Danny Willett fluffed his lines as he missed a five-foot putt not once but twice to hand Max Homa victory. The 34-year-old was a stroke ahead of the defending champion and looked set to win as he lay three feet from the pin while the American faced a tough chip.
But Homa, 31, successfully chipped in for birdie, which resulted in a wry smile from Willett and the ex-Masters champion needed to hole his birdie putt to win. With what looked like a seemingly simple shot for victory, the golf star buckled under pressure as the ball went narrowly wide of the hole.
However, all was not lost as the Englishman still had a chance to force a playoff with Homa. But another inexplicable miss, before successfully completing the shot at the third attempt, left Homa with a golden opportunity to win the Fortinet Championship title.
He did just that and Willett was left to rue the chance to win another title. "Disappointing way to finish, but you know, first event of the season, to be in contention, things are in a good place. We'll live to fight another day," said Willett, who shot a closing 69 to finish 15 under.
On Homa's chip-in birdie from below the green, he added: "I expected him to do it, but then it's still a bit of a shock when it happens." The late turnaround means Willett remains in search of a first PGA Tour title since his 2016 Masters victory.
Homa bounced back from two bogeys in the first four holes with three consecutive birdies around the turn, crowned by a 30-foot putt at the 11th. He came up short with a bunker shot at the last but rattled his chip in off the flag to finish 16-under par and put pressure on Willett's short birdie putt.
"It was kind of a wild finish," said Homa, who carded a final-round 68 at Silverado Resort in Napa, California. "The last three minutes are kind of a blur. But I played really good golf. I played solid."
Homa took home the £1.27million winner's cheque from an unlikely position and claimed he had something to prove with his performance throughout the event.
"I've had a few guys tell me that if the LIV guys hadn't left I wouldn't have made the President's Cup team, so I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder this week,” he said.
