He may not have played his best golf coming down the stretch, but 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas of Jupiter, FL played well enough on Sunday to win the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions from Kapalua, Hawaii. It was Thomas’s 12th PGA tournament victory and second Tournament of Champions win as he also won the 2017 SBS Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course in Maui.
Thomas defeated 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed of San Antonio, TX and defending Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Xander Schauffele of San Diego, CA in a playoff on Sunday. Schauffele was eliminated after the first hole of the playoff and Reed was eliminated after the third playoff hole.
Thomas, Reed and Schauffele each posted a four round score of -14. Thomas had a first score of -6, a second round score of par and then back-to-back rounds of four under 69. Reed had a first round score of -1, second and fourth round scores of -7 and a third round score of +1. Schauffele had a first round score of -4, second round score of -5, third round score of -2 and fourth round score of -3. It should be noted that a par score of 73 was used throughout the tournament.
Heading into the 18th and final round on Sunday, Thomas had a one stroke lead on Schauffele. However, he recorded a bogey in the final hole of the fourth round and as a result, a three-way playoff needed to be played. Schauffele as well had a great chance for a birdie on the 18th hole on Sunday, but needed to settle for par.
In the first playoff hole, Schauffele was eliminated with a par, while Thomas and Reed each recorded birdies. The second playoff hole saw Thomas and Reed both deliver pars and then in the third playoff hole, Thomas had a birdie and Reed had a par. The 18th hole was used for each of the three playoff holes. If a fourth playoff hole was required, Thomas and Reed would have needed to return on Monday.
This was the third time in Thomas’s career he won in a PGA Tour playoff. He previously beat Marc Leishman of Australia on the second playoff hole at the 2017 CJ Cup in Jeju Island, South Korea and Luke List of Seattle, WA on the first playoff hole at the 2018 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
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