Justin Thomas, limbering up for his PGA Championship title defence, fired a one-under par 69 on Sunday to win the WGC Bridgestone Invitational golf by four strokes.
On a day when his nearest rivals were fading, overnight leader Thomas stayed steady, producing two birdies and one bogey and finishing with a 15-under par total of 265.
That left him four clear of American Kyle Stanley, who carded a two-under par 68 for 269.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen shared the third place on 270, both storming home with six-under par 64s as those who began the day with higher hopes floundered.
India’s Anirban Lahiri produced his best-ever finish as he signed off tied sixth after carding a two-under 68 in the final round.
Playing his first WGC event since the 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Lahiri registered his first ever top-10 finish in a WGC event.
Shubhankar Sharma shot his best round of the week at even par 70 and finished 69th at 13-over.
Thomas became the fifth and youngest player to win a FedExCup, Major championship and World Golf Championships.
Struggle
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and England’s Ian Poulter, who started the day sharing second three shots behind Thomas, both struggled.
Tiger Woods, an eight-time winner at the Firestone club hosting the Bridgestone for the last time, carded his second straight 73 to finish with a share of 31st.
His last nine holes saw two double bogeys, three bogeys, three birdies and just one par.
“I was just trying to be as aggressive as possible and fire at everything,” Woods said.“I was just going to be aggressive and see what happens,” Woods said.
The tournament’s final edition at Firestone offered little drama as no one got within two of Thomas.
The scores :
265 : Justin Thomas (65, 64, 67, 69); 269 : Kyle Stanley (63, 68, 70, 68); 270: Thorbjorn Olesen (71, 67, 68, 64); Dustin Johnson (69, 71, 66, 64); 271 : Brooks Koepka (66, 70, 68, 67) .
