CJ Cup: Justin Thomas beats Marc Leishman in play-off in Korea
Final leaderboard
-9 Justin Thomas (won at 2nd play-off hole), Marc Leishman
-8 Cameron Smith
-6 Whee Ki
Justin Thomas defeated Marc Leishman on the second play-off hole to clinch the CJ Cup for his fifth PGA Tour title of a memorable calendar year.
The US PGA Championship winner and Leishman both birdied the final hole in regulation to move to nine under at Jeju Island, edging out Cameron Smith by one shot.
Neither was able to initially repeat the trick as they returned to the 18th to determine a winner, but Leishman found water with his approach second time around and his subsequent bogey opened the door for Thomas.
The American left himself a simple tap-in for birdie to wrap up yet another tour title although it has not been plain sailing for the world number four this week.
He sparkled on the back nine in an opening nine-under-par 63 although scores of 74 and 70 in his next two rounds opened the door for his rivals while a double-bogey seven on the par-five third left him in trouble in windy conditions on Sunday.
He told the official PGA Tour website: "I just kept telling myself it was a bad golf swing, it wasn't a mental error or a wrong judgement that we made, it was just a bad golf swing at a pretty bad time.
"You're going to make bogeys out here and I played the first two holes really well and really played some great golf after that third hole. It's such a long day with these conditions."
Birdies at the ninth, 10th and 11th brought him back into contention although he then made bogeys at the 13th and 17th before ending his round by picking up a shot on the 18th for a level-par 72.
That drew him level with Australia's Leishman, who recorded a two-under 70 in his final round before being edged out in the play-off.
Home hope Whee Kim finished fourth on six under overall while American quintet Pat Perez, Jamie Lovemark, Brian Harman, Luke List and Scott Brown and India's Anirban Lahiri were a shot further back.
Collated final scores
(USA unless stated, par 72):
279 Justin Thomas (USA) 63 74 70 72(won at second extra play-off hole), Marc Leishman (Aus) 66 72 71 70
280 Cameron Smith (Aus) 69 68 73 70
282 Whee Kim (Kor) 68 70 72 72
283 Luke List (USA) 68 67 76 72, Scott Brown (USA) 66 70 71 76, Pat Perez (USA) 69 71 75 68, Brian Harman (USA) 68 72 72 71, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 69 71 69 74, Jamie Lovemark (USA) 70 74 68 71
284 Jason Day (Aus) 68 74 71 71, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 71 73 67 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 71 70 72 71, Patrick Reed (USA) 66 72 76 70
285 Lucas Glover (USA) 69 67 74 75, Branden Grace (Rsa) 72 67 74 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 71 71 73 70, Chez Reavie (USA) 66 72 74 73
286 Kyle Stanley (USA) 68 71 73 74, Ollie Schniederjans (USA) 67 72 76 71, Paul Casey (Eng) 72 71 69 74, Charles Howell III (USA) 67 72 78 69
287 Morgan Hoffmann (USA) 73 71 69 74, Nick Taylor (Can) 68 72 72 75
288 Adam Scott (Aus) 72 75 70 71
289 Tony Finau (USA) 67 75 75 72, Harold Varner III (USA) 69 72 73 75
290 Hudson Swafford (USA) 68 73 74 75, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 72 75 72, K.T. Kim (Kor) 70 72 76 72, Russell Henley (USA) 67 76 76 71, Kevin Tway (USA) 71 72 74 73, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 71 68 75 76
291 Patrick Rodgers (USA) 69 75 73 74, Stewart Cink (USA) 71 70 77 73
292 Seung-Yul Noh (Kor) 79 65 74 74, Wesley Bryan (USA) 70 72 75 75, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 75 75 71, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 71 71 76 74
293 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 76 74 73, Gary Woodland (USA) 78 72 74 69, James Hahn (USA) 74 73 76 70, Robert Streb (USA) 69 71 74 79
294 Jung-Gon Hwang (Kor) 76 69 76 73, Kelly Kraft (USA) 73 73 74 74
295 Kevin Na (USA) 74 73 74 74, Bud Cauley (USA) 69 77 75 74, Chris Stroud (USA) 71 75 76 73, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 72 77 74 72, Adam Hadwin (Can) 75 72 76 72, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor) 71 76 75 73, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 70 75 74 76
296 Daniel Berger (USA) 70 74 77 75, Keegan Bradley (USA) 70 73 77 76, Chris Kirk (USA) 72 74 76 74, Sung Kang (Kor) 73 74 75 74, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 67 77 75 77
297 Seung-hyuk Kim (Kor) 77 73 74 73, Young-Han Song (Kor) 75 71 74 77
298 Hyung joon Lee (Kor) 73 72 79 74
299 Chad Campbell (USA) 74 74 73 78, Rod Pampling (Aus) 68 78 79 74, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 76 76 76
300 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 73 73 77 77, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 76 71 80 73
301 Cody Gribble (USA) 73 81 76 71
302 J.B. Holmes (USA) 75 79 73 75, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor) 69 74 82 77, Ryan Ruffels (Aus) 75 74 81 72, Gavin Green (Mal) 66 82 79 75
303 Danny Lee (Nzl) 71 73 80 79
305 Xander Schauffele (USA) 69 82 78 76, Jung hwan Lee (Kor) 72 77 79 77
308 Jim Herman (USA) 75 81 77 75
309 Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 74 74 79 82
313 Grayson Murray (USA) 75 78 81 79
325 Gyu Min Lee (Kor) 87 80 77 81
Day three report
Pre-tournament favourite Justin Thomas was back on top at the inaugural CJ Cup after a third round of 70 gave him a share of the lead alongside fellow American Scott Brown.
Thomas surrendered a three-shot lead on Friday with a round of 74, but regrouped on Saturday despite a double bogey on the par-four eighth and a bogey at the 10th blotting his scorecard.
The US PGA champion - Sky Bet's 11/10 favourite - looked set to hold the lead outright until Brown, in the final group out on course, birdied the 18th to sign for a round of 71, despite back-to-back bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes.
The pair have a two-shot lead over Anirban Lahiri (9/1) and Marc Leishman (6/1) who are tied for third.
Lahiri vaulted up the leaderboard with a round of 69 while Leishman cancelled out four bogeys with five birdies as he signed for 71.
Windy conditions made for a difficult day, with only 10 of 77 players shooting under par on the day.
Overnight leader and our headline tip, Luke List had a nightmare third round, with three bogeys on the front nine and double bogeys on the 10th and 13th. He signed for a 76 that sent him tumbling into a share of eighth place and is out to 40/1 to land the trophy.
Day two report
Pre-tournament favourite Justin Thomas remained in touch at the inaugural CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, despite a two-over-par 74 in the second round.
The world number four - the highest ranked player in the field on Jeju Island - started the day with a three-shot lead after a superb opening round of 63.
But he was unable to hit those heights on Friday and finished two shots behind new leader Luke List.
The US PGA champion dropped three shots on the front nine and only marginally improved after the turn, mixing three birdies with two bogeys.
Thomas' slip allowed List to hit the front in the battle for the USD 1.6million (£1.2million) first prize.
Top 3 Shots from Round 2 at THE CJ CUP:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 20, 2017
3. Bae from the bunker.
2. Gribble's amazing approach. 🎯
1. JT putts with a wedge. pic.twitter.com/2C0jz1o0I4
List shot a flawless round of 67 which featured five birdies to move to nine under in his bid for a first PGA Tour title.
Lucas Glover also enjoyed a five-under round to shoot up the leader board and sit one shot off the lead, alongside Scott Brown.
Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed, on six under, formed a dangerous chasing pack, with European Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters one shot further back.
England's Ian Poulter finished two under par after carding a second successive 71.
Day one report
Justin Thomas lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite with a superb first round of 63 in the inaugural CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges.
The 78-man event features a prize purse of USD 9.25million (£7million) and a first prize of 1.6million (£1.2million), with US PGA champion and world number four Thomas the highest ranked player in the field on Jeju Island.
And despite starting with a bogey on the 10th - his opening hole - Thomas recovered to finish nine under par and hold a three-shot lead over Ryder Cup team-mate Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman, Chez Reavie, Scott Brown and Malaysia's Gavin Green.
"It was kind of a weird day," Thomas, Sky Bet's 5/4 favourite, told the Golf Channel. "It started off with a really, really bad bogey and I had a seven-hole stretch there where I basically kind of went unconscious."
That stretch featured an eagle from 12 feet on the 12th, four straight birdies from the 14th and another eagle from close range on the 18th, taking the 24-year-old to the turn in just 29 shots.
Thomas, who had chipped in on both the 15th and 16th, then carded three birdies and a bogey on the front nine to complete an ideal start to the PGA Tour's first tournament in Korea.
Former world number one Jason Day, a 12/1 shot, is five shots off the lead after an opening 68 which included eight birdies and a double-bogey seven on the 18th, with Tour Championship winner Xander Schauffele (33/1) a shot further back.
England's Ian Poulter birdied the last two holes to finish one under par, with compatriot Paul Casey carding a 72 and Graeme McDowell shooting 73.
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