Stars Kicking Themselves After Riviera Blunders

Oscar Sunday in L.A. is all about star power. The red carpet is rolled out and all of Hollywood’s elite gather for the biggest night in cinema. Just a few hours prior, the stars of the golf world were a few miles away at famed Riviera Country Club. The Oscars are full of glitz and glamour while Riviera was a battlefield that took down some of the world’s best. Little known James Hahn prevailed over Dustin Johnson & Paul Casey in a three-hole playoff. He was the “Best Actor”on this day, but it was the wreckage of the supporting cast that turned The Northern Trust Open into this year’s “Best Picture.”

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For the second time in the last three weeks the course stole the show. As Torrey Pines did a few weeks ago, Riviera showed her teeth this weekend. She did have some help as a steady rain saturated and lengthen the course for most of Sunday’s final round. Think about this, the final group of then leader Retief Goosen, Graham DaLaet & Sang-Moon Bae all shot over par. Goosen was hanging on for dear life most of the round and still was miraculously tied for the lead until he played holes thirteen through sixteen at five over par. Over the final two holes Bae needed to shoot one under to make the playoff a four man shootout, but a par on the penultimate hole and a bogey on the final one ended his chances.

There isn’t an honor for “Best New Actor” at the Oscars, but in golf we pretty much call that the Jordan Spieth award, and you can add him to the list of guys kicking themselves. After birdies on 15 and 17 to run his score to -6 Spieth went on to bogey the 18^th and finish one spot out of the playoff. The final hole was also cruel to Johnson and Casey who both could have won the tournament on the brutally difficult par-4 but failed to do so.

The regrets for Casey and Johnson wouldn’t stop there. On the second playoff hole Casey was in perfect position on the par-4 10th while Hahn & Johnson were left with difficult pitch shots out of gnarly rough. To show you how golf can make no sense sometimes, Hahn & Johnson made miraculous birdies and Casey was left with the “Bradley Cooper” title for this week. Then Johnson who could have won twice in regulation, blew a chance to push the playoff to a fourth hole. After a great tee shot on the par-3 14^th Johnson watched Hahn make birdie before missing his birdie putt giving Hahn the title.

Feb 22, 2015; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; Sergio Garcia reacts to his putt on the 18th during the final round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Then there’s this year’s of “Best Actor in a Recurring Role,” Sergio Garcia. With two holes to play the Spaniard was sitting at -7, one shot better than Johnson, Hahn & Casey. Then he pulled a “Sergio.” With the tournament on the line he snapped hooked drives on the final two holes, leading to back-to-back bogeys and an end to Sergio’s day. For Sergio it was no surprise that he couldn’t hold on.

"“Under the conditions and the way I played this week it was a good effort. I didn’t deserve to win and it caught up with me on the few last holes. I didn’t play well at all this week and I can’t really be disappointed. The way I felt and played to have a chance to win was good and a good learning experience.” (Credit CBS Sports)"

Credit James Hahn for the win, but as so many times in a tournament like this the calamity left behind the winner makes all the headlines. The contenders were full of major champions, Ryder Cuppers and PGA Tour winners galore. Instead it was the little known former shoe salesman who stole the show. That just goes to show you that in Hollywood it’s true what they say, anyone can become a star.

All stats from PGATour.com

Next: James Hahn Prevails In Playoff

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