NFL
By: Noah Thomas –
A week following the most dramatic shakeup the PGA has experienced in years, many of golf’s stars came back down to Earth to take part in the RBC Heritage (that’s still a company?) at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Branden Grace came out on top once the dust had settled. The world No. 11 captured his first PGA title after an up-and-down weekend on the golf course.
Following an outstanding opening round in which he went 5-under, he came out on Friday and shot a 3-over 74 to place himself back in the middle of the standings.
Two sub-par rounds on Saturday and Sunday were enough to secure a 9-under winning finish for Grace. He finished two strokes ahead of Luke Donald and Russell Knox, who tied for 2nd at 7-under.
Despite this being his first victory on tour, Grace’s young career has not been devoid of success. In 2015, he finished in the top-5 of both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
“I can tick this one off the box and head into the next couple of majors trying to win it,” he said. “I have one notch, I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”
Another storyline out of the weekend was Bryson DeChambeau. The 22-year-old made his professional debut in the Heritage, finishing T-4 at 5-under alongside Kevin Na.
It’s been a solid start for DeChambeau, who competed for the first few days in the Masters in his final amateur appearance before falling behind last Saturday.
He’s taking home a cool $259,600 check this week. But when asked about his big payday, he deflected.
“It’s not about that,” he said. “It’s more about winning championships and doing my best out there each and every shot. If I accomplish that, that’s all that matters. If that gives me my card, great. If it doesn’t, great. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about doing the best I can.”
In other news, world No. 1 Jason Day underperformed for the second week in a row. Finishing with a 1-over total for a T-23 finish. An 8-over 79 on Saturday derailed his hopes, but he attempted to bounce back with a 3-under round on day four.
Next up: the Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas. Tee-off is on Thursday, April 21.
