Bridgeman started with a six-shot lead. He extended it to seven shots with twelve holes remaining. And it still came down to one clutch swing from the 18th fairway that was 20 feet below the hole, and a 3-foot par putt with its shadow over the hole.
But he calmly threw it in for a one-shot win over Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama, both of whom had strong finishing kicks that made Bridgeman sweat a lot more than he wanted.
“This is much, much better than I ever dreamed,” Bridgeman said.
Not since Adam Scott in 2005 has a player competed for the first time at Riviera and walked away with the trophy. Bridgeman, a 26-year-old from Clemson, played well enough to reach the Tour Championship last year and has been steadily on the rise.
He broke through in a signature event against a strong field, winning $4 million and host Tiger Woods waited to congratulate him atop the steps overlooking the 18th green.
Bridgeman finished at 18-under 266 and didn’t birdie over the last 15 holes. He heard constant cheers for McIlroy, one of golf’s most popular figures who never posed a threat until he hit a bunker shot for birdie on the 12th and finished birdie-birdie for a 67.
There were more cheers across Riviera: Max Greyserman with a hole-in-one at the 14th, Tommy Fleetwood holed one for Eagle from the fairway at the 15th, and Kitayama stuffed his tee shot at the par-3 16th and then barely cleared the bunker to make a two-putt birdie at the par-5 17th.
Bridgeman, after a beautiful approach to 3 meters for birdie on the third hole, which received only a small applause from the LA crowd, did not play badly. He hit a strong chip on the fourth that led to a bogey. The rest of the way was a steady diet of six-metre bird opportunities.
But he found the bunker on the 16th and had to make a 5-foot bogey putt to stay in the lead. His birdie chances on the 17th and 18th were woefully short on the greens, where short putts can be scary.
The final par putt brought a mixture of joy and relief.
“I thought it would be a lot easier,” Bridgeman said. “It was honestly easy until I turned 16 and then it got really hard. I made it as hard as I could have made it.”
Scott, who received a sponsor exemption, scored five birdies on the back nine and closed with a 63 to finish fourth, two shots behind.
Scottie Scheffler, who had to make a 7-foot par putt to make the cut on Friday, had a 66-65 weekend to finish tied for 12th, his worst finish since finishing 20th in The Players Championship nearly a year ago. He ended his streak of 18 consecutive top 10s.
Bridgeman is already competing in the Masters after reaching the Tour Championship last year. He became the first player this year to finish outside the top 50 (No. 52) and win on the PGA Tour. The win pushes him into the top 25.
Not only did he win on a legendary course like Riviera, but with McIlroy, the Masters champion, alongside him and got most of the attention until he fell off the pace until his big finish. So many putts burned the edge, and then the last one fell from 30 feet.
For a moment it looked like McIlroy might get extra holes in a playoff when Bridgeman left his first putt short. But like all week, Bridgeman never looked uncomfortable. It turns out that’s how he felt.
“I couldn’t even feel my hands on the last couple of greens,” Bridgeman said. “I just hit the putt hoping it would go somewhere near the hole, and I left both a mile short. But I’m glad it’s done now.”
#Jacob #Bridgeman #holds #Rory #McIlroy #Kurt #Kitayama #Riviera #PGA #Tour #title