Fairytale Victory at Congressional for Billy Hurley III

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

JON RAHM came within a whisker of producing a sensational professional debut, nearly winning the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, Bethesda. He only left the amateur ranks after finishing in a tie for 23rd at the US Open but the 21-year-old Spaniard played brilliantly on one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour.

In the end, he finished third, losing out to a man who started the week ranked 607th in the world and had never even finished in the top three. Billy Hurley III, a 34-year-old who served in the US Navy until 2009, kept his composure, produced a series of glorious recovery shots and sealed the deal in his home town when he holed a chip for a crucial birdie three at the 15th hole to move to 16 under par and led by two.

His day got even better when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to increase his lead to three at 17 under, meaning he could enjoy the final two holes.

With his mother in tears beside him, Hurley said: "I am thrilled to have gotten it done today. It's been a hard year and it means so much to have something like this happen in front of so many friends and family."

On an astonishing final day, Hurley and Rahm found themselves going head to head with Bill Haas and veterans Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.

For Hurley, this may be a one-off, but Rahm looks like he could be one of the most exciting prospects in the game. His approach was fearless for all four days, even when the pressure was on during the final round. Rahm hits the ball a mile and struck some wonderful iron shots, but he was unable to hole any putts that mattered. He didn't drop his first shot of the day until the 17th to fall back to 13 under, tied with Haas.

Perhaps the best news of all is that Rahm plays the game with a smile on his face. He may have missed out on victory, but as an added bonus he grabbed one of four spots on offer at The Open. The other places went to Singh, Hurley and Harold Varner III.

Two players with a combined aged of 99 proved that there is plenty of life left in the old dogs. Els, who has somehow managed to overcome his nightmarish putting woes, birdied five holes on the front nine. Unfortunately, the 46-year-old South African also dropped three shots but reached the turn bang in contention. He then dropped two shots at the 10th and another at the 13th to fall three behind - at that stage in his round, he had only managed to par three holes. He finished fifth on 12 under. Meanwhile, 53-year-old Singh birdied the first, second, eighth and ninth to reach the turn in 32 and added another birdie at the 12th to move to 13 under par, just two behind the leader.

And the old boy looking for his first victory in eight years and his 35th in total closed the gap to a single shot when he birdied the 16th hole, but he gave it back at the next when he missed the green and was unable to get up and down in two. Singh then birdied the 18th for a round of 65 and a 72-hole total of 14 under par, which was good enough for second place.

Tiger Woods, the tournament host, confirmed that he is hitting golf balls once again. "My body is in decent shape but I am still not ready to return to tournament play," he said. "I am working hard on my fitness and am determined not to rush back this time as I have done that too often in the past. I am now pounding golf balls and tried to get back to the required standard, but I really can't say whether or not I will be back this season."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZx_0nwUFdk

In Hurley's Winning Bag:

Driver: M1 430 / 9.5* / Mitsubishi Tensei 

Fairway: M2 / 15* / Speeder Evolution

Rescue: SLDR / 19*/ Fujikura Speeder / 21* / Graphite Design DI

Adams Pro Mini Hybrid / 23* / Graphite Design DI

adidas Golf adipure TP footwear

BMW International Open

HENRIK STENSON was last seen flouncing his way out of Pennsylvania, failing to return to Oakmont Country Club to complete his second round when he knew that he had no chance of making the cut at the US Open.

It wasn't his finest hour. The Swede had opened with a 69 but lost his patience as he dropped shots like confetti and decided to leave town. He claimed that he was injured, but seems to have made a remarkable recovery.

He will be feeling a whole lot better after returning to Golf Club Gut Larchenhof to play 36 holes in a day and win the BMW International Open by three strokes.

He shot a 67 in the third round to lead by one and returned to the course after a quick lunch. He made three bogeys in five holes from the sixth in round four, however, and it seemed that another title was about to slipthrough his fingers. When South Africa's Darren Fichardt made a third birdie of the day on the 13th, the lead was shared.

But Stenson birdied the par-five 13th and 15th holes and then drove the par-four 17th hole for another birdie to finish the tournament with a 17-under-par total of 271.  It is the Swede's fifth top-six finish in eight European Tour events this season and could move him up to fifth in world rankings. It is also his second win in this event following his victory 10 years ago. And he clearly has a liking for Germany, having finished second here in the past two seasons.

"It was hairy all the way, it was a tough one," Stenson said. "I had to dig deep to come back. I didn't play well on the front nine, made a couple of mistakes, got caught out by the wind a few times and missed one or two putts I should have made as well. I felt like I was starting to make a bit of a mess of it and then I came back and made the birdies on the par fives. I made some good putts closing out.

"I played well in 2015 and I just couldn't get a trophy. It was a bit hard at times but you've just got to keep on trying and put yourself in position. I did that once again and this time I managed to go all the way." It is his first victory since the Dubai World Championship in 2014.

Thorbjorn Olesen was alongside Fichardt at 14 under with Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin three shots further back. Olesen, who is looking increasingly more likely to make Europe's Ryder Cup team, shared the lead with a birdie on the first but Stenson hit back with one of his own and, despite taking 37 strokes to cover the front nine, the 40-year-old  was two in front at the turn.

When Stenson and Olesen bogeyed the 10th, the door was opened for the challengers, and Fichardt looked most likely to take advantage. Although the South African cut the gap to one when he birdied the 17th, but he dropped a shot at the last and the title was Stenson's.

Jacquelin had held the first-round lead and a share after day two but a second consecutive 72 saw him settle for fourth place, a shot clear of Sergio Garcia and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Next came David Horsey and Bernd Wiesberger.