Brice Garnett won a PGA Tour event on Sunday the old fashioned way — he earned it.
Garnett raised eyebrows last Thursday when he fired a nine-under par 63 to jump start his week at the Corales Puntacana Resort Championship.
This was one of those opposite-field events the PGA Tour throws together alongside a WGC tournament.
Garnett went about his business while news outlets were reporting how lousy Tony Romo (77-82) played on his way to missing the cut.
All Garnett did was continue his good play and by Saturday night had worked his way to 16-under par and a healthy lead.
Enter some nasty Sunday weather.
Garnett fought his way through high winds and stinging rain over the final 18 holes. Birdies on three of his first four holes helped and by day’s end completed his wire-to-wire victory, his first on the PGA Tour.
Garnett is no spring chicken. He’s 34 and overjoyed to now be in the winner’s club.
“I knew today was such a huge opportunity in my golfing career,” he said. “It was a big mental grind. Some of those shots coming in with the wind straight in your face, raining — we were just trying to leave the golf ball in the right spot and we were able to that.”
With the win, Garnett will be exempt until the 2019-20 season. He also earns a spot into THE PLAYERS Championship plus the PGA Championship in August. It did not earn him a spot in the Masters, however.
But he’s now a winner, went wire-to-wire. First one this year.
