2018 Safeway Open

Kevin Tway Earns First PGA Tour Victory

Napa, CA – After a short break and fresh off the Ryder Cup, the PGA Tour is back. A fresh crop of Web.com graduates are ready to for their first taste of the PGA Tour while established veterans who perhaps didn’t meet their own expectations last year look to build momentum for the new year to come. Plenty of big names and multiple winners also teed it up at the Safeway Open at Silverado in Napa, California for the season’s official lid lifter.

The tournament ended Sunday evening with a three man playoff between Kevin Tway, Ryan Moore, and Brandt Snedeker. The players in the field showed their skills on a golf course that was forgiving and receptive. Plenty of players were able to post rounds in the 60s throughout the week, with Brandt Snedeker’s third round 65 put him in the pole position heading into Sunday. But his final round 74 was only good enough to get him into a playoff with Tway and Moore.

The trio headed back to the 18th tee where Tway and Moore both birdied while Snedeker was only able to make par. The pair then played the hole again and both made birdie. They then went to the par-4 10th where Tway won with another clutch birdie putt. This was the first win on the PGA Tour for the 30-year-old American.

The trio of Tway, Moore, and Snedeker finished the tournament tied at -14. Just behind them T4 at -13 were five players: Luke List, Troy Merritt, Aaron Baddeley, Sam Ryder, and Sungjae Im. Im, who shot 66-69-69 before closing with a 71 on Sunday, was the leading money winner on the Web.com tour last year and the 20-year-old South Korean let fans know that he will be one to watch and a definite rookie of the year contender on the PGA Tour this year.

Another notable player in the field was Phil Mickelson, who turned heads after firing a first round 65 fresh off the heels of his disappointing Ryder Cup performance. He finished with rounds of 69-74-72, T-17 at -8 par. Next week, the PGA Tour heads to the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.