2015 Northern Trust Open results: Sergio implodes, James Hahn wins and more from Riviera

Riviera may be the best course on the PGA Tour's annual schedule, and Sunday's extra holes battle was a finish worthy of the venue.

The Northern Trust Open consistently produces some of the best early-season golf on the PGA Tour. It's the only stop in the Los Angeles area and it's played on one of the great classic courses in America, Riviera. Even though some of the bigger names pass on it, Riv is probably the best course on the PGA Tour's rota. And it consistently produces a big name winner and/or late-Sunday dramatics. It certainly did this year. Here's what we learned Sunday.

1. PGA Tour parity and unknown winners can be a good thing

We always seem to want the biggest names and the biggest stars to dominate and win. It's good for the game and popularity of the the PGA Tour. But James Hahn going toe-to-toe with Dustin Johnson, maybe the most naturally talented player not named Rory McIlroy, was wonderful on Sunday night.

Hahn is ranked 297th in the world. He doesn't have some big-name teacher like Butch Harmon, instead opting to watch YouTube videos to make his swing "look pretty." He's not some lace-curtain prodigy who was given every resource to mold and develop his obvious talent. At one point, Hahn sold shoes at Nordstrom's to get by and keep money in his pocket.

James Hahn sold shoes in a mall and was down to $288 in his checking acct. Now he's an expectant father and Tour winner. Heckuva ride.

— Damon Hack (@damonhackGC) February 23, 2015

He's made some noise on Tour at different points, but nothing like Sunday's show at Riviera, where he beat some of Dustin Johnson's best in extra holes.

Hahn went birdie at the 10th, maybe the best and most diabolical par-4 on the PGA Tour, and birdie at the 12th to get his first PGA Tour win. Birdie-birdie isn't backing into anything and this was against the cream of the PGA Tour. He stared at the ground as Johnson missed the putt that would have sent it to another hole, opting to listen to the crowd's reaction as a signal for whether he'd just earned a career-defining achievement.

The shotmaking was incredible to watch, and enriched by the fact that it came from the underdog. We didn't get the big-name winner, but the story, and the way he did it in a dramatic playoff, was just as good.

2. Sergio Garcia is all growned up

Sergio went Sergio down the stretch. He was in control as Dustin Johnson stumbled ahead of him and made an inexcusable bogey at the par-5 17th hole. But then Sergio came up behind him and did the same with an array of ugly swings both from the tee and with his irons, and the usual substandard strokes with the putter. Then he yanked one left on the 18th tee and bogeyed the last.

ProTracer on Sergio's drive on 18 http://ift.tt/1vqLDHV

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 22, 2015

So Sergio went from a one-shot lead with two to play to completely out of the three-man playoff. It was a Sergio-style implosion.

But after the round, we didn't get the typical temperamental Spaniard, but instead some rational and even-handed loser who said he didn't "deserve to win." Sergio told Peter Kostis not to be fooled by the ending, and that his game and his swing wasn't there the entire week and he shouldn't have won. After the bogey-bogey finish, we expected (and maybe wanted) the Sergio that's sniping at the questioner or completely dejected at how it got away from him. There was none of that.

I thought it was pretty refreshing and insightful. He may be lying to himself and to us, but it was certainly an interesting change of tone from a guy whose every word we critique.

3. Throwback leaders accentuate why Riviera is PGA Tour's best

What must Tiger Woods have thought as he sat at home and watched a leaderboard topped by Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, and Sergio Garcia? At one point or another, all three were the top contemporary challengers (if there was such a thing) to Tiger's dominance at the majors. It was certainly odd to see the 46-year-old Goosen, who had major back surgery and has made little noise on Tour in several years, hold the lead after each of the first three rounds. The 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner was once thought to be a non-Tiger favorite at each major championship, but injuries wrecked much of his shot at success in the past decade.

Singh came close to being the second-oldest winner in the history of the PGA Tour. A victory on Sunday at the Northern Trust Open would have come on his 52nd birthday. The three-time major winner is still out there each week on the PGA Tour, plugging away with little left to prove. But he's maybe the most determined grinder and range rat of this generation, and he's undoubtedly motivated by the recent PED drama and lawsuit contretemps with Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour.

Just in case you're wondering, the next hearing in Vijay's lawsuit against the PGA Tour was supposed to be 2/17. Now it's 3/3.

— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) February 22, 2015

Singh has been Champions Tour eligible for a couple years now, but he obviously still has the game to occasionally pop up on a leaderboard at the right place.

Riviera is one of those places. The classic layout is a ball striker's paradise and is such a nice departure from the monotonous TPC venues we get every other week on the PGA Tour. This stretch of the West Coast swing (Torrey Pines-Pebble Beach-Riviera) is probably the best stretch of courses of the entire season, and Riviera might be the best of them all. Pebble and Torrey have the coastal views, but this is a beautiful test of golf. It oozes character and history, and provides those unique challenges like a bunker in the middle of a par-3 green or the drivable 10th, the best par-4 on the PGA Tour. The tournament also almost always produces a world-class winner and/or extra-hole playoff fireworks down the stretch.

It's been years since Tiger patronized his hometown event, the first he ever played in as a 16-year-old. But just because the biggest moneymaker in the game has no time for it doesn't mean it's not one of the best tournaments all season. The course makes it a must-watch and the throwback names that popped up on the leaderboard this weekend only emphasized what makes it such a unique and great venue. When we hit June and get the drudgery of some TPC bomber's paradise week after week, we'll wish we had more like Riv.

4. The pros' shanks are not your shanks

As we documented in our "worst shots of the year" review in December, even the best players in the world put swings on the ball that look like some of hacks you might take at your local muni on a Saturday afternoon. Almost weekly, there are ghastly chunks, duffs, shanks, tops, slices, hooks, and near-whiffs. This Sunday, Paul Casey, who was in contention down the stretch, hit a horrendous shank damn near off the course from just 178 yards out in the fairway.

At least Casey kept it on a straight line.

Hide yo kids, hide yo wives. (Vine via @NoLayingUp) https://t.co/A1a56flqb6 http://ift.tt/1LsqDlX

— Chris Chaney (@Wrong_Fairway) February 22, 2015

That's about as bad a shank as you'll get out on Tour, and the kind of path you might take on your adventure towards the hole. But what Casey did next, however, is why he's a pro and you're not. The Englishman managed to pop one up and over some trees to eight feet, can the putt, and walk off with a par. So on a hole where he made one of the worst swings in his competitive career, he came away undamaged. Even when these guys look like chops, they're still a thousand times better than you.

5. Questions about Jordan Spieth under pressure will persist

Spieth has become a bit of a master at the Sunday backdoor finish. He's completely off the radar, off the leaderboard, and out of view of the TV cameras. But he's there inside the top 10 at the end, and walking away with another big check. This Sunday, however, he should have pushed his way up the board and into a playoff.

As the leaders behind him caved, Spieth had a chance to join the party in extra holes. He thought he needed a birdie to catch up with Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, but a par would have been enough. Instead, Spieth made an ugly bogey with one of the shakier putting strokes we saw all day.

It was a gnarly looking stroke and one that would cost him a spot in the three-man playoff. The way he played the entire hole wasn't too pretty.

At what point will Spieth be old enough for us to be concerned about his play under pressure? I feel like he’s got 2 years more grace...

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) February 22, 2015

Spieth is still one of the best players in the world. He crushed some of the top talents in back-to-back weeks in Australia and Florida just two months ago. But each time he gets close, and doesn't close a second PGA Tour win, more questions will come down about his ability to perform under pressure. I don't think it's anything that will reach a critical point because he's going to win again, but it's one of the problems the best of the top young stars always have to deal with and that putt on the 18th provided some ammo.

That concludes the annual West Coast swing as the Tour now heads east for the annual Florida swing. Here are the final results from Riviera.

Place	Player	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
1	James Hahn	-6	66	74	69	69	278
T2	Dustin Johnson	-6	70	72	67	69	278
T2	Paul Casey	-6	70	69	71	68	278
T4	Hideki Matsuyama	-5	70	72	70	67	279
T4	Keegan Bradley	-5	73	68	70	68	279
T4	Jordan Spieth	-5	69	70	70	70	279
T4	Sergio Garcia	-5	71	69	68	71	279
T8	Kyle Reifers	-4	72	70	71	67	280
T8	Graham DeLaet	-4	70	67	70	73	280
T8	Sang-Moon Bae	-4	71	71	66	72	280
T8	Retief Goosen	-4	66	70	69	75	280
T12	Blayne Barber	-3	74	71	71	65	281
T12	Vijay Singh	-3	66	74	69	72	281
T14	William McGirt	-2	68	74	73	67	282
T14	Matt Jones	-2	70	72	72	68	282
T14	Brendan Steele	-2	74	70	69	69	282
T14	Brendon Todd	-2	69	72	71	70	282
T14	Bubba Watson	-2	70	69	70	73	282
T14	Jim Furyk	-2	71	70	68	73	282
T20	Hunter Mahan	-1	75	67	71	70	283
T20	Carlos Ortiz	-1	67	73	68	75	283
T22	Adam Hadwin	E	73	71	71	69	284
T22	Scott Langley	E	73	71	71	69	284
T22	Nick Watney	E	66	74	74	70	284
T22	Seung-yul Noh	E	71	69	73	71	284
T22	Morgan Hoffmann	E	69	75	66	74	284
T22	Ryan Moore	E	69	68	72	75	284
T22	Vaughn Taylor	E	74	68	68	74	284
T22	J.B. Holmes	E	70	69	69	76	284
T30	D.A. Points	1	71	73	70	71	285
T30	Charley Hoffman	1	76	68	71	70	285
T30	Daniel Summerhays	1	66	74	73	72	285
T30	Camilo Villegas	1	73	69	71	72	285
T30	Chris Stroud	1	73	71	72	69	285
T30	Alex Prugh	1	70	73	70	72	285
T30	Harris English	1	72	69	71	73	285
T30	K.J. Choi	1	70	74	73	68	285
T30	Angel Cabrera	1	70	68	71	76	285
T39	Tom Hoge	2	74	70	72	70	286
T39	Brian Stuard	2	71	71	71	73	286
T41	Jimmy Walker	3	73	71	71	72	287
T41	Charl Schwartzel	3	71	70	75	71	287
T41	Justin Thomas	3	68	69	75	75	287
T41	Jason Kokrak	3	71	72	74	70	287
T41	Pat Perez	3	69	73	70	75	287
T41	Bryce Molder	3	71	70	76	70	287
T47	Cameron Tringale	4	71	74	71	72	288
T47	Ken Duke	4	72	70	70	76	288
T49	Jason Gore	5	73	70	73	73	289
T49	Jonathan Randolph	5	72	73	68	76	289
T49	Andrew Putnam	5	73	69	74	73	289
T49	Matt Every	5	70	72	74	73	289
T49	Chad Campbell	5	74	71	71	73	289
T49	Ricky Barnes	5	71	74	72	72	289
T49	Geoff Ogilvy	5	68	76	75	70	289
T56	Justin Leonard	6	75	70	70	75	290
T56	Spencer Levin	6	73	72	71	74	290
T56	Tony Finau	6	70	70	77	73	290
T56	Padraig Harrington	6	70	73	76	71	290
T56	Shawn Stefani	6	74	71	74	71	290
T61	Russell Henley	7	74	71	69	77	291
T61	Charles Howell III	7	71	70	75	75	291
T61	Kevin Na	7	72	72	72	75	291
T61	Derek Fathauer	7	66	73	77	75	291
T61	Michael Putnam	7	70	72	70	79	291
66	Scott Stallings	9	70	75	73	75	293
T67	Alex Cejka	10	68	77	71	78	294
T67	Carl Pettersson	10	71	72	75	76	294
T69	Charlie Beljan	12	72	72	74	78	296
T69	George McNeill	12	71	74	74	77	296
T69	Danny Lee	12	70	73	77	76	296
72	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	13	71	74	74	78	297
73	Andrew Svoboda	14	72	73	72	81	298
74	Brandt Snedeker	15	73	72	79	75	299
75	Jhonattan Vegas	16	71	72	81	76	300

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