Published July 17, 2008 on October 28, 2018

Schauffele Claims Dramatic Play-off Win at the WGC-HSBC Champions

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American Xander Schauffele defeated compatriot Tony Finau with a birdie in the first play-off hole to lift the Old Tom Morris Cup at the WGC-HSBC Champions.

Finau entered Sunday at Sheshan International Golf Club with a three-shot lead but Schauffele carded the lowest round of the day with a 68 to reel him in and the duo were locked together at 14-under after 72 holes.

Schauffele found the green in two on the first trip back up the last and with Finau having to lay up after finding a bunker off the tee, a birdie was enough to hand Schauffele the victory.

Schauffele said, “It was as nice of a final group as I’ve ever played in, not that I’ve played in a whole lot but Rosey and Tony are great guys and you know, I think we were genuinely pulling for each other, even though we were playing against each other. My hat’s off to both of them.

“It’s a lot to take in honestly. I didn’t have an incredible Asian Swing up until this point, so I think that flight home will be a little bit more special.

“Probably having my family out. It’s the first time we’ve been together in a pretty long time. That was pretty special and I’m happy to share this with them. Other key moments, it’s tricky. Everything we do is really repetitive, so it’s hard to really pick out a specific moment. There are a few out on the course which were clutch, but besides that, I can’t think of anything too significant.

“I felt really good about every part of my game mentally, physically. So with a 68, obviously, it was just enough. Tony played well, as well, but it’s tricky to try and fend off when everyone is chasing you.”

Defending champion Justin Rose was right in it throughout the day but had to settle for a 72 after a bogey on the last to finish four shots out of the play-off at ten under.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnratenjoyed his best-ever finish at a World Golf Championships by signing off with a one-under-par 71 to end his week in tied-fourth place with American Andrew Putnam

Kiradech said, “I’m really happy with the score because of the way I played. It was terrible. I only hit seven greens in regulation all day. That’s really terrible golf for my standards. I holed a lot of putts, a lot of par saves today but overall one-under par is the best golf I can do today. I think it’s one of the good results for me, but I know I can do better than this if I can strike the ball better. My iron play was not on form, not at all. I did not have my A Game, even for one day this week. But I managed to keep the score low under such tough conditions especially with the wind. My putting was good and that was the key. I really love to come back and play on the Asian Tour. Everyone knows that I’m born and started from here. I just got to manage my schedule but I’m sure I’ll come back.

Belgian Thomas Pieters made the first ever hole-in-one at the 12th hole at Sheshan as his six iron off the tee from 197 yards took two bounces and rolled into the cup.

China’s Li Haotong justified his position as the country’s best golfer when he posted a 70 to share 11th place with Australia’s Jason Day and Bill Horschel of the United States while India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who leads the Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity standings, signed for another 72 and will turn his attention towards strengthening his pole position on the money list now.

 

Final Scores

274 X Schauffele (USA) 66 71 69 68, T Finau (USA) 66 67 70 71,
278 J Rose (Eng) 69 67 70 72,
280 A Putnam (USA) 70 71 67 72, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 71 70 71,
281 K Bradley (USA) 69 70 70 72,
283 T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 68 72 75, P Cantlay (USA) 70 68 73 72, T Olesen (Den) 75 69 67 72, P Reed (USA) 64 72 70 77,
284 B Horschel (USA) 68 72 71 73, H Li (Chn) 73 72 69 70, J Day (Aus) 71 70 69 74,
285 E Grillo (Arg) 70 69 74 72, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 68 73 73 71,
286 B Koepka (USA) 72 74 71 69, P Casey (Eng) 73 68 74 71,
287 A Noren (Swe) 74 69 71 73, T Pieters (Bel) 75 64 74 74, A Scott (Aus) 69 73 72 73,
288 I Poulter (Eng) 69 71 74 74,
289 T Hatton (Eng) 72 70 74 73, C Pan (Tpe) 68 76 70 75, K Stanley (USA) 70 69 78 72, J Rahm (Esp) 73 76 69 71, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 76 72 71 70, A Pavan (Ita) 72 71 69 77,
290 A Björk (Swe) 70 75 70 75, A Levy (Fra) 71 70 76 73,
291 R Fox (Nzl) 70 70 75 76, B Snedeker (USA) 75 76 68 72, H Matsuyama (Jpn) 72 70 77 72, A Hadwin (Can) 74 68 74 75, D Johnson (USA) 74 73 73 71,
292 Y Yuan (Chn) 78 71 70 73, C Reavie (USA) 70 73 75 74,
293 S Kodaira (Jpn) 72 73 70 78, S Vincent (Zim) 73 73 73 74, P Perez (USA) 70 69 80 74, S Park (Kor) 77 71 72 73,
294 B Grace (RSA) 72 71 76 75, B An (Kor) 75 71 74 74,
295 W Liang (Chn) 72 73 76 74, F Molinari (Ita) 76 75 75 69, C Hoffman (USA) 74 75 74 72,
296 J Harding (RSA) 76 71 72 77, S Kim (USA) 72 74 75 75, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 72 81 71, B Stone (RSA) 74 80 71 71,
297 X Zhang (Chn) 72 76 74 75, M Wallace (Eng) 69 75 74 79, J Norris (Aus) 74 73 73 77, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 74 76 78,
298 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 67 80 70 81, J Catlin (USA) 75 71 76 76, K Na (USA) 75 74 77 72, J Scrivener (Aus) 75 74 75 74, C Smith (Aus) 76 72 72 78, J Campillo (Esp) 73 77 75 73, R McIlroy (Nir) 72 77 75 74, A Bland (Aus) 72 76 73 77,
299 A Otaegui (Esp) 72 75 75 77, A Sullivan (Eng) 72 71 79 77,
300 Y Ikeda (Jpn) 75 74 71 80, J Suri (USA) 74 75 76 75, A Wu (Chn) 73 80 72 75,
301 P Kizzire (USA) 74 71 76 80,
303 R Knox (Sco) 74 77 76 76,
304 S Sharma (Ind) 80 80 72 72, O Bekker (RSA) 77 71 73 83, L Bjerregaard (Den) 77 74 79 74,
305 B Harman (USA) 73 73 81 78,
306 Y Inamori (Jpn) 74 82 73 77, Y Liu (Chn) 75 79 77 75,
309 B Rumford (Aus) 73 80 78 78,
310 J Ritchie (RSA) 71 76 81 82,
317 B Xiao (Chn) 76 79 80 82,
** C Wood (Eng) WD 0 0 0,