Thomas wins CJ Cup; Sharvin 30th behind Laporta in Hainan Open
Francesco Laporta following his win. Picture: Hainan Open Official Committee
Justin Thomas won THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES for the second time in three appearances to capture his 11th PGA Tour win.
He's now won 10 times in three years which makes him a more prolific PGA Tour winner than Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka or Dustin Johnson since the start of the 2016-17 season.
He closed with a five-under 67 to win by two strokes from Danny Lee on 20-under with Graeme McDowell tied 16th on 10-under after he made two eagle threes in his last seven holes in a final round 71.
“I don't think you can ever necessarily call yourself the best closer," said Thomas (26), who has converted eight of his eleven 54-hole leads into wins.
"I've only won 11 times. I feel like once I get to 40 or 50 times and I've closed a lot of those, then I think that's kind of different."
He added: "The biggest thing I think that I've gotten a lot better at is just learning, taking experiences and learning from them.
"That's what I did early in my career. There were a couple of times I felt like I should have won the tournament, but I did something incorrectly or hit a wrong club or thought how I shouldn't have."
On the Challenge Tour, Ardglass Cormac Sharvin remains fifth in the Road to Mallorca rankings after finishing tied 30th behind Italy's Francesco Laporta at the Hainan Open in China.
Sharvin opened with two bogeys and had to wait until the par-five 18th for his first birdie as he closed with a one-over 73 to finish on two-under-par.
Laporta (29) began the day with a two-stroke lead and a final 70, two under par, was enough to clinch his maiden victory on 14 under par at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club, propelling him to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
The Italian finished one stroke clear of France’s Robin Roussel and two ahead of Dutchman Wil Besseling and Germany's Sebastian Heisele, who earlier aced the par-three third hole on his way to a four-under-par 68.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s my first victory on the Challenge Tour and it’s just crazy.
“After last week in Italy, I came here just to play my best golf, and I was aiming for a top ten. To come away with a victory is unbelievable and amazing.
“When I started this year, I just wanted to play my best golf and finish in the top 15, and now I’m leading, it’s just crazy. I’ll try to do my best to keep my place and finish top of the Rankings.”
Full playing privileges on the European Tour for next season are now secured for the man from Puglia, and he had a taste of what is to come after finishing seventh – the leading Italian – at last week’s Italian Open, a Rolex Series event.
Runner-up Roussel is also certain to finish the season in the top 15 as he jumps seven places to second on the Road to Mallorca and Laporta is hoping to recommence battle with the Frenchman – and Besseling – on the top tier next year..”
The Challenge Tour is now set to make its penultimate stop on the Road to Mallorca as the players make the short trip from Hainan Island to the Foshan Open on the mainland from October 24-27.
Hainan Open, Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club (Par 72)
274 F Laporta (Ita) 69 71 64 70,
275 R Roussel (Fra) 69 68 70 68,
276 S Heisele (Ger) 70 70 68 68, W Besseling (Ned) 70 67 69 70,
278 Y Liu (Chn) 71 66 72 69, A Meronk (Pol) 72 71 65 70,
279 B Stow (Eng) 69 73 66 71, A Rozner (Fra) 65 75 71 68, B Xiao (Chn) 69 68 74 68, R Bland (Eng) 70 67 71 71, R Højgaard (Den) 73 70 70 66,
280 N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 70 72 71 67,
281 O Lengden (Swe) 72 72 69 68, P Angles (Esp) 72 70 71 68,
282 M Antcliff (Aus) 71 71 71 69, J Eom (Kor) 69 68 77 68, J Senior (Eng) 72 71 72 67, R Santos (Por) 73 69 68 72, B Macpherson (Aus) 72 67 75 68, C Jin (Chn) 70 72 73 67, C Hill (Sco) 71 70 73 68,
283 Z Bai (Chn) 70 68 76 69,
284 F Wilkin (Nzl) 73 70 68 73, A Zemmer (Ita) 70 71 70 73,
285 O Lindell (Fin) 70 72 71 72, D Perrier (Fra) 68 70 76 71, Y Yeh (Tpe) 70 68 72 75, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 74 71 69, D Coupland (Eng) 71 73 72 69,
286 U Coussaud (Fra) 71 72 73 70, S He (Chn) 73 65 78 70, J Geary (Nzl) 68 73 70 75, Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 69 74 70 73,
287 E Ferguson (Sco) 75 69 71 72, J Ye (Chn) 73 72 73 69, A Knappe (Ger) 72 69 78 68, C Crawford (Aus) 73 66 74 74,
288 D Van Driel (Ned) 74 68 76 70, E Johansen (Nor) 73 72 70 73, M Jordan (Eng) 67 70 73 78, J Lima (Por) 69 75 76 68, R Kakko (Fin) 71 73 73 71, K McBride (Aus) 74 71 70 73, A Cockerill (Can) 72 72 71 73, S Hak (Hkg) 72 70 75 71,
289 L Scalise (Ita) 73 70 74 72, G Porteous (Eng) 70 72 74 73, R Enoch (Wal) 76 69 71 73, N Paez (USA) 70 71 76 72,
290 H Wu (Chn) 71 72 73 74, C Blomstrand (Swe) 71 70 74 75,
291 J Glennemo (Swe) 71 73 75 72, H Chao (Chn) 71 72 71 77, E Liu (am) (Chn) 71 73 77 70,
292 J Zhang (Chn) 69 74 77 72, O Farr (Wal) 72 72 75 73, J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 73 72 75, D Boote (Wal) 72 72 75 73,
293 K Yuan (Aus) 71 73 73 76, G Chen (am) (Chn) 72 72 76 73,
294 J Kölbing (Ger) 73 70 73 78,
295 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 72 74 77,
298 K Lin (Tpe) 71 72 77 78,
