Michael Thompson fires final-round 69, bags first PGA Tour title

Palm Beach Gardens, FL, United States (4E Sports) – Michael Thompson fired a one-under-par 69 in the final round of the Honda Classic Sunday to beat Geoff Ogilvy by two strokes and bag his first PGA Tour title.

“This is everything,” said Thompson, who had made only one cut this year. “This is a childhood dream come true. I’ve dreamed of playing out here since I was 7 years old and to win, it’s just unbelievable. I just can’t put it into words. The whole day was awesome.”

Thompson took control of the match when he buried a 50-foot eagle on the third hole then added 12-foot birdie at the par-3 fifth, a four-foot birdie on the eighth and a birdie at 18th to finish at 9-under 271.

“This week was magical,” said Thompson, who pocketed $1,080,000 for his efforts. “Just had a groove and kept feeling it.”

With the victory, Thompson moved to No. 45 in the world rankings and booked a ticket to his first World Golf Championship at Doral next week.

Ogilvy birdied the 18th to finish runner-up, which moved him to No. 47 and secured a berth in the World Golf Championship.

Luke Guthrie, tied with Thompson for the 54-hole lead, fell behind with a bogey on the second hole and closed with a 73 to finish third.

Despite a bogey on the final hole, Erik Compton had a 70 and was part of the five-way tie for fourth together with David Lynn, Lucas Glover, Justin Rose and Keegan Bradley.

Tiger Woods fired a final-round 74 to settle for 37th place with four-over 284. This was the first time since last year’s Masters that Woods failed to break par in any round of a 72-hole tournament.

“I just made too many penalties this week,” Woods said. “Today is a perfect example. I didn’t play that poorly. I had two water balls and a lost ball. Take those away, and I missed two short birdie putts, and it was actually a decent score.”

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