Webb Simpson birdied his last three holes of the day to clinch his second PGA Tour title with a playoff victory over fellow American Chez Reavie for the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.
Simpson coolly sealed the win at the TPC Boston by sinking an eight-foot birdie putt at the second extra hole, the par-four 17th, after Reavie had missed his attempt there from 23 feet.
The pair had finished the 72 regulation holes on 15-under-par 269, Simpson firing a six-under 65 and Reavie, who had been two strokes ahead with two holes to play, bogeying the par-five last for a 66.
Photo: Reuters
British world No. 1 Luke Donald signed off with a 67 to tie for third at 13-under, level with American Brandt Snedeker (66) and Australian Jason Day (68).
“I told somebody that I thought winning for the second time might be easier, but it certainly wasn’t. It was tough,” Simpson, who claimed his first PGA Tour title at last month’s Wyndham Championship, said greenside. “To finish the way I did and birdie 17 in the playoff was awesome.”
Victory in the second leg of the four season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs adds to what has already been a memorable season for Simpson, who celebrated the birth of his first child earlier this year.
The 26-year-old moves to the top of the FedExCup standings, while Reavie rockets from 87th place to ninth with his runner-up finish.
“To be No. 1 in the FedExCup with two weeks to go, I couldn’t expect anything more,” Simpson said. “The goal is to be in the top five going into Atlanta and it looks like I’m in a good position to do that, so I am thrilled.”
The leading 70 players in the points standings move on to next week’s BMW Championship in Illinois, before the top 30 qualify for the Tour Championship finale at Atlanta.
Simpson made a sizzling start to the final round, reaching the turn in six-under 30, but he cooled after that with a bogey at the 10th and failed to make any further progress until he rolled in a 26-footer at the last to trim Revie’s lead to one.
As he watched the television broadcast of Revie playing the final hole, Simpson believed he was almost certain to come up just short in his own title bid.
“I figured my chances were one in a hundred,” Simpson said. “He played so well today, my hat’s off to him. One thing I will say, on 18 is it is a tricky pin and if you pull it a little, it easily goes over the green.”
That is exactly what Reavie ended up doing to open the door for Simpson, bogeying the hole despite having a wedge in his hand for his third shot from just 117 yards.
“My game plan with a one-shot lead was to lay it up, wedge it on and make a par,” Reavie said. “That’s all I had to do and there was no risk in that unless you hit a wedge over the green.”
Both players then birdied first extra hole, the 18th, despite missing the green with their second shots.
Reavie appeared to hold the upper hand there after chipping to within three feet of the cup, while Simpson faced a 15-footer for his birdie. However, Simpson nervelessly drained his putt before Reavie knocked his in to keep the playoff alive.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite