By PAT EATON-ROBB By PAT EATON-ROBB ADVERTISING Associated Press CROMWELL, Conn. — Marc Leishman shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday in the Travelers Championship, then went back to the clubhouse to eat, watch some soccer and wait to see where
By PAT EATON-ROBB
Associated Press
CROMWELL, Conn. — Marc Leishman shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday in the Travelers Championship, then went back to the clubhouse to eat, watch some soccer and wait to see where he would finish.
More than two hours later, after Charley Hoffman blew a two-stroke lead on the final two holes, Leishman was hoisting his first championship trophy on the PGA Tour.
“I think Charley was on the 15th when I turned the golf on,” Leishman said. “I watched that, then just went over and hit some balls and putted for a bit and it turned out well.”
The 28-year-old Australian began the day six strokes behind the leaders, but made eight birdies in a bogey-free round. He finished at 14-under 266.
“I didn’t think it was going to be enough,” he said. “Golf is a funny game, a really funny game.”
Hoffman was 16 under heading to the 17th hole, but pushed his tee shot right and into the water. He made a double bogey, and bogeyed the 18th after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.
“When it’s said and done, obviously a bad finish and a bad taste in my mouth, but you learn from it,” he said. “Any time you put yourself in contention, you learn from that.”
Hoffman closed with a 66 to tie for second with Masters champion Bubba Watson, who shot a 65.
Leishman became the fifth player in seven years to break through with their first tour win at River Highlands, joining Fredrik Jacobson last year, Watson in 2010, Hunter Mahan in 2007 and J.J. Henry in 2006.
Leishman’s 62 was the lowest score in a final round by a champion on tour this season.
“You’d almost rather make a few birdies coming in to win, rather than have someone hand it to you,” he said. “But having said that, I’m not going to give this back or anything.”
Hoffman seemed to be in command standing on the 17th tee, and still had a chance to win on 18. He put his tee shot onto a hill to the right and he put his second shot into the bunker. He ran that shot long and missed a 17-foot par putt.
Watson made a run at the lead on the front nine, with four birdies. But he had to scramble on the back nine, saving par on the 15th after putting his tee shot in the water. He also made par on 17 after hitting his second shot over the water and onto the green from the rough.
“Just didn’t finish it off on the back,” he said. “I made my run and just didn’t kind of really have anything after that.”
“I was just trying to give myself as many chances as I could,” he said. “It was nice to have a couple of tap-in birdies.”
Leishman’s win gave him just his second top-10 finish this season. He didn’t play in Memphis or at the U.S. Open and said he came back after two weeks off refreshed.
“I practiced I think two times in the three weeks,” he said. “It’s been close for a while actually. I just get a little bit streaky with the putter, and I haven’t been lately.”
Roland Thatcher, who was tied for the lead after three rounds, began his day with three bogeys on the first six holes. He seemed like an afterthought, until Hoffman’s collapse. But he made an eagle on the par-5 13th after hitting his second shot within 15 feet of the pin.
He came up 18 with a chance to force a playoff, but put his second shot into a greenside bunker and bogeyed the hole.
“You never want to take the lead going into Sunday and then need two birdies on the last two holes to catch up,” he said.
He and fellow co-leader Brian Davis both shot 70, putting them in a group at 12 under with Tim Clark and John Rollins.
Clark, who won the 2010 Players Championship, had elbow surgery last August and had missed the cut in five of the previous nine tournaments he played this season.
The course record at River Highlands is 60, set last year by Patrick Cantlay as an amateur. The 20-year-old missed the cut this year in his first professional tournament.
Rory Sabbatini finished six shots behind the leader, but took home a gold Rolex after making his first hole-in-one on tour. His shot on the 161-foot 16th hole hit and spun left into the hole.
“It felt really good coming off the club,” he said. “It was just a question of having the right yardage. I kind of joked in the middle of the ball flight, and I said, ‘Be the right one and go in the hole.’”
Hunter Mahan shot a career-low 61 and tied for 11th after he came within a stroke of missing the 54-hole cut.
Mahan, in the first pair of the day, joked that he was just trying to play fast and not hold up the field. He opened with five pars before making nine birdies on the final 13 holes.
He missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. His 20-foot birdie putt from the edge of the green on 18 put him at 10-under 270 for the tournament.
“Your adrenaline is pumping more than you are nervous, because nothing really bad can happen,” he said. “I was just trying to hit it close and make a putt.”
Mahan, whose first tour win came here in 2007, needed a 6-foot birdie on 18 Saturday to make the 54-hole cut.
“At that point, you’re kind of like, God, do I want to even make this?” he said. “I’m glad I did.”
MANULIFE FINANCIAL LPGA CLASSIC
WATERLOO, Ontario (AP) — Brittany Lang won the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic for her first LPGA Tour title, birdieing the par-5 18th three straight times in a playoff.
Lang, the first former Duke player to win on the LPGA Tour, missed a birdie try on the hole in regulation, leaving her tied with South Korean players Hee Kyung Seo, Inbee Park and Chella Choi at 16-under 286.
Choi was eliminated on the first extra hole, and Park dropped out on the second. On the third extra hole, Lang hit her approach into a greenside bunker and blasted out to 6 feet to set up her winning birdie putt.
Lang closed with her second straight 67, Choi had a 63, Seo a 67, and Park a 69.
Lang, Seo and Park, playing together in the final threesome at Grey Silo, all had a chance to win in regulation, but settled for pars on the finishing hole to set up the playoff.
Stacy Lewis, a two-time winner this year, and U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu shot 64 to tie for fifth at 15 under. Lewis opened with a 72, then shot 64-69-64.
MONTREAL CHAMPIONSHIP
SAINTE-JULIE, Quebec (AP) — Mark Calcavecchia won the Montreal Championship for his second Champions Tour title, matching the course record with an 8-under 64 for a four-stroke victory.
The 52-year-old Calcavecchia had six birdies and chipped in for eagle on the par-5 16th hole on Richelieu Valley’s Vercheres Course. He finished at 16-under 200.
The 1989 British Open champion, Calcavecchia won for the third time in Canada, following victories in the PGA Tour’s 1997 Greater Vancouver Open and 2005 Canadian Open. He also set a PGA Tour record with nine straight birdies in the 2009 Canadian Open.
Brad Bryant shot a 65 to finish second.
Second-round leader Bob Tway and first-round leader Russ Cochran tied for third at 11 under. Cochran closed with a 68, and Tway had a 70.
WICHITA OPEN
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Casey Wittenberg won the Wichita Open for his second Nationwide Tour victory of the season, shooting a 5-under 66 in 100-degree heat for a two-stroke victory over Justin Hicks and Jim Herman.
Wittenberg, an eight-stroke winner in March in the Louisiana Open, finished at 18-under 266 at Crestview Country Club. He tied for 10th last week in the U.S. Open.
Wittenberg earned $108,000 to jump from 10th to second on the money list with $240,019. The final top 25 will earn 2013 PGA Tour cards. He also could earn an immediate promotion with a third victory.
Hicks shot a 67, and Herman had a 70.
BMW INTERNATIONAL OPEN
PULHEIM, Germany (AP) — England’s Danny Willett won the BMW International Open for his first European Tour title, beating Australia’s Marcus Fraser of Australia with a par on the fourth hole of a playoff/.
Willett shot a 1-over 73 to match Fraser (71) at 11-under 277 at Gut Larcenhof.
Ireland’s Paul McGinley (66), England’s Chris Wood (73) and Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (69) tied for third at 10 under.
MIZUNO OPEN
KASAOKA, Japan (AP) — Australia’s Brad Kennedy won the Mizuno Open to earn a spot in the British Open, closing with a 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory.
Kennedy finished at 17-under 271 for his victory in Japan.
PRAGUE GOLF MASTERS
PRAGUE (AP) — England’s Melissa Reid won the Prague Golf Masters, four weeks after her mother was killed in a car accident in Germany.
Reid made a 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole for an even-par 72 and a one-stroke victory over Italy’s Diana Luna. Reid finished at 7-under 207 for her fourth Ladies European Tour victory. Luna shot a 69.
