Bowditch Wins AT&T Byron Nelson
IRVING, Texas — Steven Bowditch won his wife’s hand at the TPC Four Seasons, and on Sunday, he won his second career PGA Tour title there.
Bowditch claimed the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship at the site of his 2011 wedding with a 5-under-par 64 — which included two crucial birdies on the back nine — and a tournament-record-setting, 18-under 259 four-round total that will look strange in the history books.
Bowditch, who held a share of the lead after each round this week, shook off two bogeys in his first five holes Sunday with six birdies in his final 13 to hold off Charley Hoffman, Jimmy Walker and Scott Pinckney. That trio finished four strokes back at 263 at the TPC Four Seasons Resort.
Zach Johnson came in fifth at 264.
Bowditch, a 31-year-old Aussie who relocated to nearby Flower Mound, Texas, had
back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11-12 and followed with backbreakers at No. 16 and 17.
Bowditch made a big move up the FedEx standings, from 68th to 16th, with the victory. He claimed the $1.2 million first-place check plus exemptions into this season’s PGA Championship and next year’s Masters.
“Amanda and I got married here at TPC, so this is unbelievable to be sitting up here,” Bowditch said. “Taking photos on the green today was probably — wasn’t probably, it’s definitely the second-best time I’ve had on that green.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling and one that, I guess, I thought about occasionally but didn’t think that would happen this quick.
The victory was Bowditch’s first since the Valero Texas Open in 2014 and his first top 10 since a runner-up result at the Frys.com Open last fall.
Bowditch’s 18-under 259 was two strokes better than Rory Sabbatini’s 19-under 261 in 2009 by virtue of a change in par value at the 14th hole. Torrential downpours earlier in the tournament made the 14th fairway unplayable.
Starting with Friday’s second round, officials made the hole a par 3. As a result, the final three rounds were played at a par 69 instead of 70.
Bowditch missed the cut in each of his three previous Nelson tournaments.
The day began with 13 players within two strokes of the lead.
Hoffman, Walker and Johnson made the most serious charges Sunday.
Hoffman recorded two bogeys on the front nine but rebounded with five birdies in his last nine holes in a round of 4-under 65.
It was the second consecutive top-10 result for Hoffman, who came in ninth at the Masters. He saved his round with a chip in for par at No. 9 after hitting a ball into the water.
“I gave myself a lot of opportunities,” he said. “If I don’t hit that ball in the water … Coming down the back nine means something. That’s why you play golf, get the adrenaline going. Hopefully, knock a big one off here pretty soon.”
Walker, the 12th-ranked player in the world who began the day two back of Bowditch, earned his sixth top-10 finish of the season. Bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 appeared to take Walker out of contention, but he rallied with an eagle on No. 16 and a birdie on No. 17.
Johnson moved up 15 positions from his start with a 6-under 63. He had birdies at Nos. 14, 15 and 16. A birdie attempt on No. 18 slid just by, but as it turned out it wouldn’t have made a difference.
“I didn’t make every one of them, but I surely made my share,” Johnson said.
As those three PGA veterans crept closer, the unproven Bowditch began to separate himself, even looking comfortable.
A 7-foot birdie putt at No. 16 and a 15-footer at No. 17 increased his lead to four shots.
“I wasn’t really at ease,” Bowditch said. “I was more like a duck on a pond. My insides were moving a mile a minute.
