A festival of birdies as Nick Taylor wins 2024 Waste Management Phoenix Open
Round three and four of 2024 Waste Management Phoenix Open was played on Sunday. Day three’s final group Sahith Theegala, Nick Taylor and Andrew Novak had to play 30 holes. Due to several weather delays players will play in the same groups for day three and four. due to soft conditions placing will be used again for day four. The conditions were sunny and extremely calm.
Final group was Theegala, Novak and Taylor. Theegala & Taylor were on 15 under and Novak 14 under. Taylor made two great par saves at hole one and three to remain 15 under. Theegala’s second shot from 268 yards found the green at hole three but was disappointed with a par. Theegala started his final round with seven pars in a row. An exceptional second shot from 143 yards on hole six as Taylor advanced to 16 under.
A sensational five iron by Taylor at the extremely difficult 228 yard par three seventh hole and a fantastic birdie putt to reach 17 under. Theegala reached 16 under after an excellent iron shot on hole eight. Taylor played his front nine in three under which was incredible considering he only hit two fairways. Theegala shot a front nine of one under. Novak shot a front nine of two over. After nine holes Taylor was 18 under, Theegala 16 under and Novak 12 under.
The second last group on day four was Scottie Scheffler, Maverick McNealy and Doug Ghim. Scheffler started day four on 13 under, McNealy on 10 under and Ghim on nine under. Scheffler advanced to 14 under after an extraordinary second shot at hole two. A two-putt for birdie on hole three was good enough for Scheffler to become tied first on 15 under. Scheffler achieved three birdies in four holes after a brillant six iron at 192 yard fourth hole.
Scheffler hit a 325 yard drive on hole five and advanced to 17 under. Scheffler was unsuccessful in making it five birdies in a row on hole six. Scheffler’s first bogey came after a weak chip shot on hole seven. Two-time Waste Management Phoenix Open champion was extremely lucky that his tee shot on hole eight hit off a path and only had 124 yards for his second shot. Scheffler held a exceptional birdie putt on hole eight as he returned to 17 under. Scheffler was on 17 under after a front nine of 31.
McNealy played with Scheffler and made two birdies to shoot a front nine of one under. McNealy and Ghim headed to 10th tee box both on 10 under. The third last group on Sunday was Justin Thomas, Cameron Young and Ryan Fox. Young started with a birdie on hole one. Young’s playing partner Thomas was also successful in starting with an opening birdie. Young shot a front nine of 37 and started the back nine on 10 under. Thomas made three birdies to shoot a front nine of 34.
Thomas started his back nine on 10 under. Fox’s chances of winning came to an end after a third round of 75. The fourth last group was Jordan Spieth, Charley Hoffman and Kurt Kitayama. Hoffman’s last PGA Tour win was in 2016 at the Valero Texas Open. Hoffman started 14 under, Spieth on 10 under and Kitayama 11 under. Hoffman played six holes in two under to reach 16 under.
Hoffman played an exceptional second shot from 183 yards at hole eight to make his third birdie and shoot a front nine of 32. Spieth started his final round with two birdies in three holes. Spieth held an incredible long-range birdie putt at the sixth hole to reach 13 under. Spieth dropped a shot on hole eight and was on 12 under after nine holes. The third player of this group was Kitayama and he started with two birdies in three holes. 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner reached 14 under after nine holes.
Sam Burns started on 11 under. Burns played six holes in three under. Burns dropped a shot at hole eight but responded brillantly with birdies at 10 and 11 to reach 15 under. Hoffman started the back nine with a excellent shot from 154 yards and held his birdie putt to join Taylor on 18 under. Scheffler held his birdie putt at 11 to make it a three way tie on 18 under. Hoffman made his first bogey after been unsuccessful in achieving a par at 208 yard par three 12th hole. Theegala started the back nine with a Beautiful iron shot from 133 yards to reach 17 under.
Hoffman held a 25 footer for eagle to lead on 19 under after 13 holes. Burns also achieved an eagle on 13 to get within two shots of Hoffman. Taylor started the back nine with four pars to remain on 18 under. Hoffman played holes 13 and 14 in six shots to reach 20 under. Scheffler set up a 28 footer for eagle but finished 13 with a disappointing par. A third Waste Management Phoenix Open title for Scheffler became in doubt after a damaging bogey on 14.
Hoffman reached 21 under after a good two-putt birdie on 15. Taylor reduced Hoffman’s lead to two after a birdie on 15. Scheffler was four behind and his title defence came to an end after a disappointing par on 15. Scheffler played holes 13 to 15 in one over whereas Hoffman played this three-hole stretch in four under. The iconic 16th hole played 167 yards and Taylor held a five and a half foot putt to reach 20 under.
Taylor needed a closing birdie to force a play-off. Taylor held a nine and a half foot putt to tie Hoffman on 21 under. A final round of 64 by Burns and 66 by Scheffler as both finish tied third on 18 under. Theegala managed to finish fifth on 17 under. Spieth made two incredible birdies at 13 and 15 to finish tied sixth on 14 under. McNealy shot a back nine of three under to finish tied sixth on 14 under.
Novak, Young, Kitayama and Adam Scott all finish tied eight on 13 under. Irishmen Shane Lowry tied 60th and Seamus Power tied 66th. At the first play-off hole both Taylor and Hoffman found the fairway on 18 with their tee shots. Taylor had 129 yards for his second shot but Hoffman only had 112 and both players set up great birdie opportunities. Taylor and Hoffman both held their putts to force a second play-off hole. Hoffman had 28 feet for birdie which missed and Taylor held his putt to win.