Xander Schauffele wins Sentry Tournament of Champions

Xander Schauffele fired a superb final round of 62 at Kapalua in Hawaii to win the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions by a single shot from Gary Woodland.

Xander Schauffele wins Sentry Tournament of Champions

Xander Schauffele matched the Kapalua course record with an 11-under-par 62 as he caught and passed Gary Woodland to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions by a single shot.

Schauffele began the final round five shots back from Woodland and he started with a bogey. But he then found some sparkling form, running off three straight birdies then chipping in for an eagle on the 9th. He made another eagle on the 12th when he holed a wedge shot and then made back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

Schuffele then finished with two birdies to card a record-equalling, 11-under-par 62 and set a clubhouse total of 269.

Woodland needed a birdie at the par-5 last to tie that number and force a playoff. Given his power, it looked a likely prospect and even more so after he hit a 390 yard drive. But a poor second left a tricky pitch and he failed to get up-and-down. That meant the year’s opening event went to Schauffele – a fourth PGA Tour title.

"It was a crazy day," Schauffele said. "I didn't do much leaderboard watching. I knew it was going to be a birdie fest at the end. We kept our head down and made a run for it."

Justin Thomas closed with a 65 to finish alone in third with Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Marc Leishman tied for fourth. McIlroy played in the final group with Woodland and he got within two shots of the lead early on Sunday. But he couldn’t find the spark after that and wasn’t able to find a single birdie after the 5th hole. He closed with a disappointing 72.

"I gave myself plenty of chances, just couldn't get anything to drop," McIlroy said.

Sentry Tournament of Champions Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii 3-6 December Purse: $6,500,000 Par: 73

1 Xander Schauffele (USA) 72 67 68 62 269 $1,300,000 2 Gary Woodland (USA) 67 67 68 68 270 $759,000 3 Justin Thomas (USA) 67 72 70 65 274 $475,000 T4 Dustin Johnson (USA) 67 74 69 67 277 $305,333 T4 Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 70 68 71 277 $305,333 T4 Rory McIlroy (NIR) 69 68 68 72 277 $305,333 7 Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 69 68 70 71 278 $218,000 T8 Patton Kizzire (USA) 69 71 71 68 279 $191,000 T8 Jon Rahm (Esp) 70 71 69 69 279 $191,000 T8 Webb Simpson (USA) 70 72 72 65 279 $191,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage