Rickie Fowler chips in for birdie to take Phoenix Open lead

Hideki Matsuyama edged American Rickie Fowler in a playoff at the Phoenix Open on Sunday to become only the second Japanese player with multiple wins on the PGA Tour.

Fowler blinked first, pulling one into the water on the fourth playoff hole, which gave Matsuyama the opening he needed to win.

Fowler forced the playoff with a 10-foot birdie on the par-4 18th after Matsuyama made an 18-footer. Then Fowler birdied the second extra hole (the 18th) from 14 feet right before Matsuyama made his 14-footer for birdie. Matsuyama birdied the hole in regulation and two-putted for par from 6 feet in the playoff. – Ha Na Jang won her first LPGA Tour title by making a late birdie to take the lead and close with an even-par 72 for a two-shot victory over Canadian teen Brooke Henderson.

Joint first-round leader Shane Lowry now finds himself seven shots behind New Zealand’s Danny Lee after the penultimate round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Matsuyama finished second here last year and fourth the year before that.

Matsuyama, 23, asked about the dominance of other great young players such as Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Fowler, said, “Those four have set the bar so high”.

Harris English’s five-under 66 was enough to secure a third-place finish, climbing up 47 places from the start of play on the final day.

“After the 15th hole, it didn’t look very good”, Matsuyama said.

With just nine more holes to go at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, here comes little Rickie.

Rickie Fowler: Fowler was in cruise control through 15 holes of the final round.

Phil Mickelson was 8-under after 65. Matsuyama made a five-footer to extend the playoff.

The players then moved to the par-four 10th hole, where Fowler drove his tee shot far right into the rough.

Lee shot a fourth-round two-over 73 at the Phoenix Open, effectively losing his lead on the front nine when he carded bogeys at the second, third and seventh holes. Bubba had a bad three-putt for bogey and the crowd cheered raucously while the PGA Tour Live stream clearly picked up a string of heckles like “You f**king loser!” and “Your biggest fan is embarrassed right now!” The 45-year-old former Arizona Stater won the event in 1996, 2005 and 2013. “This week, I have been driving it really nicely”. This putt on 18 at the end of regulation to help force a playoff was as pure as it gets.

Lee would have been disappointed by his finish, after that dazzling six-birdie third round of 67 had put him in such a strong position, after opening with rounds of 67 and 66.