Sabbatini Survives Scary Sunday

Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club

Rory Sabbatini learned the hard way that no lead is safe on a Sunday at Riviera Country Club. The South African native began the final round of the Nissan Open four strokes ahead of Fred Couples and Craig Barlow, but by the 15th hole he found himself locked in a four-way tie for the lead with his two playing partners and defending champion Adam Scott, who shot a 64 to finish 12 under par. Sabbatini described the pin locations on Sunday as “downright scary” and added that the course was set up in such a way as to make players pay for every mistake. Another golfer might have crumbled under the pressure, but on a day when he admittedly did not play his best, Sabbatini made the shots he had to and escaped with a one shot victory and the $918,000 winner’s check. “The first thing I felt was just a lot of relief,” Sabbatini said after his third PGA Tour victory. “I couldn’t understand how I could be misreading putts all day. Nothing seemed to be going my way. But I actually got more aggressive when I lost the lead and decided to go for it.” Scott finished second, Barlow was third at 11 under and Couples was fourth at 10 under. Lee Westwood and John Rollins tied for fifth at nine under, four shots back, while Ernie Els, one of the pre-tournament favorites, shot a final round 67 to finish four under par. Ignoring the crowd, which showed overwhelming support for Couples (a Southern Californian and past Nissan Open winner), Sabbatini hit a seven-iron within five feet of the hole on the par-three 16th and rolled in his birdie putt to regain a two-stroke advantage after Barlow and Couples each missed the fairway and wound up with bogeys. It proved to be the decisive shot, as neither Barlow nor Couples mounted a challenge on the final two holes. “Obviously, the 16th hole was the turning point for me,” the 29-year-old Sabbatini said. “My mentality changed after I bogeyed the 15th. I decided right then and there I’ve got to do what I can do to put some pressure back on the other guys. I played the 16th real aggressive and hit one of my best tee shots all day. And I was able to follow it with a good, clutch putt.” On the 18th, considered one of the most difficult par 4s in all of golf, Sabbatini played smart. He found the right side of the fairway and reached the front edge of the green on his second shot. Needing only to par, he calmly stroked his birdie putt within a foot of the hole, then tapped in for the win. Sabbatini was one-over for the day but could not have cared less. “This was the hardest round of golf I’ve ever played in my life,” he later confessed. “This is one of the truly great, classic golf courses. The greens are small and fast that you have to be so precise with every shot. If your ball-striking is off you’re in for a long afternoon.” It was an exciting but ultimately disappointing day for Scott, who was hoping to win officially this year after being declared the winner last year despite only completing two rounds due to rain. “I honestly didn’t think I had much of a shot of catching Rory when I started my round,” said the curly-haired Australian. “I had the advantage of playing ahead of the leaders so I didn’t feel much pressure. When I got to the back nine and saw the wind picking up I knew the scores would drop a bit and at that point I figured I might have a chance.” Once again, world No. 1 Tiger Woods was unable to win his hometown tournament. In fact, Woods didn’t even finish. He barely made the cut at one-over par, 11 strokes off the lead, then withdrew before the start of his third round Saturday morning due to a flu that visibly effected him over the first two rounds. “Everyone saw how Tiger felt this week, struggling with the flu and he just can’t shake it,” Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg said. “He feels awful. This is an event he loves to play in and strives to win.” It marked the first time in his career that Woods failed to complete a tournament for health reasons. Woods, who grew up 40 miles away in Cypress, made his PGA Tour debut at Riviera as a 16-year-old amateur, but has failed to win there in 11 tries.