By Christopher Powers
When Tiger Woods hit that incredible, helicopter-finish bunker shot around a tree at the par-4 ninth at the 2019 WGC-Mexico, it felt like a real turning point in the event. It happened to be his final hole of the day, and a birdie would have given him a six-under 65. It was surely going to be a vintage Tiger finish to a vintage Tiger round.

But Woods missed the putt, settling for a 66 and a momentum-killing par. On Saturday three bogeys and a double kept him out of serious contention, and he wound up finishing 13 shots back of winner Dustin Johnson, rendering the Friday bunker magic somewhat irrelevant.

That doesn’t make the shot any less memorable, or less deserving of a commemorative plaque, which Club de Golf Chapultepec already had installed for this year’s WGC-Mexico Championship. Check out the photo captured by the European Tour:

#WGCMexico https://t.co/eOqVL7Lqup pic.twitter.com/SLdVNa3vfu

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 18, 2020

As you can see, the tweet is in response to England’s Matt Wallace, who demanded a plaque be put directly in the bunker after seeing the shot last year. He’ll have to settled for it being in the fairway next to it. Let’s watch the shot again, shall we?

Watch and learn, folks ?? pic.twitter.com/08TfSZPRSH

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) February 22, 2019

Naturally, there were cries on social media for this plaque being both too soon and too much, mainly because of where Woods eventually finished in the event. Ben Hogan’s 1 iron at Merion in the 1950 U.S. Open, this was not. But it’s not an unprecedented move, especially when it involves Tiger Woods, the man who earned a plaque at TPC Scottsdale because a bunch of fans helped him move a boulder in the 1999 Phoenix Open. For those wondering, Woods finished third that week.

Unfortunately, Woods won’t be able to see his new plaque in person, as he’s skipping the WGC-Mexico following his 68th place finish in the Genesis Invitational.

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By Christopher Powers
In order for Rory McIlroy to have any chance on Sunday at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Dustin Johnson was going to have to do something he hadn’t done all week: beat himself. While he’s been a dominant player over the last decade, Johnson has also shown that he’s far from unbeatable on Sundays. With a player of McIlroy’s calibre chasing him on a quirky course like Club de Golf Chapultepec, the outcome was far from a foregone conclusion.

But without much of an early push from McIlroy, Johnson made sure it was, cruising to a five-shot victory with a final-round five-under 66. The 34-year-old opened the door for McIlroy early, playing his first five holes in one over par, but the Northern Irishman failed to take advantage. Johnson eventually settled in, playing his final 13 holes in six under.

The win is the 20th of Johnson’s PGA Tour career, making him just the 38th player to accomplish the feat. He joins the likes of Doug Sanders, Greg Norman and Hale Irwin in tie for 34th on the all-time PGA Tour wins list.

“It means a lot, to get 20 wins out here is very difficult,” said Johnson, who has now won six World Golf Championships in his career. “To do it before I turn 35 is pretty incredible. This is a big win for me, it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. I feel like the game is in good form right now.”

Johnson is also just the fifth player to win 20 times before age 35, joining an exclusive club that includes Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

As for McIlroy, who made six birdies on the back nine and finished with a 67, he continues to come up just short of victory in 2019, but he’s now finished inside the top five in four straight starts, something he’s never done on tour.

Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Kiradech Aphibarnrat finished in a tie for third. It matches the highest PGA Tour finish of Aphibarnrat’s career, which came at the 2013 CIMB Classic.

Justin Thomas carded the low round of the week, firing a nine-under 62 that earned him a solo ninth finish. Tiger Woods tied for 10th after posting a final-round 69.

The post Dustin Johnson’s dominant final-round 66 earns him 20th career PGA Tour victory at WGC-Mexico appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

At the par-4 ninth hole, Woods’ 18th on Friday, the 14-time major winner laid back with an iron and found a fairway bunker. That was the least of his troubles, as he also had a huge tree between his ball and the green that he could have either gone over or around. Woods chose to go around, turning back the clock with a vintage helicopter follow-through cut shot that spun some 20 feet back toward the cup. Warning, NSFW content below:

Unbelievable.

What a swing.
What a shot.

Wow, @TigerWoods. ? #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/cO134n7oEm

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2019

We’ve seen a few of those helicopter follow-throughs during Woods’ comeback, but few of them have been paired with an incredible result. That was not the case here, as this is already an early candidate for shot of the year for Tiger, and maybe on the PGA Tour. Good luck not watching that one on repeat for the rest of the night.

Sadly, there is a catch. Woods went on to miss the birdie putt, which is like an NBA player breaking an opponent’s ankles but then missing the shot. You got to finish it off. Still, Woods posted one of the rounds of the day, a five-under 66 to get in shouting distance of the leaders heading into the weekend. But he’ll be thinking about missing this birdie putt all night.

The post Watch Tiger Woods turn back the clock with vintage cut shot from bunker at WGC-Mexico appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
It looked like Rory McIlroy was poised to run away with the WGC-Mexico Championship early on Friday at Club de Golf Chapultepec. The Northern Irishman got off to a torrid start, making birdies on three of his first four holes to reach 11 under. In the group behind, Dustin Johnson was losing ground, having made par on the first three holes, two of which were par 4s he could drive.

But things flipped quickly, as McIlroy ran into trouble at the par-5 sixth, making bogey for the second straight day. At the short par-4 ninth, he found the fringe right of the green with his second shot, 15 feet from the hole, but walked away with a double bogey. Meanwhile, Johnson plugged along, eventually carding a bogey-free 67 to pair with his opening bogey-free 64. It’s the first time in his PGA Tour career that he has not dropped a shot over his first 36 holes.

“I’ve just done a really good job with controlling my distance with my irons and giving myself a lot of looks at birdies,” said Johnson, who ranks first in the field in strokes-gained/approach-the-green.

This is Johnson’s ninth consecutive round in the 60s at Chapultepec, where he won the first edition of the WGC-Mexico in 2017. Seems fair to say he is a fan of the place.

“I just enjoy playing this kind of golf, it makes you focus, you’ve got to think and you’re doing a lot of calculations with the numbers, trying to figure out how far the ball is going to actually go. So, I enjoy it, and yeah, I like this golf course, it does set up well for me. It’s pretty narrow, but it’s tree-lined, so I do like that.”

McIlroy was able to settle in on the back nine, carding a one-under 35 to post 70. Even with the lacklustre round, he’s still just two back at nine-under 133, tied for second with Matt Kuchar, who fired a four-under 67.

Sergio Garcia shot a five-under 66, putting him in a tie for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood, who shot the round of the day, a six-under 65. They are at seven-under 135. Tiger Woods’ five-under 66 got him into a tie for eighth at five-under 137.

The post Dustin Johnson goes bogey-free on his first 36 holes for the first time in his career, leads WGC-Mexico appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Most golf fans are getting to know Shubhanker Sharma for the first time at this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, but Phil Mickelson actually met the rising star on Saturday. He just had no clue who he was. At least, at first.

Before the third round at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Shubhanker, 21, approached Mickelson, who he calls “a legend,” on the practice green. And Mickelson apparently thought he was a pesky reporter and didn’t realize he was the guy leading the tournament.

Before his 3rd round today the leader, @shubhankargolf went up to introduce himself to Phil Mickelson. Phil thought he was a member of the media and said he would talk after the round. Phil then realized who he was and the two said hello. Classic!

— Todd Lewis (@ToddLewisGC) March 4, 2018

Classic is right. Shubhanker backed up the tale of this awkward intro after.

"He probably thought we were media and said, ‘Not right now. After the round." ?

Shubhankar Sharma will NEVER forget the first time he met Phil Mickelson. ? pic.twitter.com/K1U4ARlmrv

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 4, 2018

The good news for Shubhanker is there will be little time before the next episode of How I Met Phil Mickelson. Following a third-round 69 that kept the two-time European Tour winner from India in the lead, the two will play together (along with England’s Tyrrell Hatton) in Sunday’s final pairing. And having a laugh over Saturday’s mix-up should be a good first-tee icebreaker.

The post Phil Mickelson blew off Shubhanker Sharma thinking he was a reporter — before realizing he’s the guy leading the tournament appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
In his PGA Tour debut, Shubhankar Sharma is one more solid round away from capturing the biggest victory in his country’s golfing history. The 21-year-old from India holds a two-shot lead at the WGC-Mexico Championship after posting a third-round two-under 69, putting him at 13-under 200.

For the third straight day, Sharma’s opening drive found the first green, but this time he walked away with birdie instead of a third consecutive eagle. He added birdies at the third and fifth holes before dropping his first shot of the day at the par-4 eighth. He played the final 10 holes in even par, highlighted by a 13-foot par save at the 18th hole that kept him two shots clear of the field.

If Sharma is going to earn his first win, he’ll have to hold off veterans Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, who are among a foursome two back at 11-under 202. Mickelson shot a bogey-free six-under 65, matching his low round of the year. Surprisingly, the five-time major winner has limited the damage on the tight, tree-lined fairways at Chapultepec, making just one bogey in his last 45 holes.

“The key for me is missing it in the right spots. There’s probably five or six fairways where half the fairway blocks you out, so you’re better off in the rough on the opposite side,” Mickelson said. “There’s a lot of holes like that where if you put it in the right spot you have pretty good angles, shots in and you can score well.”

Mickelson is joined by Tyrrell Hatton, whose seven-under 64 would have been the round of the day if not for Justin Thomas’ nine-under 62. Hatton’s round was also bogey-free, featuring a front-nine five-under 30. Also at 11 under is Rafa Cabrera Bello and Garcia, who each shot two-under 69s.

Dustin Johnson (68), Pat Perez (68), Brian Harman (68) and Xander Schauffele (70) are tied for sixth at 10-under 203.

The post Shubhankar Sharma takes two-stroke lead into final round of his PGA Tour debut at the WGC-Mexico Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ross Fisher displayed a little more emotion when he produced a highlight of his own on Saturday in Mexico, making a hole-in-one with a 9-iron at the 157-yard par-3 third hole. But the real excitement came when the PGA Tour posted a video on Twitter featuring the call of Fisher’s ace by a Spanish announcer, who brought the energy of a World Cup Final to Chapultepec. Have a listen:

“¡Si si si si si si…HOOOOOOOOLLEEEEE!” ?? ??

Ross Fisher’s ace gets even better. pic.twitter.com/V97JgZaJcu

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 3, 2018

Incredible. That will undoubtedly be the best thing you hear all year in golf or any sport for that matter. Some say the best sports broadcasters often say less, letting the big moment breathe. We’re very glad that wasn’t the case with this guy, who should be stationed at every course’s signature par-3 for the rest of the season for more potential “HOOOOOOLE”-in-ones. Imagine this guy at the 17th at Sawgrass? Absolutely electric.

The post This Spanish announcer’s call of Ross Fisher’s hole-in-one is the best thing you’ll hear all week, and possibly all year appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.