-iron shot to within four feet of the hole. He rolled the putt home and the title was his.
“What can you do?” said de Jonge. “He hit a great shot. It’s a good way to win a tournament.”
The victory means Streb will play at next year’s Masters, the PGA Championship and the tournament of champions at Kapalua.
“I was pretty nervous, but things worked out in my favour,” he said.
Defending champion Chris Kirk fired a closing 67 to end the week in a tie for fourth place with Ken Duke, Russell Henley and Kevin Kisner.
Andrew Svoboda had shared the 54-hole lead, but he dropped three shots at the start of his back nine and wasn’t able to recover. He finished in a tie for ninth.
The McGladrey Classic Seaside Course, Sea Island, Georgia Oct 23-26, purse $5,600,000, par 70
1 Robert Streb (USA) 69 66 68 63 266 $1,008,000 T2 Brendon de Jonge (Zim) 68 64 69 65 266 $492,800 T2 Will MacKenzie (USA) 65 68 65 68 266 $492,800 T4 Ken Duke (USA) 67 69 66 66 268 $220,500 T4 Russell Henley (USA) 68 63 68 69 268 $220,500 T4 Chris Kirk (USA) 68 67 66 67 268 $220,500 T4 Kevin Kisner (USA) 69 68 66 65 268 $220,500 T8 Kevin Chappell (USA) 67 67 70 65 269 $156,800 T8 Fabian Gomez (Arg) 68 66 68 68 269 $156,800 T8 Andrew Svoboda (USA) 66 66 66 71 269 $156,800 T8 Mark Wilson (USA) 67 66 69 67 269 $156,800
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
