Mardy Fish Wins 3rd American Century Championship by 6 Points

Q: Did Mardy Fish win with clutch play, or did his rival's final-hole gamble hand him the celebrity golf title?

Mardy Fish won it mainly with steady, timely play, while Joe Pavelski’s final-hole gamble only confirmed a result Fish had largely put in hand. Fish finished with 72 points, six ahead of Pavelski’s 66 under the modified Stableford format. He did not need a dramatic last-hole heroics. Instead, he recovered from a shaky stretch of three bogeys early in the round and stabilized with birdies on the 7th, 10th and, most importantly, the 16th. That 16th hole was Fish’s biggest clutch moment. After an errant second shot found a greenside bunker, he scrambled for birdie, preserving momentum and helping protect his lead. He then played the closing holes with control, making pars on 17 and 18. By the final hole, he was protecting a six-point advantage and chose the safe route. Pavelski’s gamble mattered, but mostly because he was already chasing. After bogeying the 17th, he needed an eagle on 18 to have any chance. Going for it, he hit into the water, ending the threat. That mistake did not hand Fish the title so much as remove the last slim possibility of pressure. So the fairest reading is that Fish earned the championship with composed back-nine golf and one key scramble under pressure, while Pavelski’s failed all-or-nothing play on 18 merely sealed a victory Fish had already built.

3 articles · Updated · NBC Sports · Jul 12

Mardy Fish closed with 72 points Sunday to win the American Century Championship for the third time, finishing six points ahead of defending champion Joe Pavelski.
A birdie scramble from a greenside bunker on the 16th steadied Fish down the stretch, and pars on 17 and 18 sealed it after tough late conditions and earlier bogeys on Nos. 3 through 5.
Pavelski needed an eagle on the final hole after a bogey at 17, but his aggressive attempt found the water; Steph Curry placed third at 59, ahead of Annika Sorenstam at 58 and John Smoltz at 55.
The former top-10 tennis player and 2004 Olympic silver medalist earned $150,000 from the $750,000 purse and moved into a tie for fourth all-time in the event with three titles.