American Patrick Reed won The Barclays tournament at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, by just one shot on Sunday, edging out competitors Sean O’Hair and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.
Rickie Fowler had been one shot ahead of the final round, but couldn’t maintain his lead, finishing equal seventh.
Fowler and Reed had quickly moved to 10 under for the tournament as they reached the seventh hole in the final round, with Grillo just one shot behind on the ninth.
Some of the biggest names in golf were unable to stay with the leading pack over the four rounds.
As the first of four tournaments of the PGA playoffs for the FedEx Cup entered the final round, both Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy found themselves slipping down the leader board.
Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson both finished on three under, and Scot Martin Laird, who was still challenging Fowler and Reed after the third round, bogeyed two holes on the front nine.
Australian Adam Scott, who shot a magnificent 65 on round three, also struggled for consistency with two bogeys and two birdies in the first eight holes of the day.
As the contest came to a climax, three more Americans — Gary Woodland, Sean O’Hair and Ryan Moore — were clustered with Australian Jason Day three shots off the lead but running out of holes.
Top golfers on the circuit like Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Jim Furyk all found the Bethpage course challenging.
Justin Rose, fresh from his Olympic triumph in Rio, appears to have kept his humor throughout the tournament though, retweeting a picture of a sign that reads: “The Black course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend for highly skilled golfers.”
Ranked eighth in the world, Rickie Fowler, had two PGA Tour wins last year and seven top 10 finishes so far in 2016. According to the PGA Tour website Fowler has also earned nearly $2.5 million dollars this year.
Patrick Reed, who is currently ranked 14th in the world, has four PGA tour victories to his name. The PGA says he has earned $3.5 million dollars this year.
