Tournament Recap: Michael Thompson Wins First Event at the 2013 Honda Classic

Michael Thompson grabs first PGA TOUR victory at the 2013 Honda Classic. Photo by: @golfchannel

In an event that had 5 of the world’s top 10 golfers competing, it was the guy ranked 114th who held the trophy after the 72^nd hole.  Michael Thompson, who finished runner-up a couple of times in his career, including last year’s US Open at Olympic, remained focused during windy conditions on Sunday to grab his first PGA TOUR win at the 2013 Honda Classic.

Thompson closed with a one-under 69, giving him one of only five under-70 rounds recorded Sunday on the PGA National Champion course.  He began the day neck and neck with Luke Guthrie, but ended up sealing a two-stroke victory over Geoff Ogilvy (69) as Guthrie fell back early.  Thompson finished at minus-9, which was a fantastic improvement from his 16-over-par performance two weeks ago at the Northern Trust Open.

“The Northern Trust was a good thing in my life,” Thompson said. “It allowed me to focus on what I needed to do to play like I did this week.”

Ogilvy, who hasn’t made much noise on TOUR over the past few years, missed an eagle putt at 18 that would have turned up the pressure on Thompson, who got up and down from a greenside bunker for a birdie to seal his victory in dramatic fashion.

“Today I did a really good job of not thinking about all the things that happen after a win or after I get done playing,” Thompson said.  “I just kept telling myself, even on the last hole, just stick to what you’ve been working on.”

Tiger Woods’ goal coming into the final round was to apply pressure on the leaders by putting up a low number like his 62 in his final round last year.  He settled for a 74 that included a lost ball, two water hazard penalties, a three-putt, and one eagle.

With the win, Michael Thompson moves from 197 to 11^th on the 2013 FedExCup standings and from 114 to 45 on the World Golf Rankings.  He also secured a spot in 2013 Masters and 2013 U.S Open.

(Cover Photo by The Honda Classic Offical Facebook Page)