Jhonattan Vegas finishes birdie-birdie-birdie at Canadian Open for first win in five years

By Kevin Casey

GOLFWEEK.COM

             Jhonattan Vegas with the Canadian Open Championship trophy 

At the beginning of the day, late in the round and even after he was in the clubhouse, Jhonattan Vegas winning the   2016 RBC Canadian Open seemed improbable.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened.
Vegas fired a closing 8-under 64 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, finishing birdie-birdie-birdie to reach 12 under and eventually secure a one-shot victory. But he only did so after dodging a series of bullets.
Beginning the day five shots back, Vegas moved himself into a share of the lead with his strong close, but he was in the clubhouse early. And with several competitors close to or at that 12-under number and with gettable par-5s to play, it seemed Vegas would be lucky just to get in a playoff.
But, his opponents would all fall short.
Jon Rahm, the electrifying 21-year-old Spaniard, came to the final hole 10 under and in need of an eagle to tie. He knocked his second shot to 10 feet, and with that chance… it just slid by high on the left side. Birdie and a closing 67 left him one back in a tie for second.
OK, now Martin Laird. All the Scot needed was a birdie on an easy par 5 to catch Vegas. But then Laird found the fairway bunker off the tee, laid up in the left rough, knocked it on 35 feet away and missed a longer version of Rahm’s putt to tie in the same way. He also placed T-2 at 11 under.
Then, three more attacks to force a playoff. Steve Wheatcroft, who had bogeyed 17 to fall back to 11 under, tried first but skulled his greenside bunker shot he needed to get up and down to tie over the green into the water. He would close with bogey and place T-5 at 10 under.
Dustin Johnson was the penultimate chance, and Vegas had to be fearing the U.S. Open and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational champion. But the American couldn’t get the right distance on his second shot, firing right at the flag but over the green. He putted from the rough 21 feet away, but came up a few feet short on his eagle try and tapped in for a tie for second.
Finally, Brandt Snedeker. The American, who started the day with a one-shot lead, traded birdies and bogeys all round and couldn’t close with eagle. His second went well left into a plugged lie in the left greenside bunker. Needing to improbably hole this extremely difficult shot with water lurking on the other side of the green, Snedeker instead left his ball in the bunker (he would get up-and-down from there for par to finish T-5).
After the long wait, Vegas, somehow, was your champion.
“It’s incredible … There’s just a ton of emotions running through my head right now,” Vegas said. “This is what you train for… I’m super excited.”
Five years ago, few would have guessed that Vegas’ second PGA Tour win would take this long. The 31-year-old Venezuelan earned his first victory in just his second start as a tour member, capturing the 2011 Bob Hope Classic in a playoff. The very next week, he nearly won again, finishing tied for third at the Farmers Insurance Open.
It seemed a star was born.
But it was never as easy after that.
Vegas had just one more top 10 the remainder of the season, put together a lackluster 2012 campaign, missed most of 2013 due to left shoulder surgery and by the time 2015-16 rolled around, had lost his US  PGA Tour card.
Yet, even as no more wins came and his status faded, Vegas remained optimistic. He actually posited losing his Tour card as a blessing in disguise.
“From where I started this year, not having full status on Tour, knowing it was going to be a really tough year,” Vegas said. “I think it was a great thing for me because it made me realize I love being (on the PGA Tour).”
Vegas owned two top-5s in 2015-16 by the beginning of May, but it really all started to turn around last week at the Barbasol Championship, where Vegas used a second-round 60 to capture a confidence-boosting T-4.
Through three rounds in Canada, he sat T-15, another solid showing on the horizon, but then he got hot.
Like Snedeker the day before, Vegas made five consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-6 to jumpstart his round (and tournament). He was relatively quiet over the next 10 holes (eight pars, one birdie, one bogey), but then the finishing kick.
He rolled in 7- and 8-footers for birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and gracefully lagged his 43-footer for eagle at 18 within tap-in range. Then the long wait that ended up being so fruitful.
With the win, Vegas, of course, is now exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2017-18 season. He earns a spot in next year’s Masters as well as next week’s PGA Championship.
The electrifying performance of Jared du Toit, a 21-year-old Canadian amateur, petered out a bit on Sunday, as the soon-to-be Arizona State senior dropped from second to T-9 following a final-round 71 that put him at 9 under. While he couldn’t end Canada’s 52-year win-less drought in this championship (nor become the first amateur in 25 years to win a US PGA Tour event), it’s safe to say this was a booming PGA Tour debut for the youngster.
Geoff Ogilvy produced the biggest move of the day, finishing birdie-eagle-par-eagle to post 63 and move from T-44 to T-9 at 9 under. Fellow Aussie Jason Day, the defending champion, also closed strong, finishing with 67 to get to 7 under and tie for 14th.
Rahm, who made his  US PGA Tour debut as a pro just last month at the Quicken Loans National, now has two top-three finishes in four pro starts on the Tour. The college superstar may just be one more high finish away from earning his 2016-17 PGA Tour card.
But Sunday was Vegas’s day.
All in all, the day re-affirmed the unpredictability of the US PGA Tour. Nobody thought Vegas could win today. Until he suddenly did.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x872) 
276 J Vegas (USA) 73 69 70 64
277 J Rahm (Spain) 67 71 72 67, M Laird (Scotland) 73 69 68 67, D Johnson (USA) 66 71 71 69
278 R Barnes (USA) 71 68 71 68, A  Cejka (Germany)| 71 69 69 69, S Wheatcroft (USA) 68 77 64 69

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