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Baldwin closes out in style in South Africa
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Fast -finishing Moore collars sorry Spieth and Schenk
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Read my Jonsson Workwear Open preview here
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Read my Corales Puntacana Championship preview here
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Read my WGC Dell Matchplay preview here
It was disappointing not have any live coverage of the SDC Championship last week as it would have been great to see pre-event 240.0239/1 chance, Matthew Baldwin, winning his first DP World Tour title at the 200th attempt.
In an event badly affected by the weather, Norway's Kristian Krogh Johannessen led by three strokes at halfway and he was matched at a low of 2.01/1 when he stretched his lead to five early in round three on Saturday but things soon changed after that.
Baldwin reeled Johannessen in as the day wore on and by the time play was suspended due to darkness, the pair were tied on 11-under-par with the Norwegian leaving a tricky par save on the 14th hole to stew over.
Johannessen missed the par putt when they returned to the track on Sunday morning and Baldwin assumed control with birdies at 15, 16, and 18.
With a four-stroke lead, the 37-year-old Englishman was a strong odds-on favourite with a round to go and he extended his lead to five at the opening hole before back-to-back birdies at seven and eight put the result beyond doubt. He went on to win by seven over Spain's Adri Arnaus.
Tyler Moore wins on the PGA Tour
It looked for a while as though Baldwin might not be the only golfer from Southport to get off the mark on Sunday as fellow Sandgrounder, Tommy Fleetwood, who was in search of his first PGA Tour title, hit the front at the Valspar Championship but it wasn't to be.
Fleetwood was tied with the 54-hole leader, Adam Schenk, and Jordan Spieth, after he'd birdied the seventh but that was as good as it got for Tommy.
Fleetwood was still tied after he'd birdied the par five 11th but after Schenk holed a bomb for birdie from over 70 feet at the 12th and Tommy bogeyed the straightforward par five 14th, the Englishman was always up against it.
Schenk, who was matched for a few pounds at a whopping 670.0669/1 at the start of the week before going off at around 150.0149/1, had led through most of the week and he was matched at a low of 2.01/1, but he missed his birdie putt at the par five 14th, just as Tyler Moore holed this monster for birdie on 16 and when Spieth birdied the 14th, the three were tied.
Spieth, who was generally a 16/1 chance before the off, hit a low 2.1211/10 in-running but his chance looked lost when he hit a stinker off the tee into the water at 16.
To Spieth's credit, he made a fabulous bogey to remain within one of Schenk and Moore and when he hit his tee-shot to six feet on the tough par three 17th, he was odds-on to draw level with Moore and Schenk.
Moore was done for the day and it looked like Spieth was going to emerge as his biggest danger but in a dramatic late twist, Schenk saved par from 16 feet and Spieth missed the birdie putt.
Schenk came so close
In search of his first win on the PGA Tour and playing for the tenth week in-a-row, it was impossible not to pull for Schenk. His wife, Courtney, who's eight months pregnant with their first child, travelled through the night to cheer him on at the venue on Sunday but it wasn't to be.
Tied with Moore and one clear of Spieth, the unfortunate Schenk caught a bad break when his hook off the tee on the 72nd hole finished stymied behind a tree.
Schenk fought bravely right until the end and if he'd only hit his par saving putt a little softer it may well have dropped but the Golfing Gods were with Moore yesterday.
The pre-event 75.074/1 shot, Moore, who was matched at a high of 200.0199/1, had put in a tremendous finish with birdies at nine, 12, 15 and 16 and he was the deserved winner but it was impossible not to feel for Schenk.
Moore must have thought his chance had gone when he turned for home and it's always easier to play freely when the expectations are low whereas poor Schenk had led after rounds one, two and three and all the way up to the 72nd hole. It's a brutal sport at times.
Spieth the mover in the Masters market
Understandably, Jordan Spieth has firmed up in the US Masters market and the omens look good but he's starting to get in his own way in stroke play events and I think he's a better bet in this week's WGC Dell Technologies Championship, which I've previewed here.
Deere Run remains the place to look for clues
As many as four men have won the Valspar Championship and the John Deere Classic - Jordan Spieth, John Senden, Sean O'Hair and Vijay Singh, and it should really be five. The 2016 John Deere Classic winner, Ryan Moore, should have won at Copperhead eight years ago so the link between the two venues was strong before this week and it's even stronger now.
Prior to this week, Schenk had only two top-six finishes on the PGA Tour and two of them were at Deere Run. And the winner even had a bit of form there too.
Moore's sole appearance in the John Deere Classic was last July and although he only finished 24th, he sat seventh at halfway after rounds of 67 and 66.
This was Moore's first victory on the PGA Tour but he might be worth following if he tees it up at Deere Run in July, especially given he turns 30 three weeks later.
I'll be very surprised if any of them are as entertaining as the Valspar but we've got three events to enjoy this week - the final edition of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play (previewed here), the Corales Puntacana Championship (previewed here), and the Jonsson Workwear Open on the DP World Tour (previewed here).
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