Vincent Norrman bogeyed eight feet on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff, then battled for par on the same hole in sudden death on Sunday to beat Nathan Kimsey to win the Barbasol Championship, his first win at the PGA Tour.
Norrman, 25, a tour rookie who played one year at Florida State after four years at Division II Georgia Southwestern, won in his 23rd career start. The Swede closed with a 66 at Keene Trace to finish at 22-under 266.
«I don’t think I’ll be able to process this for a while. I’m at a loss for words,» Norrman said.
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Vincent Norrman of Sweden celebrates with the trophy after winning on the 18th hole during the sudden death playoff against Nathan Kimsey of England during the final round of the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club on July 16, 2023 in the United States. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Norrman’s girlfriend, LPGA Tour player Frida Kinhult, surprised him after the win. Kinhult finished tied for 36th at the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio, on Sunday, then she traveled 300 miles south to say hello to Norrman.
Kimsey, a 30-year-old European tour player from England who made his PGA Tour debut at this co-sanctioned event, shot 64 to post 22-under par and waited to see if it was good enough. He didn’t look promising with Norrman and Trevor Cone at 23-under.
But Cone shot his tee shot into the tall grass far to the left of the green on the par-3 16th hole, triggering a double bogey. That opened the door for Norrman, who hit the fairway wood from the 18th hole and went wide left in an awkward position. He still had 57 yards to go for his third shot, missed the green from there and then jumped the hole. His bogey putt hit the edge of the right side and he went down.
In the tiebreaker, Norrman again went left off the tee, missed the green to the right, and jumped 2 feet.
«I thought I hit a really good tee shot,» Norrman said. «He had a pretty tough lie, downhill from left to right, I usually get off to the left and that widened out to the right. That was a pretty tricky chip as well and I just took a good shot at it and hit it close there.» .
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Vincent Norrman of Sweden celebrates after scoring for the win on the 18th hole during the sudden death playoff against Nathan Kimsey of England during the final round of the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club on July 16, 2023 in the United States. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Kimsey hit her tee shot into thick rough to the right, nearly missing the water, and was unable to get up and down from a bunker too far from the green. He was looking to become the first player since Jim Benepe at the 1988 Western Open to win his PGA Tour debut.
«I feel like I barely missed a shot all day,» Kimsey said. «I made some good putts and I did a really good job hitting the back nine and just kept pushing really. Yeah, like I couldn’t complain about anything I did today.»
Cone shot 68 and finished a shot from the tiebreaker alongside Adrien Saddier (66), a player on the European tour from France.
Veteran Lucas Glover, who led after the first and second rounds, finished only fifth at 20-under, his third consecutive top-10 finish. The 43-year-old Glover shot 68 and extended his streak of rounds in the 60s to 12, all from switching to a long putter.
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Vincent Norrman of Sweden celebrates with the trophy after winning on the 18th hole during the sudden death playoff against Nathan Kimsey of England during the final round of the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club on July 16, 2023 in the United States. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Cone led by one shot going into the final round, but soon chased after Norrman, who birdied six of the front nine to turn 6-under-par for 30. Norrman’s par-even inside nine was good enough. He shot 66-67-67-66 over four days.
«It’s been a crazy week and obviously today, the front nine was almost perfect,» he said. «Yeah, I’m very proud of how I finished the top nine, then I held on there at the back. I’m happy to be sitting here.»
Marcus Kinhult, the older brother of Norrman’s girlfriend and his roommate for the week, closed with a 69 and tied for 14th place.