Video: Lowry's Recovery Shots To Win '15 WGC Bridgestone

If you were trying to follow the WGC Bridgestone action for the low, low Gogo 3-hour price of $21.95 (streaming jams included!), or more likely, out enjoying some Sunday golf, Shane Lowry pulled off some killer back nine shots to clinch the WGC Bridgestone at Firestone. The only thing better than the Irishman's breakthrough win? It's another year until we have to watch golf at Firestone!

Wait, what did you say? Its earlier next year? Less than a year away? Oh well...

Anyway, thanks to PGA Tour Productions for quickly posting Lowry's clever approach shot on 10, aided by a Seve/Arnold finish:

And his Seve shot from the trees on 18.

Tiger: “Everything is kind of trending in the correct direction”

More than the numbers, Tiger actually looked like someone who knew where the ball was going and even threw in a recovery shot like the good old days during the Quicken Loans National.

That said, the numbers were telling (in a good way, for a change) and Brian Wacker has a run down of them.

Steve DiMeglio notes Troy Merritt's maiden win and the impressiveness of following up a 61 with 67, but also had this on Tiger's week.

He caught a bad break on the first hole when his approach caromed off the flagstick and wound up 50 feet from the hole.

Instead of a kick-in birdie, he settled for a two-putt par. Undeterred, he started putting up red numbers two holes later. Hitting fairways and greens, Woods made five birdies in an eight-hole stretch to reach 10 under.

Then things started to fall apart. There was a missed 3-footer for par on the 11th, a drive into the hazard on 12, an approach spun off the green on 14. But there were far more ups the last four days than downs.

Ryan Reiterman at GolfChannel.com notes this about the final day:

But perhaps more importantly, Woods said after four rounds at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club he feels like he's turned a corner with his new swing under instructor Chris Como.

"I'm getting some speed back, which is nice," he said. "I'm starting to pump the ball out there again, and I know the lofts on my irons are very weak compared to today's standards. I'm hitting the ball up there with some of the bigger guys again ... I was able to make some putts, and the short game's becoming good again like it used to be."

The recovery shot is a YouTube favorite tonight:



The PGA Tour's highlight reels from the round:

Video: Jason Day Doesn't Leave This One Short

As noted here a few days ago, there wasn't as much to be ashamed of in the putt left short at St. Andrews by Jason Day. Still, that missed opportunity to put himself in The Open playoff ultimately won by Zach Johnson was certainly on his mind at the RBC Canadian Open, where Day just won his fourth PGA Tour event and second of 2015.

Mark Hayes with the report for Golf Australia.

“The first thing I said was I’ve got to get to the hole this time, that’s what I said in my head.

"There's no better feeling than coming down to the wire and contending with these guys. It was just back and forth all day, and I'm so glad that I got that putt in.

"To be able to do that it just gives me a lot more confidence going in to the rest of the season."
Day, who had been in contention for the past two majors, the US Open and The Open at St Andrews, fired a final round four-under-par 68 to finish 17 under the card to beat American Bubba Watson by a shot.

A further stroke back was hometown hope David Hearn who was aiming to become the first Canadian winner in 61 years.

The highlights of what turned out to be a compelling final round at Glen Abbey.

Streb Putts Into Playoff With A Wedge, Then Putter Gets Shut Out

Alex Myers has a nice wrap-up on Robert Streb's amazing Greenbrier Classic run using his 56-degree Vokey to hole huge back nine putts, only to get into the three-man playoff with a replacement putter where he never got the chance to use the backup blade.

The wrap up from The Loop and video of one of Streb's wedge-putts, this one at the 13th hole:

Danny Lee bested David Hearn in the playoff, earning both spots in The Open Championship. James Hahn and Greg Owen also earned spots.

66: Tiger's Back! He Wasn't "Far Away" After All (Or So He Says)

His feels did not feel far off, or so Tiger claimed after a shocking 66 in the Greenbrier Classic opener that had the former World No. 1 sounding pretty confident in the state of his game.

Karen Crouse in the New York Times reports.

Woods returned this week with a head of steam too weak to move a ball off the tee, and opened with a 66 on Thursday. Go figure. It was his best first-round score in 22 months, and, at four-under, it equaled his lowest score relative to par this year.

“I know people think I’m crazy for saying that, but I just felt like I wasn’t that far away,” said Woods, who dismissed the notion that he had proved anything to anybody with the good start.

All that mattered to him was that he was four strokes behind the pacesetter, Scott Langley.

“Forget you guys and everybody else out there,” Woods said, laughing. “It’s about winning golf tournaments and putting myself up there consistently.”

He's back! Until he's not.

Steve DiMeglio's report implies that Tiger actually cleared his head instead of trying to get more technical.

“ … I didn’t touch a club for a while (after the U.S. Open). Took my kids down to Albany, and we were down diving in the water every day all day pretty much. It was nice to have a summer break with them like that, especially after the way I played.”