PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Calm under the intense pressure of a playoff at a major, Inbee Park added another title to her impressive LPGA Tour resume.
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Calm under the intense pressure of a playoff at a major, Inbee Park added another title to her impressive LPGA Tour resume.
Park successfully defended her title in the LPGA Championship, beating Brittany Lincicome with a par on the first hole of a playoff Sunday to end the United States’ major streak at three.
“I didn’t feel that nervous at all today,” said Park, also a playoff winner last year. “But once I got to the tee on the playoff hole, I just felt the nerves right away. It was like a replay of last year and experience definitely helped me out. I think I was able to stay calm.”
The victory came on a bittersweet day when the LPGA Tour bade farewell to Rochester after 38 years. Next year, the tour will team with the PGA of America to run the Women’s PGA Championship. The 2015 event will be played at Westchester Country Club near New York City.
Park, Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan are only players to win twice in a row in Rochester.
“Just very happy to be part of history,” Park said.
Poised to win her second major and keep that American streak alive, Lincicome’s nerves got the best of her at the end after leading all day.
“Not being in this position for a while, I think it all caught up with me,” Lincicome said. “Being second at a major is always a good thing. I feel like I played really, really well this week. If I keep playing the way I did, my time’s coming soon. It was nice to be in contention again.”
On the playoff hole on Monroe Golf Club’s par-4 18th, Park hit her second shot into the rough behind the hole. Lincicome hit her approach to the left fringe, nearly identical to her position on the final hole of regulation when she made a bogey to fall into the playoff.
Lincicome chipped 6 feet past the hole and failed to convert for bogey. Park, the winner last year at Locust Hill on the third extra hole with Catriona Matthew, chipped to 3 feet and calmly sank her par putt for her fifth major title and fourth in the last two seasons.
Park finished with a 2-under 70 to match Lincicome at 11-under 276. Lincicome had a 71.
Americans had won the first three majors of the LPGA Tour season for the first time since 1999. Lexi Thompson began the run at Kraft Nabisco, Michelle Wie won the U.S. Women’s Open and Mo Martin the Women’s British Open.
The 26-year-old Park, from South Korea, was coming off a playoff loss to Mirim Lee last week in Michigan. Park also won this season in Canada and has 11 LPGA Tour victories.
WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Camilo Villegas won the Wyndham Championship by a stroke for his first PGA Tour victory since 2010, closing with 7-under 63 at Sedgefield.
He finished at 17-under 263 and earned $954,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points in the final regular-season event.
The Colombian had four birdies and an eagle on the front nine, added a birdie on the par-5 15th and took the lead into the clubhouse.
He then watched the rest of the field stumble late, giving him his fourth PGA Tour title and first since the 2010 Honda Classic.
Bill Haas and Freddie Jacobson tied for second. Haas had a 64, and Jacobson shot 66. Jacobson needed a par on the final hole to force a playoff, but he rolled his 11-foot putt inches past the hole.
DICK’S SPORTING GOODS OPEN
ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Bernhard Langer rallied to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for his fifth Champions Tour victory of the year, while Kevin Sutherland followed his tour-record 59 with a 74 to tie for seventh.
The 56-year-old Langer played all 54 holes without a bogey, closing with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Woody Austin and Mark O’Meara. Langer finished at 16-under 200 at En-Joie for his 23rd career victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Sutherland, the second-round leader, had five bogeys — four on the first 10 holes — and three birdies in the final round. Playing his third Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, he finished at 12 under.
Langer, tied for fifth with Bob Charles on the tour victory list, earned $277,500 to increase his tour-leading total to $2,652,520. The German has three victories in his last five starts.
U.S. AMATEUR
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — South Korea’s Gunn Yang completed his improbable run to the U.S. Amateur title with a 2-and-1 victory over Canada’s Corey Conners.
At No. 776, Yang became the lowest-ranked player in the world amateur standings to win the event. Along the way, he beat five players inside the top 100, including the 44th-ranked Conners.
The 20-year-old Yang, who lived in Australia for five years and now plays at San Diego State, never trailed in the 36-hole final at Atlanta Athletic Club, pushing his lead to 2 up with four to play by rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt at No. 14. He ended the match with a tap-in par at No. 17, the 35th hole of the day.
NEWS SENTINEL OPEN
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Martin Piller won the News Sentinel Open to give himself a chance to earn a PGA Tour card through the regular-season money list.
The 28-year-old Piller, married to LPGA Tour player Gerina Piller, shot an 8-under 63 at Fox Den for a two-stroke victory over former Texas A&M teammate Bronson Burgoon.
Piller finished at 22-under 262 for his third career Web.com Tour title. He earned $99,000 to jump from 134th to 29th on the money list with $120,676, with the top 25 after the Portland Open next week earning 2014-15 PGA Tour cards.
Burgoon matched the course record with a 62 after shooting a 64 on Saturday.
MADE IN DENMARK
AALBORG, Denmark — Scotland’s Marc Warren won the Made in Denmark tournament for his third European Tour title, beating Wales’ Bradley Dredge by two strokes.
Warren closed with a 3-under 68 to finish at 9-under 275. Dredge shot 70.
England’s Phillip Archer was third at 4 under after a 69. Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, a 15-time winner on the European Tour, had a 69 to top the group at 3 under.
FIJI INTERNATIONAL
NATADOLA BAY, Fiji — Australia’s Steven Jeffress won the inaugural Fiji International, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-stroke victory.
Jeffress finished at 10-under 278 in the event sanctioned by the Australasian and OneAsia tours. Three-time major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji, the designer of the Natadola Bay course, had a 73 to tie for 10th — 12 strokes behind Jeffress.
EAGLE CLASSIC
RICHMOND, Va. — Marissa Steen won the Eagle Classic for her third Symetra Tour title of the year, earning $15,000 to jump from second to first on the money list with $75,348.
Steen, the 24-year-old former University of Memphis player from West Chester, Ohio, closed with a bogey-free 6-under 66 for a four-stroke victory. She finished at 14-under 202 at Richmond Country Club.
Steen had already wrapped up a spot next year on the LPGA Tour, with the top 10 on the money list after the final three events earning cards. As a three-time winner, she also has the option to play on the LPGA Tour for the remainder of this season.
Demi Rumas was second. She finished with a 67.
LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP
FRENCH LICK, Ind. — Laurie Rinker won The Legends Championship when heavy rain forced tournament officials to cancel the final round at French Lick Resort.
The 51-year-old Rinker, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, had rounds of 71 and 66 for a 7-under 137 total on the Pete Dye Course. She earned $60,000 in The Legends Tour event.
Sherri Steinhauer was a stroke back. She had a course-record 63 on Saturday.