Sang-Moon Bae secured a two-shot victory over Steven Dowditch to win the second PGA TOUR event of his career - by Dan Butler
Sang-Moon Bae now tops the FedExCup standings after winning the first event of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season at the Frys.com Open.
His final round 73 was enough to bring an end to a 36-event drought where Bae has failed to record a single top-10 finish – since his first victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in May 2013.
“I was very frustrated.” 28-year-old Bae said. “Even though my game was good, the score wasn’t. I was very frustrated and I was very anxious and nervous.”
Bae began his final round at the Silverado Country Club with a commanding four-shot lead over the field as a result of a solid third-round 65. This consisted of a 5-birdie stretch from holes 2 to 6 and an eagle on the par 4 17th that resulted from a drive of 292 yards to 6 feet from the pin.
Bae never lost the lead in the final round despite carding 4 bogeys and only 3 birdies.
Australia’s Steven Bowditch made a valiant charge on the back 9 with birdies on holes 12, 14 and 18 and an eagle on the par 5 16th but could only watch from the sidelines as Bae safely putted in for a routine par on the par-5 18th to win.
Bowditch finished in second place at 13 under, one shot clear of Bryce Molder, Hideki Masuyama, Retief Goosen, Hunter Mahan and Scotland’s Martin Laird.
Bae now joins compatriots K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang as the only Korean men to win more than one event on the PGA TOUR.
Lee Westwood made a comfortable start to his PGA TOUR season after a disappointing 2013/14, shooting a closing round 67 to finish in a tie for 12th place at 10 under par.
Frys.com Open
Silverado Country Club, Napa, California
Oct 9-12, purse $6,000,000
1) Sang-Moon Bae (KOR) 66-69-65-73 = 273
2) Steven Bowditch (AUS) 73-68-67-67 = 275
T3) Bryce Molder (USA) 70-69-69-68 = 276
T3) Hideki Matsuyama (JAP) 70-67-69-70 = 276
T3) Retief Goosen (RSA) 69-71-66-70 = 276
T3) Hunter Haham (USA) 70-68-68-70 = 276
T3) Martin Laird (SCO) 67-67-71-71 = 276
T8) Hudson Swafford (USA) 70-69-71-67 = 277
T8) Robert Allenby (AUS) 70-71-66-70 = 277
T8) Jon Curran (USA) 68-72-67-70 = 277
T8) Brooks Koepka (USA) 68-70-67-72 = 277
Bold signifies Titleist golf ball usage