PHOENIX (AP) — Phil Mickelson birdied three of the final holes Sunday to win the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and Bernhard Langer held on to win his sixth PGA Tour Champions season points title.
Mickelson shot a 6-under 65 at Phoenix Country Club, getting up-and-down from short of the par-5 18th for birdie to reach 19 under. He joined Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win four of his first six PGA Tour Champions starts.
Langer, who battled back pain all weekend, struggled getting putts to fall as he labored through a 2-under 69. The 64-year-old German finished at 12 under and had to wait for Jim Furyk to see if he would win the Schwab Cup for the fifth time in seven years.
Furyk needed to win the tournament or tie for third and have Langer end up worse than eighth to win his first PGA Tour Champions series title. He dropped in a long birdie putt on the par-4 17th to pull within two of the lead, but Mickelson’s birdie on No. 18 made it three shots.
Needing an eagle to win the Schwab Cup, Furyk pulled his second shot into the grandstand left of the 18th green and and had to drop in mulch. He hit his next shot across the green into the rough and got up and down for par. Furyk shot 71 to tie for fifth at 16 under.
LPGA TOUR
BELLEAIR, Fla. (AP) — An epic duel between Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson turned into a stunning meltdown by both of them. Korda at least managed to recover and win a four-way playoff in the Pelican Women’s Championship.
Korda won for the fourth time this year on the LPGA Tour, none of the others this wild.
Korda fell out of the lead on the 17th hole at Pelican Golf Club by chopping her way to a triple bogey to fall two shots behind. She answered with an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-under 69 and got into a playoff when Thompson made a second straight bogey for 69.
They were joined at 17-under 263 by defending champion Sei Young Kim (67) and Lydia Ko (66), neither of whom expected to be playing extra holes until Thompson and Korda imploded over the final two holes.
Korda ended it quickly with her second birdie on the 18th hole, this one from 12 feet.
She secured her spot at No. 1 in the women’s world ranking, and moved 12 points ahead of Jin Young Ko for LPGA player of the year going into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship next week in Naples.
PGA TOUR
HOUSTON (AP) — Jason Kokrak had reason to believe he shot himself out of the Houston Open on the back nine Saturday morning. He played it 10 shots better when it counted Sunday afternoon, making four straight birdies for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot victory.
Two shots behind with six holes to play, Kokrak delivered all the right shots to pull away from a fading Scottie Scheffler and Martin Trainer and win for the third time in the last 13 months.
Kokrak couldn’t help but think back to Saturday morning, when he returned to complete the second round and went the other direction. He played seven holes in 7-over par for a 41 that left him 10 shots behind after 36 holes.
What a turnaround on Sunday.
Kokrak’s run of four straight birdies began with a 12-foot putt on the 13th hole and ended on the par-5 16th hole when he laid up because of mud on his golf ball and hit wedge to 5 week.
By then, he was on his way and finished at 10-under 270.
Scheffler, going after his first PGA Tour victory, had a two-shot lead when he made the turn. He didn’t hit a green in regulation until the 15th, making three soft bogeys that left him too far behind to make a late run. He shot 69 and tied for second with Kevin Tway (68).
EUROPEAN TOUR
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Joachim B. Hansen on Denmark closed with a 4-under 68 to hold off Francesco Laporta and Bernd Wiesberger by one stroke to win the Dubai Championship and qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Hansen, who finished at 23-under 265, won for the second time in as many years on the European Tour. He moved to No. 43 in the Race to Dubai, with the top 54 eligible next week.
Laporta, who shared the 54-hole lead, was one shot behind playing the par-518th when he missed the green to the right and narrowly missed a long birdie putt that would have forced a playoff. He shot a 69. Wiesberger shot a 65.
Defending champion Antoine Rozner of France led after the second round and was one shot behind the leaders overnight, but finished in a four-way tie for fourth with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, Andy Sullivan of England and Scottish Open winner Min Woo Lee of Australia.
Hansen became the fourth Dane to win on the European Tour this year, joining twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard and Jeff Winther.
OTHER TOURS
Hideto Tanihara birdied the par-5 18th for an even-par 70 that secured a one-shot victory over Takumi Kanaya in the Mitsui Sumito Visa Taiheiyo Masters. Tanihara won for the 15th time on the Japan Golf Tour, his first since 2016. Kanaya also made birdie on No. 18 from shorter range for a 69. … Olympic silver medalist Mone Inami closed with a 7-under 65 and won the Itoen Ladies by nine shots over Mao Saigo and Shina Kanazawa on the Japan LPGA. … Pia Babink of Slovenia birdied the last hole for a 7-under 65 to win the individual tile in the Aramco Team Series-Jeddah on the Ladies European Tour in Saudi Arabia. … Hae Ran Ryu closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot vicory over Ju Young Pak in the SK Telecom Championship on the Korean LPGA.
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