Final-Round Notes – Sunday, February 21, 2016

Bubba Watson              66-68-67-68–269 (-15)

Adam Scott                  68-68-67-67–270 (-14)

Jason Kokrak                68-64-70-68–270 (-14)

Dustin Johnson             68-66-68-69–271 (-13)

K.J. Choi                      69-67-67-69–272 (-12)

Mark Leishman              68-67-68-69–272 (-12)

Chez Reavie                  66-67-69-71–273 (-11)

Bubba Watson finished birdie-birdie-par over the final three holes at The Riviera Country Club to post a one-stroke victory over Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak. The victory was Watson’s second win in the Northern Trust Open. He also won the event in 2014. Scott, who birdied the final two holes, was seeking his first win since the 2014 Dean & Deluca Invitational, while Kokrak was attempting to claim his first PGA TOUR victory.

Watson is now a nine-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

2010 Travelers Championship.

2011 Farmers Insurance Open, Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

2012 Masters Tournament.

2014 Northern Trust Open, Masters Tournament.

2015 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Travelers Championship.

2016 Northern Trust Open

Multiple winners of the Northern Trust Open

Four-Time Winners: MacDonald Smith (1928, 1929, 1932, 1934), Lloyd Mangrum (1949, 1951, 1953, 1956)

Three-Time Winners: Ben Hogan (1942, 1947, 1948), Arnold Palmer (1963, 1966, 1967)

Two-Time Winners: Harry Cooper (1926, 1937), Sam Snead (1945, 1950), Paul Harney (1964, 1965), Billy Casper (1968, 1970), Gil Morgan (1978, 1983), Lanny Wadkins (1979, 1985), Tom Watson (1980, 1982), Fred Couples (1990, 1992), Corey Pavin (1994, 1995), Mike Weir (2003, 2004), Phil Mickelson (2008, 2009), Bubba Watson (2014, 2016).

With his win today Watson will move from No. 6 to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

This represented the 10^th time that Watson had held at least a share of the 54-hole lead heading into a final round. He has now converted three of those 54-hole leads into victory.

54-hole leads:

Tournament                                                       Finish

2007 Shell Houston Open                                  T2

2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational                          T8

2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans                    Win

2011 Deutsche Bank Championship                   T16

2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship                     2

2013 Travelers Championship                             4

2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open T2

2014 Masters Tournament                                  Win

2014 the Memorial Tournament                           3

2016 Northern Trust Open                                  Win

 

Watson moved to 11^th from No. 105 on the FedExCup standings with his victory at the Northern Trust Open.

Watson’s key statistics for the 2016 Northern Trust Open;

Key statistics                Round 1            Round 2            Round 3            Round 4            Cumulative

Driving Accuracy        7 of 14        2 of 14          10 of 14            9 of 14              28 of 56 (T50)

Driving Distance      300.1            286.4                295.9                298.5                295.3 (T17)

Greens in Regulation   3 of 18       10 of 18         13 of 18          15 of 18            51 of 72 (T7)

Putts                            28                     25                     28                     32                     113

In 2014, Watson shot matching weekend rounds of 64 and went bogey-free to win by two shots over Dustin Johnson. Watson came from four shots back on the final day to claim the victory. Watson (70-71-64-64) was the only player in the field to go bogey-free on the weekend at The Riviera Country Club. The win was the fifth of Watson’s PGA TOUR career at the time. He finished T14 in his title defense last year. He went on to capture his second Masters Tournament just two months later.

This is Watson’s fifth start of the 2015-16 PGA TOUR season. His previous best finish (T10) came at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He won the Hero World Challenge, not an official TOUR event, in December.

Watson won twice last season at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and the Travelers Championship while finishing 5^th in the FedExCup for the second consecutive year.

Adam Scott got off to a flier of a start in the final round with an eagle three at the opening par-5 hole. He followed with par-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-par before being derailed with a double-bogey six at No. 8. He closed his round with back-to-back birdies, including a chip-in on the final hole. Scott made over 100 feet of putts in his first four holes and 142 feet in total putts for the round.

Scott was one of three international players, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose the other two, who began the final round with eagle three’s at the par-5 opening hole. All three players made par at the opening hole in Saturday’s third round.

The first year Scott played in the Northern Trust Open was 2005. He recorded an unofficial victory when the event was reduced to 36 holes due to weather and did not satisfy the 54-hole requirement. The following year he finished runner-up, a stroke back of Rory Sabbatini. Before his T2 this year, the last time Scott played at Riviera was 2013 when he finished T10.

The Northern Trust Open marked the fourth start of the season for Scott. His previous best performance in 2015-16 was a runner-up finish at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last November.

In the four events Scott has played this season, he has posted sub-70 scores in each round three times, at the CIMB Classic, Sony Open in Hawaii and Northern Trust Open. In his only other start this season, Scott posted four rounds in the 70s (75-76-72-70) at the WGC-HSBC Champions.

With rounds of 67-64-70-68—270 (-14), Jason Kokrak matched his best career finish on the PGA TOUR. In 2012, Kokrak posted a T2 finish at the Frys.com Open. At this season’s Frys.com Open, the opening event of the season, Kokrak was disqualified after his opening-round 77.

Kokrak’s T2 was his best finish in five appearances at the Northern Trust Open with his best previous finish (T34) in 2012.

The Northern Trust Open was Kokrak’s 10^th start this season. His previous best finish was T12 at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Kokrak won twice in 2011 on the Web.Com Tour at the Albertsons Boise Open and the Miccosukee Championship.

In his seventh appearance at the Northern Trust Open, this is the first time Leishman has finished in the top-10. His T15 in 2010 was his previous best result. With four rounds in the 60s this year, his final-round 65 in 2010, the first year he played this event, remains his low round at The Riviera Country Club.

Leishman has now played 21 rounds in the 2015-16 PGA TOUR season with just one over-par round – 74 (+2) in the first round of the Famers Insurance Open. His previous best finish this season was T11 at the World Golf Championships–HSBC Champions.

Dustin Johnson is 32-under par in his last 12 rounds at the Northern Trust Open and has three consecutive finishes in the top four (2/2014, T2/2015, 4/ Multiple winners of the Northern Trust Open

Four-Time Winners: MacDonald Smith (1928, 1929, 1932, 1934), Lloyd Mangrum (1949, 1951, 1953, 1956)

Three-Time Winners: Ben Hogan (1942, 1947, 1948), Arnold Palmer (1963, 1966, 1967)

Two-Time Winners: Harry Cooper (1926, 1937), Sam Snead (1945, 1950), Paul Harney (1964, 1965), Billy Casper (1968, 1970), Gil Morgan (1978, 1983), Lanny Wadkins (1979, 1985), Tom Watson (1980, 1982), Fred Couples (1990, 1992), Corey Pavin (1994, 1995), Mike Weir (2003, 2004), Phil Mickelson (2008, 2009), Bubba Watson (2014, 2016).

2016).

Johnson was seeking his 10^th win on TOUR. He has at least one victory in each of his last eight seasons – the longest current streak on TOUR.

2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship

2009 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

2010 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, BMW Championship

2011 The Barclays

2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic

2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions

2013 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions (part of the 2013-14 PGA TOUR season)

2015 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

Johnson has an impressive record at the Northern Trust Open with six top-10 finishes in nine starts, including consecutive runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015. Five players in the history of the Northern Trust Open have recorded runner-up finishes in back-to-back years but none before Johnson’s fourth place today finished better than T18 the next year.

Player                     Back-to-back years as runner-up      Result the next year

Dustin Johnson       2014 & 2015                                    4^th

Tiger Woods           1998 & 1999                                    T18 in 2000

Fred Couples          1993 & 1994                                    T19 in 1995

Jack Burke, Jr.        1952 & 1953                                    T18 in 1954

Willie Hunter            1933 & 1934                                    T20 in 1935

Leo Diegel              1932 & 1933                                    DNP

Choi’s best finish in his previous 15 starts at the Northern Trust Open was T3 in 2009 when he finished two strokes behind Phil Mickelson. His T5 this week matched his T5 finish in 2003 at Riviera.

Choi’s previous best finish this season was runner-up to Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open. Choi held the 54-hole lead at Torrey Pines and failed to birdie the final hole to force a playoff, posting a 4-over 76 in the unscheduled Monday finish.

Choi was Vice Captain to Captain Nick Price’s International Team at the 2015 Presidents Cup held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea. The USA Team (15.5 points) prevailed over the International Team (14.5 points). Choi was a playing member of the International Team three times at The Presidents Cup in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

This week marked Choi’s 402^nd official PGA TOUR start. Choi has eight PGA TOUR victories with his most recent win at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2011. Choi also has nine international wins.

In 16 appearances at the Northern Trust Open Choi has not missed a cut. Choi joins 12 players with at least 16 tournament appearances in Northern Trust Open history who have never missed a cut at this event.

E. Harrison, 26 appearances without a missed cut

Jim Ferrier, 21

Art Wall, 19 (WD after third round in 1977)

Paul Runyan, 19

Willie Hunter, 19

Billy Casper, 19 (WD after first round in 1980)

Lloyd Mangrum, 17

Vic Ghezzi, 17

Johnny Bulla, 17 (WD after third round in 1951)

Paul Harney, 16

Jimmy Demaret, 16

Harry Cooper, 16

The 2008 RBC Canadian Open winner, Reavie returned to the PGA TOUR in 2015-16 after winning the Small Business Connection at River Run during the 2015 Web.com Tour Finals where he was the leading money-winner over the four events. Reavie played in 19 events last year on the PGA TOUR on a medical extension due to a wrist injury that required surgery in 2014 and limited him to just two events during the 2013-14 season.

This week’s finish at Riviera is Reavie’s best result on TOUR since his playoff loss to Webb Simpson at the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston – a period of 82 starts or 4 years, 5 months and 16 days.

This marked Reavie’s sixth career start at the Northern Trust Open. In five previous attempts he has four missed cuts and a 78^th-place finish.

Despite starting his final round with an eagle, Rory McIlroy did not record another sub-par hole until No. 18 at The Riviera Country Club when he holed from off the green for birdie. Sandwiched between those highlights were seven bogeys for a 4-over 75. The last time McIlroy recorded seven bogeys in a round was the third round of the 2013 U.S. Open Championship.

During today’s final round of the Northern Trust Open, Ryan Moore aced the 16th hole with a 7-iron from 163 yards. As the Official Mortgage Sponsor of the PGA TOUR, Quicken Loans will award one year’s worth of mortgage payments to Donna S. from Westbury, New York to celebrate the ace. The Quicken Loans’ Hole-In-One Sweepstakes awards one year’s worth of mortgage payments to a randomly selected entrant for every ace during official PGA TOUR events from the Waste Management Phoenix Open through the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. Fans can enter the sweepstakes by visiting www.pgatour.com/quickenloans. Previous participants in the Sweepstakes must re-register to be eligible in 2016. There have been 52 total winners since the Sweepstakes began in 2014, which equals 52 years’ worth of mortgage payments.

Ryan Moore’s ace was the fourth in his PGA TOUR career and the second at this week’s Northern Trust Open. Tyrone van Aswegen also recorded a hole-in-one at the 16^th hole in yesterday’s third round. Eleven aces have been recorded at Riviera’s 16^th hole in this tournament since 1984. Moore’s previous aces on TOUR have come at;

2007 PODS Championship
2010 Masters Tournament
2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational

2016 Northern Trust Open

Amateur Charlie Danielson, a senior at the University of Illinois, made the cut at 3-under-par with opening scores of 67-72 and shot 73-77 on the weekend to finish T72 in his first PGA TOUR start. Danielson shot a bogey-free 3-under 68 as part of Monday’s Northern Trust Open Collegiate Showcase presented by Sands Cares, the low score of the 14 collegians in the field, earning him an exemption into the tournament.

Steve Stricker finished T11. Stricker was seeking his first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since a T7 finish at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. This week’s Northern Trust Open was his 14^th official event since the T7 at Valahlla.

Jeff Overton withdrew with a wrist injury after completing two holes in the final round. Overton was in the last group of the day off No. 10 tee and paired with Charles Howell III. Mark Wilson dropped from the threesome ahead and played the remainder of the round with Howell.

Charles Howell III, the 2007 Northern Trust Open champion, failed to birdie the short, par-4 10^th hole this week. Howell has not birdied the 10^th hole at Riviera since the second round in 2009, a stretch of 22 tournament rounds.

R1 – Chez Reavie (66), Luke List (66), Shawn Stefani (67), Ben Crane (67)

R2 – Troy Merritt (66), Bubba Watson (68), Jon Curran (67), Stuart Appleby (69)

R3 – Adam Scott (68), Padraig Harrington (66)

R4 – Matt Kuchar (67)

1                      34.784              36.631              71.415

2                      34.693              36.210              70.903

3                      34.704              35.155              69.857

4                      34.882              36.829              71.711

Cumulative        34.757              36.270              71.027