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tv   News4 at 6  NBC  March 2, 2014 6:00pm-6:31pm EST

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and i guess it's also appropriate that the four rs, rory, russell, russell and ryan are in a four-way playoff to decide the 2014 honda classic. we've talked a lot about how guys drop shots coming down the stretch. this is just a small example of it. the key moments. this was it for knox, johnny. you called this at the 14th. >> yeah, just couldn't get it over that little diagonal bank and it just ricocheted straight right. >> and that cost him. double bogey at 14 for knox and he parred in from there to post it. henley at the par 3 15th. this was just after he knocked it in off the green for birdie at 14. >> and birdied 13. and not even close. >> he doubles the 15th. he drops back to 8 under. and then rory mcilroy, who came to the 16th at 10 under and seemingly looked like it was his tournament to win or lose --
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>> kept getting so many tee shots left and that leads to a double bogey. >> mcilroy drops to 8 under. he also bogeyed the 17th to drop to 7 under and then ryan palmer, who just cleared the hazard, had an excellent chance at the 18th but just could not put that little par putt away which in the end would have won the tournament. and then that would have won the tournament for mcilroy, an eagle attempt after a brilliant second shot from 245 yards. so we have seen a little bit of everything at the honda classic, and we are on our way to the seventh playoff here in the honda classic history. first in seven years since mark wilson won that four-man playoff we talked about earlier in the first year of the tournament was moved here to pga national. so while they get the players in position back at the 18th, we'll take a break and ensue the playoff when we come bac
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sunset here at palm beach gardens. is a little past 6:20 so we think they can play until the bottom of the hour. we have four guys here on the par 5 18th so we'll see if it's not decided at the end of this hole if they can get another one. if they did go another hole, it would be 17. >> 18, 17, 18. you pick. ryan is the first to pick.
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>> 3. >> rory. you'll hit in this order. what have you got? 2? okay. russell knox is first. good luck, fellas. you all set, golf balls? you good? good luck, fellas. >> so here we go. we've got roger maltbie and mark rolfing covering the foursome. >> russell knox had trouble with his tee shot as we saw about 20 minutes ago. too quick a transition, hit a low hook. but he could reach this green in two shots if he can skirt it around the right corner of the bunker.
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>> i think he's done it. >> made a good-looking swing there. going down the right side, with a little draw. >> wow, that ball got a little bit of a kick left and rolled down in that bunker. same bunker he was in earlier. >> rory has the advantage on this hole with his height and distance. you've got to hit a good drive. >> mcilroy has only been in one playoff on the pga tour in his career when he lost to rickie fowler at the wells fargo championship a couple of years ago. >> i guess he likes it. seems to be a spring in his step after that one. >> just gets close to the bunker up there but in good shape. >> probably close to that 245 mark or 240. >> so mcilroy had a chance to win it with an eagle on this
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hole. palmer had a chance with a four-footer for par which would have won it. >> he had the best chance in reality. he got a little wedge to the green in the fairway and makes 6. aiming down the right side, going to hit sort of a hook right into that wind. >> this is a slinger and he hit it hard. >> palmer has had the longest wait of anybody. he posted there in the fourth to last group but he's just behind mcilroy and now henley. >> he's love to hit that tee shot he hit here on the 72nd hole. cut it over in that left corner just perfectly. >> looking at right side of the fairway. >> he's got it turning right to
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left. pretty close to the same line, maybe just right of it. >> so we've got three of the four in the fairway. knox is in the bunker. they're playing the par 5 18th again at the honda classic. four-man playoff.
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the second straight week we've got some incredible drama here at the honda classic, and then we've got the wgc cadillac championship continuing on nbc. the coverage 2:00 eastern time there. we had a great finish last week at the accenture match play championship. and rory mcilroy is the only one of this foursome that's in for sure at the cadillac next week at doral. but the other three guys could get in if they win this playoff. so we just add that to the mix of what we've seen on this wild sunday at the honda classic. johnny, we just keep shaking our heads. >> we've seen it all but rory has the advantage right now. the longest tee shot and rory is probably the only one that can hit that high fade. he just did it and has painted it in his mind. in the bunker. >> not a good spot either.
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he's in a finger that has a mound, pretty close to him. >> do you have your target? >> i think he's looking at hitting it about 170 yards maybe. >> good ball. >> that was a good strike. nice, clean strike. >> not the world's easiest third shot with that hole location way out on the peninsula, but a lot better than he was in regulation. >> henley next now. 245 left. just about exactly where he drove it, maybe a few yards right. but really a wonderful tee shot.
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>> see if he can keep it to the right this time. >> well, this has started at the opening on the left and staying pretty straight. >> he reaches in two. >> that was a really fine shot. >> with that water on the right, it's so hard. >> he had that come down soft. >> he hits it high. >> that's a really fine shot. >> puts the pressure on these two players, roger. >> johnny, ryan palmer plays almost exclusively a draw. the wind is coming from the right, hole location on the right, so he's going to get a piece of the green, it's going to be the left side, i think. >> you don't think he has a fade in his arsenal? >> well, he would have to fade it just to hold the wind and have it end up being straight. >> well, let's see if he's got that shot.
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a hook doesn't work very well here. >> it's a baby draw. needs to get down. well, not too bad really. lucky there's a little tongue over there that he got it in. >> so mcilroy the last to play. >> 235. in case you can't see that flag, that thing is way over there by the water. it looks like there's not much room to go at it, but he did it in regulation. >> can he do it twice in a row? he did it at 245 just a few minutes ago. >> well, he's cutting it against the wind. this is a little further left than the shot he played the first time around, but good looking. >> and long, rog, in the back
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bunker. boy, he nailed that one. he can't believe it went that far. so all of a sudden henley has the advantage, the only one to reach the par 5 18th in two.
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russell knox, the only player that had to lay up here at 18, so now his third. >> 112 yards, wind from the
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right and in. much easier than the shot he just had, johnny, which was 158 from the left rough. >> see if he can hit a good one. there's a lot of pressure on that peninsula. >> it is just left of the flag if it's the right distance. not bad. not bad. it's makeable. >> gives himself a birdie look. you can tell the look on his face he wanted to get it closer. it spun back a little bit more than he'd like. he's trying to become only the fourth scottish player to win in the united states in the pga tour in the modern era. he has the name least familiar to an american golf audience that's for sure, but again, none of these guys have been totally lighting it up in their pga tour careers like rory mcilroy has, even though henley won last year, burst onto the scene in hawaii when he finished with
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five straight birdies to win for the first time and then went through a long struggle, not quite as long and under the microscope as rory mcilroy's, but really got out of sorts at the end of last year and even the beginning of this year where he said he had to get back to the basics, start playing golf, having fun, and he's had a little bit of everything this weekend at pga national. so palmer is away. mark? >> i believe he's away. fairly close between he and rory, but i think he is away. the advantage ryan has on this shot now is that he has a lot of green to work with because it's a downhill lie, which means it will be a little tougher to get spin on it. >> did the ball get up onto the longer collar there or is it just right on the edge? >> right on the edge. >> so it's not the greatest lie is what you're saying. >> no. and you know, it's getting a little bit dark. you have to have a perfectly
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clean strike on that one. >> yeah, there's a good angle, good camera work to show that lie. it's almost like there's a little tuft right behind it. >> it looks to me, johnny, like he's gone to a club with a little less loft. i would think this one will be fairly low and he wants to get running out just like a putt. >> third shot for ryan palmer. >> it had the perfect line. not a bad shot, but not really that fine.
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>> he's closer in for birdie than knox in, and mcilroy is in that back bunker and henley has reached in two. what about mcilroy's situation, rog? >> well, the lie itself is good in the back bunker. he's going to have to carry the ball 35, 40 feet or so across this bunker. the green working away from him some, but i think he has room to play the shot. >> should get good spin with this long of bunker shot, roger. >> yeah, he's got room to play it. >> it needs to stop after one hop. >> water behind. >> that absolute had to be a little rock between the club face and the ball. when you have that long of a
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bunker shot and it comes out with overspin? i promise you, folks, that that is a bad break. he caught a little pebble between the face and the club and it leaves like a powder burn on your club. instead of taking one hop and biting, it actually comes out with no spin at all. >> that's a bad break and that puts russell henley in a great spot. not likely that the other three are going to make birdie, although palmer is in there the closest. but you're almost thinking that two-putts from here, roger, is really, really good. >> not quite the same line but a very similar putt that he just had at the 72nd hole. putting across that little bit of a ridge and it's downhill and will move just slightly to the right as it loses speed, but he's got a great idea or should have a great idea of the pace of the putt. >> and again, if it happens to go in, it is over.
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>> so they'll put a mark on that and wait. that might be a little tip of the cap to his brother who's here. >> not sure. that wasn't exactly a wonderful putt. i don't know why he's so happy about it. >> johnny, russell knox now has one that is going to be a little bit on the slow side. it is slightly uphill, back into the grain, back into whatever wind there is right now. >> well, he made a putt on almost the same angle, didn't he? >> yes, he did. it was a little different angle, a little clos, but he'll need to start this one just outside the left edge, i think, and hit it firm. >> birdie tries left for all
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four players. >> and knox comes close. >> that looked good until it just wriggled to the right. >> you'll notice that these guys when they have pressure putts almost always push them. >> mcilroy is next, roger. >> and he's just ran into the collar fringe cut of rough here, so he's got to bump it up this hill. it may go a little to the right, but that's -- not much. there just isn't a whole lot in it. >> it's holeable. >> just got to make sure that he gets it to the hole. it might be a little slower than it looks. this would be a nice little up-and-in with this wedge if he can do it.
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>> he went with a chip and got underneath it. >> man, i thought he was going to blade it. ouch. what a day it's been for mcilroy. what a week it has been. led after every round. he's just playing underneath this, johnny. >> yeah, he just, again, the club was deep. >> all right. so a couple of birdie putts left. palmer to go first. again, henley is in there very tight. >> just outside the left edge, isn't it? >> he has the same putt that russell knox had about 20 minutes ago. it's not a hard putt, just outside the edge.
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>> so it's down to russell henley. >> that was a good putt. i thought he had made it when he started it where he did. it looks like it should start breaking right now. oh, man, good try, though. >> you talked about it earlier in the week. it almost had a feeling of destiny here for henley. mcilroy first for his par. henry will hole out for eagle yesterday, hole out for birdie today. this for par for mcilroy. we talked about it all those hours ago, johnny, how important this day was for him. again, you don't want to overhype it, but with everything that's happened, he was the real star player, the former number one player in the world. now eighth in the world. he was the guy that was supposed to emerge today. >> absolutely. >> nice stroke there.
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>> he's in with a par. there's one last man here with a birdie to 1 it and it's 24-year-old russell henley. >> not taking much time. there's not much to it. he's a good aggressive putter. just left center. >> and with a win here, henley would join mcilroy, harris english and patrick reed as the only players currently under the age of 25 with multiple pga tour wins. this for his second career win. and it is russell henley who survives the honda classic. >> good drive and a terrific second shot. >> a much different kind of finish for henley in his second pga tour win, five birdies to win in hawaii last year.
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made a double bogey at the 15th after he holed out at 14 and ends up with a birdie at the par 5 18th to win for the second time. what a day at pga national. henley rises above rory, ryan and russell knox, as we send it down to steve. >> dan, thank you. russell, how would you describe what we saw out there late this afternoon? >> you know, i'm hearing some ft. georgia cruise right now and i can play that on the guitar. i don't know what's going on, i'm so nervous. i'm just trying to hang in there and enjoy every step. the crowd was nothing like i've ever experienced. i wish i could play in front of a crowd like that every day but this isn't going to sink in for a while. >> i saw you gave your caddie a huge embrace. you're obviously emotional right now. how much of a mental grind was it out there?
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>> it's huge. just for me getting sleep is tough when i know i'm close to the lead. honestly i really enjoy that. i enjoy the rush. i think that's why you play. and i think -- i think i'm just going -- it's going to take a while for this to sink in, but gosh, i don't know what to say. >> congratulations. >> thanks. >> roger, over to you. >> thank you, steve. rory, the back nine, tough nine holes for you today. what happened? >> yeah. i don't know. i mean i felt like i played -- i three-putted 13, which was okay, and then i started hitting some loose shots. obviously the second shot on 16 was what sort of killed me. i was trying to hit a 6 iron right and sort of started right of the target and i just got underneath it and hit it a little heavy. but, you know, i did well and obviously it was good to make it to the playoffs. i was sort of -- i was fortunate that i was in the playoff.
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i just had a bit of an awkward yardage for my second. i had about ten yards shorter than i had in regulation and just tried to hit a cut 5 wood and it just came off a little too strong. but yeah, it's 74 today wasn't good enough to get the job done. even if i had won, it would have felt a little bit undeserved in a way. so when you go over with a two-shot lead you have to play well enough to go ahead and win the thing. if i had have won today i would have thought myself very lucky. i just have to get myself back up, get back at it, get back in contention at doral next week and do well there. >> thanks for your time. >> thank you, roger. we'll see rory at doral. as you heard, jimmy walker remains on top of the fedex cup standings and henley moves into the 16th position on that list. in case you missed any of today's action, get caught up on golf central. those will be interesting
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highlights to check out if you missed most of the action today. be sure to join us at the wgc cadillac championship thursday at noon eastern time on golf channel and saturday at 2:00 on nbc. tonight on nbc starting at 7:00, 6:00 central time it's "dateline" followed by "the voice." for our entire crew, dan hicks saying so long on behalf of our golf channel on nbc crew. what a day. russell henley emerges with a win at the honda.
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rain is falling across d.c., maryland and virginia and it won't be long before it all changes to sleet and snow. >> snow emergency. thousands of salt trucks, plows and utility crews ready to hit the streets. they're asking drivers, keep the roads clear for tomorrow morning. >>. >> getting ready for the snow. people are packing for the next blast of winter weather.

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