Leishman rolls in wire-to-wire victory at BMW
Perched in the bleachers behind the 15th green, a golf fan quickly corrected himself. Marc Leishman's slippery putt from 28 feet down the slope fell softly for a birdie.
The crowd roared, and even Leishman displayed a rare burst of emotion, pumping his fist.
"Nice roll, Marc," the spectator said. "Beautiful roll."
Leishman needed a beauty, a momentum-changing swing of his putter.
Justin Rose, 7 strokes down entering the final day of the BMW Championship at Conway Farms, had pulled within two, and Leishman had played his last six holes in 1-over par.
"I felt like I hit a decent wedge shot on 15, and it just didn't react how it might have," said Leishman, who laid up on the drivable par 4. "To make that (putt) was a bonus."
Now up three, Leishman followed with a birdie on the 16th, producing his second fist pump in as many holes, and when the husky Aussie closed on No. 18 by making his 29th birdie of the tournament, his wire-to-wire win in Lake Forest was complete. Leishman's final-round 67 (4 under) Sunday gave him a 23-under total, 5 shots better than both Rose and Rickie Fowler.
Leishman's four-day total of 261 topped the previous event record of 262 set by Tiger Woods (2007) and Jason Day (2015), who finished fourth (16 under) this year.
"Leish put it in gear there," Rose said.
How's this for a roll for Leishman?
His victory, which moved him from No. 7 to No. 4 in the FedExCup standings, was his second this season (Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill) and came two weeks after he finished third in the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston, where he shared the lead after three rounds.
Prior to this year, however, the 33-year-old's only win on tour came in 2012.
"You dream," Leishman said of winning two events in one year. "I thought my game was in a good enough spot, but having one win in eight years (on tour) it's hard to imagine winning twice in one year and two big events like they were."
Fowler started the day five shots back and paired with Leishman. The 28-year-old Californian, wearing bright orange pants and hearing cheers all day, pulled within three of the lead when errant tee and approach shots by Leishman led to a bogey on No. 5. But the leader dismissed any chance of him unraveling, a la two weeks ago, when he buried a birdie putt from 24 feet on the par-3 sixth.
Then on No. 7, a short par-4, Fowler conservatively hit iron off the tee and needed a sand save to keep from dropping another stroke. Leishman also hit iron off the tee, landed his ball in the trap but made par too.
Fowler never got closer than three shots of the lead again.
"Nice to give Marc a little bit of a push, but he did a great job out there playing in control," Fowler said. "He made that cushion where he allowed himself to make mistakes, but when he did make a bad swing or mistake, he did a good job rebounding."
When Rose bogeyed No. 17, putting him four behind, Leishman had all but sealed it. Only doing something "pretty drastically wrong," as he put it, was going to blow it for Leishman, and Boston was fresh in his mind. His putter didn't let him down all week (102 total putts).
"I guess I was a little less aggressive, just trying to give myself chances," Leishman said. "I didn't want to give it to (Rose). I wanted him to earn it."
If Leishman's roll continues this week at East Lake, which is the final leg of the FedExCup playoffs, he will win the FedExCup title.
"Marc's a world-class player now," Fowler said. "He hits it plenty far. He made plenty of big puts today, especially coming down the stretch, made some good swings."
He did it all week.