Pro Charley Hoffman dumped two golf balls into the water during the American Express — then got a “big break” after an intriguing rules talk.
Sepp Straka won The American Express by two shots over Justin Thomas on Sunday, finishing his third career PGA Tour victory at 25-under 263 with a final-round 70.
Hoffman won his first PGA Tour title at this event back in 2007, holding held off John Rollins in a playoff on a windy weekend with sub-freezing temperatures. It was a celebrity pro-am known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic back then, a West Coast landmark frequently played by Hollywood stars and U.S. presidents.
For the third time in his PGA Tour career, Sepp Straka hoisted a trophy at tournament's end. Converting a four-stroke lead at the 54-hole mark into a victory at the 2025 American Express, Straka fended off a crowded chasing pack headlined by Justin Thomas.
Sepp Straka boatraced his closest competitors for most of the back nine at the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West Sunday afternoon in the closing round of T. With a relatively comfortable lead, he could even afford two bogeys on the final three holes – his first of the 72-hole tournament – before closing it out with a two-putt for his third career PGA Tour victory.
Charley Hoffman, seeking a fifth US PGA Tour title at the age of 48, had 10 birdies in a nine-under-par 63 on Friday to share the halfway lead in the American Express tournament with Rico Hoey of the Philippines.
With no internal out of bounds, Hoffman took advantage of a small opening left of the par-5 finishing hole – and succeeded all four times.
It might not have mattered anyway, since Sepp Straka refused to buckle until it didn't matter. Straka, one of more than a dozen active PGA Tour players from the University of Georgia, followed up his third-round 64 with a 70 on Sunday at the Stadium Course and at 25-under-par 263 won The American Express by two shots over Justin Thomas (66).
Charley Hoffman played the 18th differently to many at the Sony Open in Hawaii, as his line off the final tee yielded three birdies at Waialae Country Club
Charley Hoffman, seeking a fifth US PGA Tour title at the age of 48, had 10 birdies in a nine-under-par 63 on Friday to share the halfway lead in the American Express tournament with Rico Hoey of the Philippines. Hoffman finds himself in the hunt for his first victory since 2016 in the same tournament in which he bagged his first, back in 2007.
Hoffman finds himself in the hunt for his first victory since 2016 in the same tournament in which he bagged his first, back in 2007. Read more at straitstimes.com.