Around The World
It took PGA Tour veteran Jimmy Walker 187 PGA Tour starts to claim his first victory, but once he got the hang of it, winning has become a remarkably regular thing. Indeed, Walker claimed his third title in eight starts on the 2013-14 wraparound schedule at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, charging out to a six-stroke 54 hole lead behind rounds of 66-69-67 before barely hanging on over a bumpy final nine at Pebble Beach. Walker seemed in firm command over his first 11 holes on Sunday, coming to the 12th tee with his entire six-shot margin intact. But while Dustin Johnson and Tour rookie Jim Renner charged home ahead of him with rounds of 66 and 67 respecively, Walker stumbled, first bogeying both the par-3 12th (after missing the green) and the par-4 13th (by three-putting). But even as Johnson and Renner charged, Walker still reached the 17th tee two ahead before again three-putting. Then, with two putts to win from 25 feet at the last, he ran his first effort five feet past the hole before coolly holing the comebacker to avoid a playoff. While Johnson and Renner shared second, Jordan Spieth tied Kevin Na for fourth after sharing the 36-hole lead with Walker, then struggling to a windblown third round 78 at Pebble Beach which, due to inclement weather, was actually completed on Sunday morning………………A frequent European Tour contender over the previous two seasons, South Africa’s George Coetzee finally landed his first career victory on the circuit, closing with a six-under-par 66 to claim a three-shot win at the eighth playing of the Joburg Open, in Johannnesburg. The 27-year-old Coetzee began Sunday’s final round four shots behind 54-hole co-leaders Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters but quickly launched himself into the fray via a four-under-par 33 on the outward nine. Two inward birdies (including at the par-4 15th, where his tee shot richeted off a tree and back into the fairway) allowed him to set the bar at 19 under par, and in the end only Walters – who needed an eagle at the last but instead bogeyed – had any chance to catch him. In addition to claiming the title, Coetzee was one of three men to land births in the 2014 Open championship, as he joined Walters and Korean Jin Jeong as the three low finishers among the top 10 not already qualified.