Two weeks ago Marc Leishman was forced to withdraw from the recent Military Tribute at Greenbrier following an injury caused by a wayward shot from a pro-am partner but he has bounced back in style with a 3rd place finish at the Safeway Open in California.
Leishman’s final round of 65 at the Silverado Country Club was the equal best of the day and improved the Victorian golfer 19 places from his overnight standing to record his equal best finish of the 2019 season.
Leishman only just made the cut on Friday but he stormed through the field over the weekend with rounds of 67 and 65 to finish in outright 3rd place and three shots behind the winner Cameron Champ.
It was a good week overall for the Australians with Cameron Percy continuing his fine start to the season with a share of 7th place and Adam Scott fighting back after leading early then fading on Friday and Saturday before a final round of 68 saw him finish 17th.
For Cameron Percy he has now earned US$377,000 in three events since regaining his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Aaron Baddeley and Rhein Gibson finished tied for 33rd.
For the winner, Champ, one of the game’s longest hitters, it was his second victory on the PGA Tour and comes 11 months after his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship which was his second start on the PGA Tour.
Champ birdied his final hole to win by one over Canadian Adam Hadwin, birdies at the final three holes by Hadwin forcing Champ to fight to the end after holding a commanding lead with just a few holes to play.
The 24-year old Californian’s victory was an emotional one as he juggled contention in his home state with the terminal illness of his grandfather.
“Not matter if I win one more tournament or ten more tournaments this will be the greatest win of my career,” said Champ reflecting on the timing of the victory and his close association with his grandfather.
