Casey makes his case for Augusta; Meadow 40th in Phoenix
Only Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson have won more world ranking points than Paul Casey (above) this year.
Paul Casey threw down the Masters gauntlet to Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson when he retained the Valspar Championship with a dogged performance in Tampa.
The English Ryder Cup star (41), who has five top-10 finishes in 12 appearances at Augusta National, chiselled out a one-over 72 to win by a shot from Jason Kokrak and Louis Oosthuizen on eight-under par at Innisbrook's treacherous Copperhead Course.
"Mega," Casey said when asked what his third PGA Tour win meant for his confidence heading to Augusta National. "I feel good. But I've got to play like that.
"I drove the ball so well this week — these fairways are so narrow — but drive it like that and clean up the putting, I've got a very, very good chance.
"I need someone like Rory [McIlroy] and Dustin [Johnson] to maybe not play their best because I don't think I can beat them when they are on their best game.
"I give them full credit, I am not as good as they are, but I have got a good chance."
The Cheltenham man, who was a shot clear of Kokrak and two ahead of clubhouse leader Oosthuizen, who shot 69, with two holes to play.
But while he three-putted the 17th, Kokrak did the same at the last and Casey, playing in the group behind, hit the green from a fairway bunker and two-putted for his third PGA Tour win.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson tied for fourth with Sungjae Im after a 68, but world number one Johnson failed to make a birdie in a disappointing 74 and tied for sixth with Jon Rahm and Ryan Armour.
Graeme McDowell, meanwhile, hit just six fairways and made only one birdie in a three-over 74, finishing tied for 46th on three-over.
The result helped Casey move up to 11th in the world and with Kokrak and Im failing to win, Shane Lowry fell just one spot to 48th in the world and looks to be in a strong position to remain in the world’s top 50 next Sunday and secure his Masters appearance.
The top 50 will tee it up at Augusta National and Lowry’s divisor is such that he’s projected to rise to 46th after this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship in Austin.
Hend wins as Elvira stunned by thunderclap
On the European Tour, Scott Hend claimed the weather-affected Maybank Championship as a thunderclap almost cost Spain's Nacho Elvira his chance to force a playoff.
The Madrid native had to settle for second when Hend birdied the first extra hole to claim his third European Tour win and a cheque for €438,905.
The Australian (45), who was three shots behind Elvira overnight, raced to the turn in five-under 31 to take the lead. He was still a stroke ahead of the Spaniard as they played the par-five 18th in driving rain when the weather gods spectacularly intervened.
As a thunderstorm rapidly approached, Elvira clearly flinched as a clap of thunder broke on his backswing and he almost duffed his pitch from 60 yards, finishing 30 feet short of the hole.
But after officials had suspended play for an hour and 45 minutes, Elvira returned to ram his birdie putt home, carding a 70 to Hend's 67 to force a playoff on 15-under par, only to lose to Hend's birdie four.
"What a putt by Nacho," conceded Hend, who hit a tree with his drive and his second shot on their return to the 18th for the playoff but still made birdie to win after Elvira drove into sand.
"If I were to go out there and hit that putt you would say you would hole it one in ten times."
European Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington finished tied 30th on five-under-par in his first start for four months, racking up six birdies in a closing 69.
"[My] wrist held up well, but [my] thumb was too stressed to do much practice," said Harrington, who hopes to feel more comfortable at next week's Valero Texas Open.
"For the last four months, I could only practice putt due to a broken bone in my wrist. First tournament back, I was minus 5.9 strokes-gained putting. If only practising [your putting] made you better.”
Meadow tied 40th in Phoenix
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow birdied two of her last three holes to close with a 72 to finish tied for 40th on 10-under par in the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in Phoenix.
She birdied three of her first four holes to move into the top 10 but after a double bogey the fifth, she birdied the ninth, bogeyed the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th before salvaging something from the day with birdies at the 16th and 18th.
She earned $6,824 but finished 12 strokes behind South Korea’s Jin Young Ko, who shot a bogey-free, seven-under 65 to win by one stroke on 22-under par from Jessica Korda (64), Nelly Korda (67), Carlota Ciganda (69) and Yu Liu (70).
Ko said she tried to emulate the outer calm of world No 1 Johnson to win for the first time in the United States after a chat fellow South Korean Jennifer Song.
"She told me Dustin hit so bad and he didn't get angry - put clubs in the bag and just walk," Ko said. "So, I tried like Dustin yesterday and today. I just tried no angry, no happy, just focus."
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