Homa a surprise winner in Napa, Smith gets 1st LIV Golf win

Sun, Sep 18, 2022
Other News (AP)

NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Max Homa chipped in from nearly 33 feet for birdie on the closing hole, then watched as Danny Willett shockingly three-putted from inside 4 feet on Sunday to give Homa his second straight title at the Fortinet Championship.

Homa high-fived his caddie when his ball hit the flagstick and dropped. His previous shot from a nearby bunker came up short of the green at the par-5 18th hole. Willett, meanwhile, had a one-shot lead at the rain-soaked PGA Tour season opener and stuffed his third shot to 3 feet, 7 inches.

He rammed his first putt 4 feet, 8 inches by, then missed the comebacker to hand Homa his fifth victory on tour.

Homa closed with a 4-under 66 for a total of 16-under 272 and now heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup with three wins in the past 12 months. Willett shot 69. Taylor Montgomery was alone in third at 13 under after a closing 64.

LIV GOLF

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. (AP) - British Open champion Cameron Smith made his decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf pay off when he closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago.

Smith was only briefly threatened in the third and final round. One of the key moments was a 10-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and neither Dustin Johnson nor Peter Uihlein could do enough to catch him.

Smith won $4 million from the $20 million purse for individual play.

Johnson (70) and Uihlein (69) each made birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Rich Harvest Farms and tied for second, each earning $1,812,500.

Johnson's birdie enabled his team to win for the fourth straight time, which was worth an additional $750,000 for Johnson, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. In the five events Johnson has played, he now has made just over $12.5 million.

LPGA TOUR

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Andrea Lee recovered from two early bogeys and pulled away with five birdies on the back nine to close with a 6-under 66 and win the AmazingCre Portland Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.

Lee took the lead for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then hit a superb bunker shot from left of the 17th green to save par and keep a two-shot lead.

She was in the middle of the 18th fairway when she watched Daniela Darquea of Ecuador finish with a third straight birdie for a 66 to pull within one shot. Lee drilled her approach to 15 feet and lagged her putt to within inches to tap in for the win.

It was quite a turnaround for Lee, a former No. 1 amateur from Stanford whose game got off track to the point her LPGA status suffered and she started the year on the developmental Epson Tour.

And then she climbed her way out of it, winning on the Epson Tour, taking advantage of sponsor exemptions with solid play and finally cashing in at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for her first win.

EUROPEAN TOUR

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) - Robert MacIntyre closed with a 7-under 64 and then beat U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the Italian Open on the Marco Simone course that will host the Ryder Cup next year.

MacIntyre won for only the second time on the European tour, and this was the biggest for the 26-year-old Scot. The field included Fitzpatrick, European tour leader Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.

McIlroy was right in the mix until hit his tee shot into the water on the reachable par-4 16th. He shot 68 and finished fourth. Victor Perez of France had a 66 and finished one shot out of the playoff.

Fitzpatrick was just short of the par-5 18th in two when he used putter from about 100 feet to within a foot of the hole for birdie and a 67 to force a playoff.

Back to the 18th, Fitzpatrick went into the left rough and his third shot ran into the fringe to about 15 feet. He missed the birdie putt. MacIntyre chipped from the edge of the green to 3 feet for birdie and the win.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Steve Stricker won his second straight PGA Tour Champions event, closing with a 6-under 64 and beating Robert Karlsson with a birdie on the first playoff hole in the Sanford International.

Stricker won The Ally Challenge two weeks ago and didn't play last week. He won for the third time this year, becoming the fifth player on the 50-and-older circuit with at least three victories this season.

Stricker and Karlsson, who shot a 66, finished at 14-under 196.

OTHER TOURS

Maria Torres closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Guardian Championship on the Epson Tour. Celine Borge and Clariss Guce tied for second. ... Wil Bateman of Canada closed with a 1-under 69 and overcame a four-shot deficit to win the Fortinet Cup Championship and capture the points race on PGA Tour Canada. ... Tomoharu Otsuki closed with a 6-under 66 and then beat Ryo Ishikawa by holing out for eagle on the par-4 18th in a playoff to win the ANA Open. Ishikawa shot 65 as both rallied from six shots behind. For Otsuki, his win came after three runner-up finishes this year on the Japan Golf Tour. ... American club pros won five singles matches and halved two others to complete a 15.5-10.5 victory over Britain & Ireland in the PGA Cup at Foxhills Club & Resort in England. ... Pierre Pineau closed with a 5-under 67 and won the Portugal Open at Royal Obidos with a birdie on the first playoff hole over David Ravetto and Felix Mory on the Challenge Tour. ... Ines Laklalech of Morocco became the first Arab woman to win on the Ladies European Tour when she won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in a playoff Saturday over Meghan MacLaren. Laklalech, a 24-year-old from Casablanca, closed with a 3-under 68. In the playoff, MacLaren hit into deep rough and eventually had to take a penalty drop, making double bogey. ... Wynand Dingle claimed his first Sunshine Tour victory when he closed with a 6-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Jaco Prinsloo in the Vodacom Origins of Golf in South Africa. ... Min Ji Park closed with a 4-under 68 to pull away from So Young Lee and win the KB Financial Group Star Championship on the Korea LPGA. Park and Lee were the only players to finish under par at Blackstone Icheon. ... Amiyu Ozeki held on for a one-shot victory in the Sumitomo Life Vitality Ladies Tokai Classic by closing with a 2-under 70. Yuri Yoshida also shot 70 and was runner-up on the Japan LPGA.

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