Shark Shootout; Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson taps the title
World number eight Ian Poulter and king of bunkers Dustin Johnson fired a final round of 13-under-par 59 to declare a victory at the Shark Shootout in Florida on Sunday.
The duo birdied seven of the opening eight holes to take a lead over the group that took charge later in the day, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell. However, the cold war did not stay alive for long, as the winners stroke two birdies
in the final holes and claimed a two-shot victory.
The 12-team invitational, which took place in Florida was an end-of-season event hosted by Greg Norman at Tiburon Golf Club. The interesting element observed in the event was the pairing. Jerry Kelly was paired with Steve Stricker,
whereas, Fred Funk teed off with Kenny Perry. The best pair was seen in case of Poulter and Johnson, who were competitors at the 2010 Ryder Cup and played alongside to post a score of 30-under in the end.
Poulter and Johnson won prize money worth $750,000. After the victory, the winner of USB Hong Kong Open said,
"I figured playing with Darren and G-Mac they were gonna go at us pretty hard; they did. We made a lot of birdies today, hit a lot of good golf shots, holed a couple of good putts at just the right time, and it gave us a lot of momentum going into the back
nine to make a few birdies to finish it off."
The duo demonstrated excellent chemistry to which Poulter agreed. He said that he made a rough guess of giving the partnership a chance and it worked. However, they accepted the fact that the Irish group gave a tough competition
to them. Poulter further added that good shots made by the rivals encouraged them to play better.
On the other hand, Poulter’s putting was praised by world number four, Graeme McDowell. After hammering a victory in Florida against Tiger Woods a week back, G-Mac failed to add another to his successful year.
Commenting on Poulter’s game Graeme said, "Ian is one of the best chippers of the ball in the world, and he was the man for the job. He was pretty clutch today. He played great."
Kelly and Stricker, who won the tournament, last year, took the third spot on the leader board with an aggregate of 26-under-par. They were joined by Chris DiMarco and Anthony Kim whereas Fred Funk and Kenny Perry left the top
spot to take a share in fifth place. However, the duo was not alone at fifth; KJ Choi and Mike Weir; Jason Day and Rory Sabbatini; David Duval and Davis Love plunged up the leader board with a promising game.
Greg Norman, who hosted the tournament, was ninth along with his partner Matt Kuchar. The duo kicked off with a fine performance, but eventually gave up against the fog prevalent on the course.
The worst performance was demonstrated by Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Justin Leonard, Scott Verplank, Mark Calcavecchia, and Jeff Overton.
The tournament kicked off on 8th December at the Tiburon Golf Club, which is located in The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples. The tournament funded a trust named as CureSearch and according to a press
release, half of the ticket price went to charity. Shark Shootout, which was hosted by Greg Norman, stepped successfully into the 22nd year. The event is a unique competition that features 24 of the world's top professional golfers playing in two-man
teams in a diverse setup of customized alternate shot, better ball, and scramble.
With short game skills of Ian Poulter and long hits of Dustin Johnson, Shark Shootout finally wrapped up on Sunday. The event was won by the duo, who once met as rivals in the Ryder Cup 2010.
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