Detroit News wire services
Keeping it simple and mistake-free was enough for Colombia’s Nico Echavarria in the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Echavarria played a steady final round of 5-under-par 66 and benefited from late struggles from Ireland’s Shane Lowry to win the tournament Sunday at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“I had some good breaks,” Echavarria said. “To win out here, sometimes you have to have good breaks if you’re not Scottie Scheffler that hits it every time in the perfect place. So I’m happy with how it went.”
Echavarria, who trailed by three strokes on the backside, turned in a total score of 17-under 267 at PGA National’s Champion Course for his first PGA Tour victory since 2024 and his third overall. He held a two-stroke edge on Lowry, Austin Smotherman and Taylor Moore.
Lowry, who posted 68, appeared heading toward a victory until double-bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 cost him. His tee shots on both holes ended up in the water.
“I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” Lowry said.
Until then, he was 6 under for the round without a bogey.
The first double-bogey allowed Echavarria, who was in the process of notching a birdie on No. 17, to pull even. The next series of miscues handed Echavarria the lead.
“I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes,” Lowry said.
Echavarria, who was without a bogey Sunday, was in the group ahead of Lowry, but he was aware there was trouble developing behind him. After Echavarria’s tee shot on No. 18, he and his caddie acknowledged that Lowry might be facing more difficulties.
“I think he hit it in the water again,” Echavarria recalled of the conversation. “It was more playing smart, getting a 5 (for par on No. 18) out of there and just getting out of here.”
Before the tournament, Lowry expressed his disappointment in the course set-up becoming easier in recent years for the PGA Tour event. He took advantage until the final holes. When he began Sunday’s backside with an eagle on the par-5 10th hole, he appeared in control.
In a strange way, it’s a hometown victory for Echavarria, who with his wife closed on a home in Palm Beach Gardens just a few days earlier.
Moore also shot 68. Smotherman, who began the round tied for the lead with Lowry, had a birdie on the last hole to register 69.
Moore finished with the second-best finish of his career.
“I was happy to put four rounds together,” Moore said. “It’s been a little while for me since I’ve done that, and I just was really pleased with how I regrouped after No. 6 (with a bogey) and played some solid golf coming in.”
Ricky Castillo, with a final-round 68, finished fifth at 13 under.
Brooks Koepka had a notable final day as his 65 was tied for the best score of the round.
“Finally found some confidence,” Koepka said. “I think that’s the one thing that’s been lacking.”
Sinking a shot from the greenside bunker on No. 14 certainly helped. The result was Koepka’s best finish — a ninth-place tie at 10 under — in three events since returning to the PGA Tour this winter.
“Once you get inside the ropes, it feels natural,” Koepka said. “I think it’s easier once you get inside those ropes.”
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard also had 65, putting him at 11 under in a sixth-place tie with William Mouw (67) and Keith Mitchell (68).
“I’m really happy that I made a good jump on the weekend,” Hojgaard said. “Didn’t feel great about the game the first couple of days, so to find something (Saturday), or at least grind out a good score, and then play really, really well today was nice.”
LPGA
Australia’s Hannah Green held off Auston Kim on Sunday to win the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore for the second time.
Green, the 2024 champion, balanced three birdies and three bogeys on an eventful back nine to finish with a 3-under 69 and a final score of 14-under at Sentosa Golf Club. The 2019 Women’s PGA Championship winner tapped in for bogey at the 18th for her seventh LPGA Tour title.
“When I did win Singapore two years ago, I went on to win two other tournaments that season and pretty much had my best season on tour,” said Green, 29. “So having a win so early in the season gives me a bit more flexibility with the tournaments that I can play. So I’m hoping that this puts me in good stead for the rest of the year.”
Green was at 16-under after birdies at the first, 11th and 13th holes and an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole. Her birdie at the par-3 15th helped her survive a bogey-bogey finish.
“I knew that I had enough of a lead to be able to get away with making mistakes coming down the stretch. But I think 15 was the real turning point,” she said.
First- and second-round leader Kim nearly chased down her first title, matching the low round of the day with a 67 to finish one shot behind Green in the 72-hole, no-cut tournament.
Kim carded six birdies and an eagle at No. 8, but a bogey at the par-3 15th proved costly for the 25-year-old American.
“Overall, I think it was a really solid week,” Kim said. “A great way to start the year. I hit a lot of bad shots but I also hit a lot of good ones, and it was really confidence boosting. I hit all these bad shots, and I didn’t feel like I had anything chose to my A game, but I was still able it pull off a result like this and play some really solid golf.”
Australia’s Minjee Lee (72 on Sunday), Angel Yin (71) and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (68) tied for third place at 11-under with South Korea’s Haeran Ryu (72) another shot back in solo sixth.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand finished with a 73 and tied for 31st at 2-under, one shot behind defending champion Lydia Ko (72) of New Zealand.
Europe
The 22-year-old home golfer Casey Jarvis won a second successive tournament on the DP World Tour as he triumphed by three shots in the South African Open.
Jarvis finished on 14-under-par for a four-round total of 266 after carding a final round of 67 at Stellenbosch Golf Club to qualify for next month’s Masters in Augusta.
There was a three-way tie for second place with South Africa’s Hennie du Plessis, Francesco Laporta of Italy, and Frenchman Frederic Lacroix all finishing on 269.
Jarvis was one stroke ahead at the start of the final round, but a birdie on the first hole meant he extended his lead and then tenaciously held on, even when play was suspended for almost an hour because of thunder and lightning with a single hole left to complete.
He was the eighth straight home winner of one of the oldest national open golf championships in the world, which was first played in 1903.
Last week, Jarvis won the Kenya Open in Nairobi by three shots, with Du Plessis finishing third and Laporta fourth.