JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Rose Zhang became the first player to win on the LPGA in her pro debut Sunday, capturing the Mizuho Americas Open with a par on the second playoff hole to beat Jennifer Kupcho and earn LPGA membership.
Zhang went from two-time NCAA champion to LPGA winner in a span of 13 days with a remarkable debut that lived up to the fanfare in the shadow of Manhattan.
She closed with a 2-over 74, missing an 8-foot par putt on the final hole at Liberty National to fall into a playoff with Kupcho (69).
On the first playoff hole, Zhang made an 8-footer for par and Kupcho made from 4 feet. Returning to the 18th again, Zhang hit a long approach to 8 feet for a chance at birdie. Kupcho came up short, went just over the back and made bogey. Zhang two-putted for the win.
The last female player to win as a pro in her debut was Beverly Hanson, who edged Babe Zaharias to take the Eastern Open in 1951.
Players celebrated with the 20-year-old from Stanford by handing her red roses. The victory was worth $412,500 and it also earned Zhang an automatic LPGA Tour membership.
PGA TOUR
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Viktor Hovland handled the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village and delivered three clutch putts at the end to win the Memorial in a playoff over hard-luck Denny McCarthy on Sunday.
Hovland closed with a 2-under 70 on another brutal test on a course baked all week by sun, forcing the playoff with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th — the only one on that hole in the final round — and saving par from behind the 18th green.
Back to the 18th in the playoff, Hovland barely got onto the front of the green, some 60 feet away from the back pin, and two-putted by holing a 7-foot par putt.
It was his fourth PGA Tour victory and first on American soil, this one with a $3.6 million winner’s check and a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus. The Norwegian’s previous wins were in Mexico twice and Puerto Rico.
It was a crushing loss for McCarthy, one of the purest putters on the PGA Tour. He showed his touch by saving crucial pars and playing bogey-free on a day when the average score was just under 75. His only bogey came on the 18th hole — twice.
Rory McIlroy chipped in from below the fourth green for birdie and had the lead on the front nine, but he gave away far too many shots on the back — three bogeys in a row — for a 75 that took him out of the picture.
Scottie Scheffler closed with a 67 and finished third and missed the playoff by one shot, remarkable considering he made the cut on the number. The No. 1 player in the world has not finished worse than 12th in his 13 starts this year.
EUROPEAN TOUR
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Tom McKibbin held off a German challenge with a 3-under 70 to win the Porsche European Open in his debut season on the European tour on Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Northern Ireland started the final round as one of six players tied for the lead and went on to win by two shots.
Marcel Siem (71) and Maximilian Kieffer (70), who were both bidding to become the first German in 15 years to win a tour event on home soil, shared second place, along with French player Julien Guerrier (72).
McKibbin built a two-shot lead after the front nine but bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13 left him briefly tied with Siem and Kieffer before he recovered with a birdie on the 15th. Instead of playing it safe, McKibbin took a risk with his second shot on the 18th, playing a draw around a tree to hit the ball close to the pin for the eagle attempt.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Stephen Ames birdied the 17th hole and closed with a 5-under 67 on Sunday for a one-shot victory over Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly in the Principal Charity Classic, giving Ames his third PGA Tour Champions title this year.
Ames, Stricker and Tim Herron shared the 36-hole lead. Herron fell back with a 72. Stricker, coming off his second straight major title this year at the Senior PGA Championship, played bogey-free for a 68. He just couldn't keep up with Ames.
Kelly had four straight birdies on the front nine and closed with two birdies over the last three holes, but he had to settle for par on the 18th that kept him out of a playoff.
Rod Pampling (66) and Tim Petrovic (67) tied for fourth.
Stricker and Ames lead the PGA Tour Champions with three victories apiece this year, though Stricker kept his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup on the strength of his two majors.
Stricker now moves on to his native Wisconsin as the player-host of the American Family Insurance Championship.
KORN FERRY TOUR
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jorge Fernandez Valdes closed with 2-under 68 and made birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Trent Phillips in the UNC Health Championship to capture his first title on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The victory for the Argentine moved him to No. 10 on the points list, with the top 30 at the end of the season earning PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.
Phillips ran off four straight birdies on the back nine and closed with a 66 to get into the playoff at 13-under 267.
Grayson Murray, playing before a home crowd in North Carolina with the 54-hole lead, shot 32 on the front and was in control until a double bogey on the par-5 12th. He then bogeyed three of the next five holes and birdied the 18th for a 71 to miss the playoff by one shot.
He tied for third with John Augenstein, who had a 66.
OTHER TOURS
Alena Sharp of Canada shot a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory over Gigi Stoll in the Champions Fore Change Invitational on the Epson Tour. ... Takumi Kanaya closed with an even-par 71 for a two-shot victory in the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup. Kanaya won his fourth Japan Golf Tour title, and fifth worldwide. ... Andrea Pavan of Italy closed with a 3-under 69 for a one-shot victory over Casey Jarvis of South Africa in the D+D Real Czech Challenge. Pavan won his fifth title on Europe’s Challenge Tour. ... Lisa Pettersson closed with a 5-under 67 and won the Helsingborg Open by two shots on the Ladies European Tour. ... Myles Creighton closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Austin Hitt in El Rincon Championship in Colombia on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. ... Fumika Kawagishi won the Richard Mille Yonex Ladies in a Japan LPGA event so hampered by weather that it was cut short to 27 holes. Kawagishi had a 4-under 32 over nine holes and tied with Shuri Sakuma (31) before beating Sakuma in a playoff.
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