Miami (AFP) – South Africa’s Garrick Higgo held on to win the PGA Tour’s Punta Cana Championship on Sunday by a stroke, taking advantage of a dramatic, late meltdown from American Joel Dahmen. Dahmen, who went into Sunday’s final round with a three-stroke lead, bogeyed the last three holes, including missing from 3 feet at the par-3 17th. The 37-year-old, whose solitary PGA Tour win came at Punta Cana in 2021, ended with a 4-over round of 76, the worst of any of the top 37 finishers.
That handed victory to Higgo, who played in the group ahead of Dahmen and wobbled when he bogeyed the 17th but then made par on the 18th to finish with an even-par 72 and a 14-under total for the tournament. Higgo, a 25-year-old from Johannesburg who had previously won on the PGA Tour at the Palmetto Championship in South Carolina in 2021, was delighted with the surprise victory.
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“This is unbelievable and this is why I play the game. You know, the journey, I’m going to go through a down again, everybody does, I’m going to have ups. I just truly enjoy the journey,” he said.
For Dahmen, though, his collapse was hard to take. “I think I’m in a little bit of shock, honestly,” he said. “It’s not how you win a golf tournament, I’ll tell you that. I don’t deserve to win it. Bogeying the last three is inexcusable.”
“This one could take a while to get over,” he admitted. “It’s one of those things, you learn more in defeat, unfortunately. This one’s going to sting for a while.”
© 2024 AFP
