May 6, 2018 5 min read

Jason Day fought through some wayward tee shots and his own self-doubt to shoot a 2-under 69 Sunday and win the Wells Fargo Championship by two strokes over Aaron Wise and Nick Watney, his second victory of the season.

After squandering a three-shot lead on the back nine, Day’s tee shot on the difficult 230-yard par-3 17th hole crashed into the pin and settled less than 3 feet away. He made the putt to take a two-shot lead, becoming the only player to birdie the hole in the final round.

Day finished at 12-under 272.

“One of the best wins I have ever had,” said Day, who never felt on top of his game on Sunday.

He missed more than half the fairways – including an ugly hook into the water on the par-4 14th – hit just eight greens in regulation and made four bogeys on the day. But he toughed it out on the final three holes at Quail Hollow nicknamed the “Green Mile,” playing them in 2 under.

“You play sit there and play mental games with yourself, subconsciously saying, ‘You can’t do this. You’re going to fail, you’re going to fail,'” Day said. “I just kept on saying to myself, ‘Forget about it and keep pushing.'”

Day fell back into a tie with Wise after back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14, but regained the lead by draining a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th. That set up the shot of the tournament on the 17th, a hole with water short, left and long of the green that gave players fits all day because the putting surface was so firm that it was tough to stop the ball.

Day caught his break when the ball bounced four times and hit the flagstick , drawing a huge roar from the crowd.

Day, who has had troubles with the closing hole in the past, then hit an iron off the 18th tee, knowing he had a two-shot lead. He got up-and-down from the rough right of the green to finish with a par.

It was the Day’s 12th career win on the PGA Tour. The former world No. 1 also won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year after a winless 2017.

The 21-year-old Wise had the best finish of his career. He was alone in second before Watney drained a 59-foot putt on the 18th. Day pumped his fist and cheered on his playing partner before he rolled in the winning putt.

If Day was expecting a challenge from some of the other high-profile players in the field, it never came.

Phil Mickelson opened with two bogeys, failing to capitalize on the momentum from his third-round 64. Mickelson started firing at flags and made six birdies, but finished five shots back after a 69.

Rory McIlroy concluded an up-and-down week with a 71 to finish at 3 under. Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas were one shot behind him.

Tiger Woods was a non-factor, shooting 74 to finish 14 shots back. He failed to make a birdie in the final round of a tournament for the first time since 2014.

“I didn’t putt well again,” Woods said. “The chances I did have, I missed them all. Just a bad week.”

First win of year for Langer: Bernhard Langer won his first PGA Tour Champions event of the year when he saved par on the final hole for a 2-under 70 and a one-shot victory in the Insperity Invitational.

Langer had to rally from as many as four shots behind in the final round at the TPC Woodlands. He birdied two straight holes around the turn, added birdies on both par 5s on the back nine and then had to scramble for par.

Paul Goydos (68) led for much of the back nine until a bogey on the 18th hole. He tied for second with Jeff Maggert and Bart Bryant, who each had a 69.

The 60-year-old Langer won for the 37th time on the PGA Tour Champions, which trails only Hale Irwin’s 45. It was Langer’s fourth win at the Insperity Invitational.

Park wins shortened Texas Classic: Sung Hyun Park sprinted to the finish in the weather-abbreviated LPGA Texas Classic, chipping in for birdie on the final hole to close out a 5-under 66 in the second and final round, good for a one-shot victory over Lindy Duncan.

The sweet-swinging 24-year-old South Korean, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 5, ended up needing that chip to drop to survive a late charge by Duncan, who birdied her final three holes for a 64, the low round of the tournament.

Park finished with a two-round total of 11-under 131 for her third LPGA Tour victory and first since last season, when she won the U.S. Women’s Open and was named Co-Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

Rookie Yu Liu closed with a 66 and finished third, two shots back. Ariya Jutanugarn (66) and Sei Young Kim (67) were another shot behind.