Wheatcroft loses chance at Canadian Open crown
Steve Wheatcroft watches his tee shot on the seventh hole during the final round of the Canadian Open golf tournament, Sunday, July 24, 2016, in Oakville, Ontario. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Steve Wheatcroft reacts after hitting his ball into the water on the 18th hole during the final round of the Canadian Open golf tournament, Sunday, July 24, 2016, in Oakville, Ontario. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
OAKVILLE, Ontario – Tied for fifth never felt so bad to Steve Wheatcroft.
The former Washington resident and Trinity graduate saw a chance to win the Canadian Open fall away Sunday afternoon after going bogey-bogey on the final two holes.
Wheatcroft, who was at the top of the leaderboard for most of the round, was tied for the lead heading to No. 17 and with leader and eventual winner Jhonathan Vegas in the clubhouse at 12-under.
Wheatcroft left his approach shot on the par-4 17th in the front bunker guarding the green and sent his sand shot 17 past the hole. He missed the comeback and made bogey. But the par-5 18th was giving up birdies and Wheatcroft needed one to tie and force a playoff.
His tee shot on the 515-foot final hole was down the fairway, 206 yards from the green. He sent his second shot into the greenside bunker and only needed an up-and-down for birdie and a playoff. But Wheatcroft launched his bunker shot over the green and into the water on the other side of the green. He finished with a bogey-6 and a round of 3-under 69.
Wheatcroft, who entered the tournament 165th on the money list with $361,286 more than halved his season’s earnings with his $207,238 payday. That moved him to $568,524 for the season and up 30 spots on the money leader list to 135. The top 125 automatically earn their PGA Tour card for the following season.
Meanwhile, Vegas won his second PGA Tour title, birdieing the final three holes for an 8-under 64 and one-stroke victory.
The 29-year-old Venezuelan Olympic player began the day five strokes behind leader Brandt Snedeker and four behind U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and Canadian amateur Jared du Toit. Last week in Alabama in the event opposite the British Open, Vegas shot a course-record 61 in the second round and tied for fourth.
“That’s the fortunate breaks that sometimes you need to be a champion on the PGA Tour,” Vegas said. “It’s a great feeling. I mean, last week, I had a six-shot lead going into the weekend and lost by three. I was five back starting today and won by one. It’s a crazy sport. You’ve just got to keep your head down and play hard.”
Vegas had five straight birdies on Nos. 2-6, bogeyed the par-4 eighth and also birdied the par-5 13th.
“Starting the round, I knew that if I could get to 12 under, literally that’s the number I had in my mind,” Vegas said. “I didn’t know that it was going to be enough, obviously, to win by one, but I knew it was going to give me a good chance.”
He birdied the par-5 16th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th to post at 12-under 276.
“I think there were a bunch of guys around 11 or 10,” Vegas said. “We had, I think, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, a bunch of guys, really close. Great players. I knew, if I got lucky, it was going to be a playoff. Super surprised when I saw that nobody got to 12.”
Johnson, Jon Rahm and Martin Laird tied for second.