Thomas holds off Lee to claim 2nd CJ Cup in three years; Kang prevails
Justin Thomas poses with the trophy after winning the CJ Cup golf tournament in Jeju on Sunday. Agence France-Presse
Thomas carded a final-round five-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over South Korean-born New Zealander Danny Lee, after the pair reduced the final round to a two-man show.
Asked what was the secret to his phenomenal win percentage in Asia, Thomas scratched his head.
The 26-year-old’s only major to date came at the 2017 US PGA Championship, but on Sunday he equalled Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy by winning 11 US PGA Tour events before his 27th birthday.
Only Tiger Woods, with 34 victories, and Jack Nicklaus, with 20, had won more at the same age.
Thomas started his love affair with golf in Asia at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, which he won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016. He added the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, Jeju Island, in 2017.
One of the longest hitters in the game, if Thomas had beefed up his red meat consumption this week, it seemed to give him even extra length.
On Sunday as he made light work of the fearsome uphill 589-yard ninth hole, which was also playing into the wind. The man from Louisville crushed a perfect drive over 300 yards and then muscled a fairway wood past the pin, 282 yards away, to the green’s back fringe.
By contrast, playing partners Lee and Cameron Smith had to lay up, unable to get near in two.
Thomas now takes the short hop to Japan for the US PGA Tour’s inaugural Zozo Championship, which starts Thursday, with a chance to take his Asia strike rate to an amazing 50 percent if he can make it five wins in 10 starts.
At the Narashino Country Club, near Tokyo, he will come up against the formidable opposition of world number two Rory McIlroy and 15-time major winner Tiger Woods in another 78-player elite $9.75 million event, with no cut.
Elsewhere, Danielle Kang capped her 27th birthday with a nailbiting one-stroke win at the Buick LPGA Shanghai on Sunday, fending off fellow American Jessica Korda for her second victory at the tournament. Korda was the overnight frontrunner at 15 under, with the defending champion trailing by one in the second edition of the $2.1 million event.
Both had finished the penultimate day at six under par after Kang rallied from twin bogeys on the first two holes. But a bogey for Korda and a birdie for Kang flipped the lead on the first hole, with the defending champion’s commanding short game keeping her ahead for most of the day.
Day one leader Nasa Hataoka mounted a determined challenge through the day but was dogged by a rough patch through the back nine on the second day, finishing three strokes off the pace for the tournament.
The Japanese world number four tied for third with America’s Kristen Gillman and China’s Yu Liu.
Canadian number six Brooke Henderson meanwhile had another day to forget, the halfway leader finishing one over par for the second day running to tie at ninth.
Agence France-Presse
