Grading the 2015 Greenbrier Classic
Danny Lee wins, but Bubba Watson, Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas were the big stories out of the Greenbrier. Oh yeah, and a chipping putter who lost in a playoff.
Danny Lee's first PGA Tour win was incredibly difficult ... until the very end. Lee tapped in an easy par on the second playoff hole at the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday to beat Canadian David Hearn by one.
Lee needed birdies at the 13th and 17th coming home before trading monster birdie putts with Hearn on the first playoff hole to eliminate Robert Streb (not putting with a real putter -- more on this later) and Kevin Kisner.
For Kisner, it was his third playoff loss of the season. For Streb, it was an abrupt end to what turned out to be quite the Cinderella Sunday.
For Lee, winning was pure bliss, especially after he got so frustrated last week that he gave his driver to a fan.
"All I can say is, 'Wow,'" Lee told CBS' David Feherty. "It feels amazing. I was so close a lot of times this year. I finally did it. Now I understand what winning on the PGA Tour feels like."
Lee has started more times on the PGA Tour (27) than anyone else. To this point, the closest he'd been to winning was a T3 at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
Danny Lee was persistent if nothing else. That was his 27th start this season, most on the PGA Tour. Good for him.
— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) July 5, 2015
Lee only had two top-three finishes overall in his career before taking this week's title. He shot a 63 in the first round this week and didn't see anything north of 69 in any of his four rounds.
He wasn't the story of the week (see Streb's putter story below), but he's a solid champion and will, as Feherty noted after interviewing him, likely rack up several of these things before his playing days are over.
Our grades for the Greenbrier Classic.
Bubba Watson: B+
I'd expect nothing less than a top 10 finish from Watson in a field like this, but he did have one of the quietest top 15s ever (this shot notwithstanding).
Bubba Watson hasn't made many putts today. At No. 16, he just holed out for eagle instead. #QuickHits http://t.co/xdJjUuhvMp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 5, 2015
Finish: T13
Tiger Woods: B
I'll make the case next week that this was the most significant week in terms of Tiger Woods' future in the last year and a half. Woods didn't rekindle images of the Tiger of yesteryear, but he did prove that the competitive dude who won five times in 2013 isn't completely gone.
Tiger's string of three straight birdies was kept alive by a pretty dramatic putt at No. 8. #QuickHits https://t.co/zUtBsTRMSU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 2, 2015
I'm not sure we'll see that in full force at St. Andrews, but if you're a Tiger fan, it's tough to not be encouraged by what he did this week in West Virginia.
Finish: T32
Robert Streb: A
The Strebber was unreal down the stretch. He dropped a 65 that included a 32 on the back nine. As if that isn't good enough, Streb did it while putting with a wedge.
Streb broke his Scotty Cameron halfway through his round and ended up gaining 1.5 strokes on the field with his "putter." A win from Streb would have been the most improbable in a year when a 21-year-old has won two straight majors.
Finish: T2
Justin Thomas: C
The wheels came off in a bad way for Thomas down the stretch on Sunday. He shot a 43 on the back nine on Sunday that included a quadruple bogey and a separate four-putt double bogey. It was as ugly to watch as it sounds.
Uh oh again. Justin Thomas four-putts for double at No. 10. pic.twitter.com/VxMacbXhFy
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 5, 2015
Thomas will win eventually, but with a pass into the British Open on the line on Sunday, he lost in a big way at the Greenbrier Classic. Thomas played in one of the final groups on Sunday and finished T54. That's not good.
Finish: T54
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