It was an unexpected result when Gary Woodland beat Chez Reavie at the first sudden death playoff hole at TPC Scottsdale to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Rickie Fowler had lead going into the final round, but had theee bogeys at the finish. Jon Rahm was close behind but had another mediocre weekend. his 75-77 finish last week was followed by a 72 at Phoenix. Mickelson made a late charge, birdieing 15,16,17 holes. But Woodland’s excellent 64 with 3 late birdies was enough to get to -18 and Reavie matched him after holing a huge putt on the 72nd hole.

Gary Woodland is in Butch Harmon’s stable of players and has recently been working on his short game with Pete Cowan. He dedicated his win to the baby twin he and his wife lost last year, her brother survived.

As ever the spectator party at the 16th hole was a source of controversy. Rickie Fowler, who bogeyed the hole in the final round said “I was disappointed. It went too far. I don’t want the negativity. Leave the heckling to a minimum, make it fun and support the guys out playing”. Jon Rahm was in favour of a deejay being there every day to block out the exterior noise. I turned the sound off all tournament. It was lovely just watching the pictures.