San Diego – Rudig Åberg never felt like leaving the golf course at Torrey Pines three weeks ago.
It felt very sweet on the same course, different tournaments on Sunday.
Åberg nearly perfected three shots for birdies, finishing off the slow rally with a 7-foot birdie putt in 18th place with a 6-under 66 and a one-shot with a par 5, 18th place at Genesis Invitational A victory over Maverick McNealy.
The tournament had to move from the Riviera to Tory due to a wildfire in Los Angeles, and Oberg got another chance on one of his favourite courses. It was somewhere that he turned to Caddy Joe Scobron and said, “This Sunday is much more fun than the last one we had.”
“It was great to come here and start to feel like I was again and get there physically,” he said. “It means a lot. This is the best feeling in golf, and to be able to do what I did today is definitely to help me move forward in the future.”
He met Tiger Woods, the host of the tournament for the first time in Florida’s indoor TGL a few weeks ago. This was better – Woods introduced him to the trophy, the 25-year-old Swedes’ second PGA tour title, taking him to fourth in the world.
“It’s very comforting to know from a place a few weeks ago that we’ll be able to win tournaments like turnaround right away,” he said.
This was a close call from McNealy, who won the tour for the first time three months ago. Apparently the Tory Pines winner, he extended his lead to three when he opened eight birdies on 11 holes, not to mention a 40-foot putt in the first hole.
However, he had to scramble Parr on the 17th after a drive that climbed Kalom from Paul on the 17th and fell into an impossible lie. He still shot a 64, but still there was a Swedes on the course, considered one of the rising stars of golf.
“It’s more than I wanted at the beginning of the day,” said McNerry, who started behind five shots. “Ludvig played great. I wanted to get great golf on that leaderboard to get it done.”
Tiger Woods did not compete in the Genesis invitation, but he was on the scene at Tory Pines on Sunday and joined the CBS booth.
Woods saw a lot of developments from the broadcast booth. Woods withdrew from the tournament on Monday last week as he dealt with the death of his mother, Kurchida. The player wore a red button with a Thai symbol of love to honor her.
The strong Oberg rally began on the 12th with a 6-foot slide putt. He putts from 50 feet for birdies on the 13th, attacked a difficult backpin of 14-5 feet for birdies, then rolled with a 15 feet birdie putt to get the lead.
From the middle of the par 5 18th’s fairway, he slammed the length of seven wood about 70 feet away, rolling it seven feet below, quietly drilling a hole in the putt.
“It was a great fight,” Åberg said. “I’m really proud of the way I finished. It was really cool.”
After finishing 12 under 276, Oberg has won $4 million in his third win worldwide since turning professional as a top-ranked college player at Texas Tech in June 2023.
Scottie Scheffler was 10 shots from his third round at 66, tied for third place with Patrick Rodgers (71).
Schaeffler fell to five shots on Saturday with 76, earning his highest score in nearly three years. That didn’t stop him from doing short runs. He went out at age 31 with five birdies. This included a chip-in for the fifth hole and went within one shot.
However, he couldn’t afford many mistakes and made two of them. He left a delicate downhill tip rough on the par 3 on the 11th, made a bogey, and stayed in the game by holing a birdie bunker shot on the 15th, and failed to save Pa from the bunker on the 16th.
He closed at 66 and finished third alone.
Schaeffler played alongside Rory McIlroy and took five shots to the front nine. McIlroy couldn’t buy a putt and could only laugh at some point during the round. He finished with a bogey from the Wednesday on the 18th for 72.
Rodgers and Denny McCarthy, who played in the final group, also took the lead in the final round until the tough back nine of the South Course caught up with them.
Rogers fell alongside the Bogees on 11 and 12 holes and never caught up. McCarthy led when he made Eagle in par 5 6th place and didn’t make another birdie until the final hole for 71 to go fifth.
