The first 9 of the Open's final round was setting up for a dramatic finish with Mickelson sharing the lead at one point shooting a 5 under 30. But with 4 bogeys on the back side, he was quickly out of contention. Dustin Johnson also made a charge but an inexcusable double on 14 kept his Sunday jinx at the majors alive. He just needs to falter on a Sunday at Augusta for the Grand Slump. Costly for Quan Vuong, Mark Williams and Patrick Woods, the only three that had Johnson but they will still pocket $689,617 each for Johnson.
In back-to-back Opens, a dark horse emerges as the Champion becoming the third player from Northern Ireland to win a major in the last 4. Darren Clarke looked like he was going to have to stave off competition early in the round but he ends up cruising to victory. What a brilliant outing as he is the only player without a round over par this week. I guarantee he'll be drinking Guiness out of the Claret jug tonight. Congrats to Darren.
Luckily for those trying to catch up, no one in the pool had Clarke. Results have been posted and rankings have been updated. There was very little shake-up in the rankings since most of everyone's golfers hacked it up this week. Patrick Woods is this week's winner with total earnings of $967,960 (Johnson, Garcia, McIlroy,Day) which bumps him up from 46 position to 28th overall. Congrats Patrick. Please send me your payment info so I can get your entry fee back to you.
The new overall leader is Christina Cung who moved up one spot to take a slim lead over the former #1 Hill Shands by a only $75k. As always, double-check your totals. Final earnings can be found here. Contact me if there are any discrepancies.
Our last major is 4 weeks from now at the Atlanta Athletic CC beginning on August 11th. Some of us will be trying to hold the lead while others are trying to catch up. The dark horse strategy could be in play for many of us trying to make a last ditch effort to place. Again, the top 7 finishers at the end of the season will be in the money:
1st Place - $1,217
2nd Place - $845
3rd Place - $507
4th Place - $304
5th Place - $237
6th Place - $169
7th Place - $101
Remember that the player in dead last place at the end of the season will be exempt form next year's pool (you must submit for each 5 tournaments to qualify). Matt Johnson has commanding control of this dubious honor at the moment.
Look for a message the week prior to the PGA Championship.
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