WGC-HSBC Champions: Xander Schauffele wins title
Xander Schauffele beat Tony Finau in a play-off to win the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Leaderboard
-14 Schauffele (won play-off), Finau
-10 Rose
-8 Aphibarnrat, Putnam
Day four report
America's Xander Schauffele beat compatriot Tony Finau in a play-off to win the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Schauffele began the final round at Sheshan International three shots off the lead, but carded the lowest round of the day with a four-under-par 68 to finish alongside Finau on 14 under par.
The 25-year-old had birdied the final two holes to force extra holes and then birdied the 18th again in the play-off to secure victory after Finau had been forced to lay-up on the par-five after finding a bunker off the tee.
Defending champion Justin Rose, who would have gone back to the top of the world rankings with a win, had to settle for third place on 10 under after a closing 72.
"It was as nice of a final group as I've ever played in, not that I've played in a whole lot, but Rosey and Tony are great guys and I think we were genuinely pulling for each other, even though we were playing against each other," said Schauffele, who celebrated his 25th birthday on the opening day.
"It's a lot to take in honestly. I didn't have an incredible Asian Swing up until this point, so I think that flight home will be a little bit more special. It's the first time my family have been together in a pretty long time so that was pretty special and I'm happy to share this with them."
The victory is the third PGA Tour title of Schauffele's career, while Finau is still looking for his second victory after letting a great chance slip through his fingers.
"I definitely feel like I let one get away," Finau admitted. "Xander played incredible golf today. It was playing tough out there. He posted a number and made birdie on a play-off hole when it counted. Hats off him to. He played nicely today and deserved to win.
"It seemed like we kind of separated ourselves with nine holes to play. Kind of a three-man tournament. It definitely felt that way coming down the stretch and it was cool to have a chance to win, a real chance to win. I'll definitely learn from this and keep moving forward."
Rose was in contention for the first successful title defence of his career after birdies on the second and seventh, but crucially bogeyed the ninth and 10th and followed birdies on the 13th and 14th with further dropped shots on the closing stretch.
"Tough day for everybody," said the FedEx Cup champion, who will also defend the Turkish Airlines Open title this week. "You just look at the scoreboard. Seems like everyone fell apart. There was no chasing pack today.
"It was hard to kind of keep the mistakes off the card completely today. It was a fun battle. I was always just one or two shots behind it felt on the back nine, but I birdied 13 and 14 to give myself a chance, and still had a chance I felt when I hit my iron shot into 17.
"Hit a good iron shot into there and Xander made his putt. I missed my putt. I was two behind playing the last trying to force something there. But I was in the hunt and it was a decent defence."
Day three report
Justin Rose faltered over the closing stages at the WGC-HSBC Champions for Tony Finau to take a three-shot lead into the final day.
Englishman Rose turned in 33 to open up a one-shot lead at Sheshan International Golf Club.
But Rose, who could move back to the top of the world rankings with a win, dropped three shots on the final two holes to sit three off the lead alongside American duo Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.
Rose found the hazard at 17 and the water at 18 for Finau to end up with the same three-shot lead that he had started the day with.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow," Finau, the American Ryder Cup player, told the European Tour's website after closing his round of 70 with three birdies.
"I've got a world-class field chasing after me. This is the position you want to be in and I'll be looking to close out my first tournament in this position, which is exciting for me.
"Whether it happens or not, it's an experience that you learn from and you continue to move forward.
"It was great to birdie the last three. It's always a nice way to finish no matter what position you're in.
"I didn't have a lot going my way for the first half of the day and Rosey was making his run.
"I was just really pleased I was able to finish that way and get some momentum going into tomorrow."
Finau boosted his hopes of a first European Tour win at just the 20th attempt with a strong finish.
The big-hitting 29-year-old from Utah picked up a shots on the par four 16th and then almost made a hole-in-one on the 17th.
The birdie was enough to see Finau regain the lead and his length off the tee allowed him to take advantage of the par five last.
While Finau completed his big finish to get to 13 under, there was trouble lurking for others.
As well as Rose's problems, Reed found the same hazard at the 17th but got up and down to drop just a single shot.
Rose surrendered a double-bogey on the 17th and then lost another shot on the last to drop to 10 under.
Reigning Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood is five shots off the lead alongside American Andrew Putnam.
Fleetwood had been one off the lead after birdieing the third, fourth and 10th and dropping a shot on the fifth.
But he triple-bogeyed the 14th after finding the water before picking a shot back up on the last.
Putnam made one bogey in a 67 to sit a shot ahead of Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat and fellow American Keegan Bradley, who both fired rounds of 70.
Jason Day was at six under, a shot clear of Thorbjorn Olesen, Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel.
Rory McIlroy's problems continued with a 75 and the four-time Major champion is tied for 60th on eight over.
Day two report
One month on from the Ryder Cup and the WGC-HSBC Champions promises to stage a renewal, as two Americans and two Europeans fill the top four spots on the leaderboard in China.
Leading the way is Tony Finau, who carded an eventful second-round 67 which first saw him overhaul compatriot Patrick Reed with five birdies in 10 holes, before an unfortunate bounce resulted in a double-bogey at the 11th.
Finau dropped another shot at the 13th before rallying with three birdies over the closing five holes to reach 11-under-par and a three shot lead.
"I'm really pleased," he said. "I played nicely and was happy with the way I finished. I was pleased to make a few birdies coming down the stretch.
"There's a lot of great players here that are looking to chase me down. I've got to stay in attack mode, continue to make birdies and if I limit the mistakes, I think it will be a good weekend."
Reed is tied for second after a level-par 72 and has been joined by English duo Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 68 and 67 respectively to move into threatening positions on the leaderboard.
Rose, the defending champion, could return to number one in the world with Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson way down the leaderboard, but his focus will be on producing a weekend akin to that which saw him overhaul both those players and win this title a year ago.
For Fleetwood, whose sole defeat at the Ryder Cup came to Finau in the singles, another opportunity to confirm his rise to the game's elite beckons after he contended for the US Open earlier this year.
Fleetwood matched Finau in taking advantage of all four par-fives at a course which continues to reward long, straight driving, further evidence by Xander Schauffele sitting in fifth and Patrick Cantlay in sixth.
Star of Friday was a former Ryder Cup player, Thomas Pieters, who made seven birdies and an eagle in a round of 64, the best of the day by fully three shots and equal to the score Reed managed on day one.
Pieters sits in a share of seventh and on the fringes of contention, whereas a miserable 77 saw Rory McIlroy slump to 58th in an event where his previous worst finish is a share of 11th place.
Francesco Molinari sits ahead of just seven players in a field of 70 on seven-over while Johnson and Koepka appear unlikely to threaten at three- and two-over respectively.
Day one report
Masters champion Patrick Reed fired a flawless 64 to take the lead after day one of the WGC-HSBC Champions in China.
Starting on the 10th, Reed put together an outward 32 which he matched on the opposite nine to reach eight-under and a two-shot lead over compatriots Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.
"It feels great," said Reed, Sky Bet's new 9/2 favourite. "To be able to come out here and to be the first event back and to feel like I hit the ball really solid. I had full control, especially with how windy it was today.
"It felt really good because if you can go out and shoot rounds like that in these kind of conditions, you know you're going to have confidence when the wind dies down and there are perfect conditions out there.
"I really just need to keep on taking it day by day and try to shoot the lowest round I can each day. Hopefully I'll shoot a couple more of these rounds, I think that will help me out."
England's Matthew Fitzpatrick sits alone in fourth after an eight-birdie 67, with Tommy Fleetwood among a group on four-under which includes Rafa Cabrera Bello and Billy Horschel.
"I knew I had to stay patient," said Fitzpatrick, who was two-over through four. "I really love playing this golf course, it suits my eye well. I played a really great pitch on the par five - 14. That just sort of got my round going, basically."
Fleetwood, who was frustrated to close with a bogey at the difficult ninth, added: "You can't win a tournament on day one, so you just try and put yourself in position and build some momentum and today was a good day for it."
New world number one Brooks Koepka lacked spark in a level-par 72 which included just one birdie and one bogey, and alongside him is Rory McIlroy after a far more eventful round which saw him fight back from a double-bogey with four birdies over his closing eight holes.
Playing with McIlroy, Dustin Johnson laboured to a two-over 74 while Francesco Molinari, a former winner of the event who is defending his healthy Race To Dubai lead, slumped to a four-over 76.
Reed is no stranger to starting well at Sheshan - he opened with a round of 65 in 2015 and 66 last year - and capped a fine day with a rare birdie at the ninth, one of just four players in a 77-strong field to do so.
Schauffele was also bogey-free but had to wait for the 17th, his eighth, for a first step in the right direction. He birdied five in six from there and added one more at the short, par-four seventh hole.
There was just one mistake on Finau's scorecard, a bogey at the sixth, while Fitzpatrick matched Reed's birdie haul and came close to becoming the first man in the event's history to make six in succession before finding sand at the third.