In the final FedEx Cup event of 2020, we saw birdie after birdie in a fun and exciting final round of the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic. As I mentioned in my tournament preview, we should expect fireworks and that’s what we got on Sunday. Players went low early to take the lead or bring themselves into contention, while some of those same players fell apart late.
Before we go through my predictions and see how right I was, let’s get into the final round of the tournament.
Sunday at the Mayakoba Golf Classic
Front Nine
After a short delay due to rain, the leaders were off and the final round was underway.
Emiliano Grillo, looking for his first win on tour, started the round at sixteen-under with a one-stroke lead. After a slow start and finishing the front nine at even par, Grillo found himself two-strokes behind the leader.
Viktor Hovland, looking for his second win on Tour, started the round two-strokes behind. After a hot start, Hovland took the lead at eighteen-under par after a four-under front nine.
Tony Finau started the round at eleven-under par. After a five-under front nine, Finau was two-back of Hovland and looking to capture his second career win.
Like Finau, Aaron Wise started the final round at eleven-under par and, after an eagle at the seventh, was five-under thru nine. Wise found himself two-back with nine to play, looking for his second win on Tour.
Back Nine
After another birdie at the thirteenth, combined with a bogey at the twelfth for Hovland, Wise found himself tied for the lead with five holes to play. Adam Long didn’t want them to have all of the fun. After three straight birdies on the back nine, Long found himself tied for the lead at seventeen-under with Hovland and Wise.
A birdie at the fourteenth for Wise was followed by a birdie at the thirteenth for Hovland to separate themselves at eighteen-under with plenty in the hunt.
After struggling on the long par-four sixteenth, Finau dropped a stroke and took himself out of contention.
A birdie at the short par-three fifteenth gave Wise the lead… again. Hovland had a chance at birdie on the fourteenth and drilled it to tie the lead… again. Hovland knocks it close at the fifteenth but misses the putt to stay tied with three to play.
Stepping onto the seventeenth tee just one-stroke back, Adam Long hit his tee shot out of bounds. Long would make a bogey on the hole, removing his name from contention.
Wise hit his approach shot on the eighteenth to a few feet but failed to make the putt. Wise took the clubhouse lead at nineteen-under par after an eight-under par round. Hovland would go on to par the seventeenth and have a share of the lead heading to the final hole.
Hovland would hit his approach to about the same distance as Wise, but he would make the birdie to win the tournament.
Viktor Hovland is the winner of the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic. It is his second career win on Tour.
The Norwegian call of Viktor Hovland's winning putt @MayakobaGolf is EVERYTHING. ??? pic.twitter.com/CObVto6YYk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 7, 2020
Final Leaderboard
Final leaderboard from @MayakobaGolf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 7, 2020
1. Viktor Hovland -20 ?
2. @aaronwise_ -19
T3. @aLongShot -17
T3. @HogeGolf
T5. @Harris_English -16
T5. @BillyHo_Golf
T5. @Lucas_Glover_
T8. Brendon Todd -15
T8. @tonyfinaugolf
T8. @carlosortizGolf
T8. @GrilloEmiliano
Shots of the Week
Brendan Steele missed the cut after shooting three-over, but not before he made some fireworks in the first round.
From +1 to -2 on one swing. ?@Brendan_Steele holes out for albatross. ? pic.twitter.com/7OQN6xHJOf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 3, 2020
Ollie Schniederjans missed the cut at two-over after starting out his first round five-over thru three but, like Steele, he wanted to make a highlight for himself. Here’s his third at the par-five 13th hole in round two.
Ollie-oop! ?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2020
Slam dunk from @Ollie_gt.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/lzAG0mujVj
Tony Finau started the final round five-strokes back after a two-under round three thanks to shots like this.
Numero uno! ☝@TonyFinauGolf reels it in for an ACE in Mexico. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/KltCjMwOD2
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 5, 2020
After missing the green at the long par-four sixteenth, Hovland found himself in the middle of a large bunker. Forced to make a difficult up-and-down late in the round, he faced this for his third.
40-yard bunker shot.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 6, 2020
Clutch up-and-down from Viktor Hovland. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/P7LIwdfPK7
Predictions
Now, for my predictions. I’m not here to make excuses, but…
Wrong (Really, Really Wrong)
I told you my pick of Rickie Fowler was a “bet with the heart” pick. Did he even sniff the lead? No, he missed the cut so I guess I was kind of wrong.
It might not have been much of a prediction, but I thought the weather was going to be a factor all week. It wasn’t, until Sunday. Sunday was nothing but rain in the morning and delayed the round for a couple of hours. It eventually stopped, but greens were slow and nothing in the fairway was rolling.
Corey Conners had a good showing this week, but finished outside of the top ten, making my prediction wrong. With a five-under round, Conners tried to make me look smart, but instead finished tied for seventeenth place.
Despite Finau shooting four-under par for the round, he failed to finish in the top five. Although he did contend for most of the tournament, he wasn’t able to capture this trophy for his second win.
Right (Kind of Right)
In the preview, I mentioned that Brooks doesn’t “get up” for non-majors. Boy, was I right or what? Like Fowler, he missed the cut.
Finau finished at fifteen-under par and a tie for eighth place. While I did mention a potential top five, I also mentioned top ten. I’m going to take as many wins on this as possible, since there’s so few.
Again, I’m going to take as many wins as possible. Let me know if I’m wrong, but I’d say two strokes off is pretty good. My prediction was eighteen-under par for the winner. In reality, it was twenty-under par to win the tournament.
Mini-Preview of the 2020 QBE Shootout
Next week is the final week of golf before the Christmas and New Year’s break. It is the 2020 QBE Shootout played in Naples, Florida. Like this week, it is also a Greg Norman-designed course. The tournament is the PGA Tour’s official post-season event, with 2020 being the 32nd edition. Because it is not part of the official season, there are no FedEx Cup points on the line.
The QBE Shootout is a three-day, 54-hole team event consisting of 24 professionals making up 12 teams. It is held from Friday to Sunday.
Television Coverage
First Round: 11:00 AM-3:00 PM EST on Golf Channel
Second Round: 1:00 PM-5:00 PM EST on Golf Channel
Third Round: 12:00 PM-2:00 PM EST on NBC; 2:00 PM-4:00 PM EST on Golf Channel
U.S. Women’s Open Television Coverage
The 2020 U.S. Women’s Open will be held from December 10th-December 13th at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.
As always with a major championship, NBC gives us plenty of television coverage. (All times are EST).
Want to watch more golf? Watch me try to battle through the brand-new Union Station mini-golf course in St. Louis.
Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the golf fan in your life? Check out this Masters shirt and make sure they are ready for the tournament in April.
For the latest sports coverage from Belly Up Sports, click here or follow @BellyUpSports on Twitter.
