Ryan Moore wins CIMB Classic
Ryan Moore birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat fellow American Gary Woodland and claim victory in the CIMB Classic at Kuala Lumpur G&CC in Malaysia.
Ryan Moore birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat fellow American Gary Woodland and claim victory in the CIMB Classic at Kuala Lumpur G&CC in Malaysia.
Moore and Woodland had finished regulation play tied on 14-under-par but darkness prevented them settling the tournament on Sunday. They returned to the course on Monday morning and Moore needed only one hole to secure his third PGA Tour title.
He played two solid shots on the par-5 18th to set up his approach. With an 8-iron he fired a fantastic third to within five feet of the cup. When Woodland was unable to make birdie from off the green, Moore was left with a short putt for the title. He rolled it in with confidence to take the victory.
"I had a great opportunity there on 18 with my third shot and it was just an absolute perfect number," he said. "It was coincidentally the exact shot I was working on on the range. I've always enjoyed playing in the fall. I'm not sure why," he said. "It's actually kind of funny, I won a week before my son was born last year; I won a week after his birthday this year."
With the win, Moore has climbed to second in the early PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings and has risen to 31st on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Woodland might have won in regulation play. He had a 10-foot putt on the 72nd green to take the victory outright, but it just missed. He was disappointed not to take top spot, but can be consoled by his remarkable return to form. He has struggled with wrist injuries in recent seasons and his World Ranking had fallen as low as 268th.
"I put a lot of hard work in," he said. "It's been a process with the changes I've made and it's finally starting to come together, which is nice. I put a lot of work in on the short game, a lot of work on the middle game, and we're starting to put it together now."
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Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat finished the week tied for third with Chris Stroud.
CIMB Classic Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oct 24-27, purse $7,000,000, par 72
1 Ryan Moore (USA) 63 72 69 70 274 $1,260,000 2 Gary Woodland (USA) 68 70 67 69 274 $756,000 T3 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 67 69 69 70 275 $406,000 T3 Chris Stroud (USA) 67 69 68 71 275 $406,000 5 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 73 67 70 66 276 $280,000 6 Jimmy Walker (USA) 74 68 67 68 277 $252,000 T7 Harris English (USA) 71 67 71 69 278 $218,167 T7 Charles Howell III (USA) 69 72 69 68 278 $218,167 T7 Graham DeLaet (Can) 72 67 68 71 278 $218,167 10 Keegan Bradley (USA) 65 66 76 72 279 $189,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
Where next? European Tour - Gonzalo Fdz-Castano wins BMW Masters
Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.
Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?
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