LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tom Kim successfully defended his title Sunday in the Shriners Children’s Open when he closed with a 5-under 66 to emerge from a pack of a dozen players who had a chance in the final hour, winning by one shot over Adam Hadwin.
Kim now has three PGA Tour titles in the last 15 months, at 21 the youngest player since Tiger Woods in 1997 to have three tour wins.
He won in Las Vegas a year ago, beating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff at the TPC Summerlin, when the Shiners Children’s Open was early in the season. Now, the Las Vegas event is still part of the same season because the PGA Tour goes to a calendar season starting in 2024.
The only other player to win the same event twice in one season was Byron Nelson at the San Francisco Open in January and December of 1944.
With an hour left in the tournament, there was a six-way tie for the lead and 12 players were separated by a single shot. Then, it became a two-man race between Kim and Hadwin, playing in the final group with Kim holding a one-shot advantage.
It turned on the par-5 16th. Kim hit to the fat of the green in two, 50 feet away for eagle. Hadwin hit in the water and made bogey. Tom three-putted for par, but still had a two-shot lead. He closed with pars. Hadwin birdied the last hole for a 67. Kim finished at 20-under 264.
LPGA TOUR
SHANGHAI (AP) — Angel Yin defeated top-ranked Lilia Vu on the first playoff hole to win the Buick LPGA Shanghai on Sunday for her first tour win.
Yin and Vu finished at 14-under 274 on the Qizhong Garden Golf Club course forcing a playoff, where Yin made a birdie at the par-4 18th after Vu had narrowly missed her 20-foot birdie putt.
It was 25-year-old Yin’s first victory in her 159th start and she shared a warm embrace with compatriot Vu on her breakthrough win.
Yin was tied with Maja Stark for the overnight lead at 12 under and on Sunday shot a 70, with three birdies and a lone bogey on the 6th. Vu shot a 4-under 68, with six birdies and two bogeys, and was the clubhouse leader at 14-under, until Yin birdied the par-5 17th and then made par on the final hole to force a playoff.
Maja Stark closed with a 72 and tied for eighth. Two-time defending champion Danielle Kang shot 71 to finish five strokes back in a tie for 17th at 9 under.
EUROPEAN TOUR
MADRID (AP) — Matthieu Pavon won his first European tour title Sunday, fending off an early rally by Jon Rahm and a late charge by Marcel Siem to win the Spanish Open by four shots.
The Frenchman closed with a 7-under 64 to finish at 23 under for the tournament in an emotional wire-to-wire victory in a country where his father used to play soccer professionally and in a city where his grandfather was born.
Pavon ended six shots ahead of Siem, who flirted with a 59 in a 10-under 61 that included two eagles. Pavon finished nine shots ahead of Rahm, who birdied six of his first eight holes to move within three shots of the lead at one point.
Rahm, who was trying to surpass Seve Ballesteros’ three Spanish Open titles, finished with a 64 and tied for ninth. The No. 3-ranked player in the world birdied his first four holes to get the crowd going, but lost momentum after making a bogey on the 13th before picking up two late birdies. Rahm just missed an eagle putt on the last hole.
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Brooks Koepka held it together at the end for a 2-under 68 and defended his title at LIV Golf-Jeddah with a birdie on the second playoff hole to beat Talor Gooch on a day when both had reason to celebrate.
Koepka had to birdie two of his last three holes to finish at 14-under 196 and tie with Gooch, who closed with a 62. With his playoff loss, Gooch moved past Cameron Smith and won the season points title and the $18 million bonus.
Koepka not only won $4 million from the tournament, his victory bumped Bryson DeChambeau out of the top three in the season standings. Koepka picked up an additional $4 million for finishing third in the points race.
DeChambeau fell back Sunday with a 70. Smith had a 66 and tied for 24th.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Rod Pampling of Australia had to play 33 holes Sunday in the rain-delayed SAS Championship and it was worth ever step when he finished off a 68 and then closed with a 5-under 67 for his second career PGA Tour Champions title.
The SAS Championship was the final tournament before the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs begin for the top 72 players. Pampling’s victory moved him up 13 spots to No. 17.
David Duval shot 71 and tied for 11th, just enough for him to move up seven spots and finish at No. 71 in the Schwab Cup to qualify for the postseason.
Pampling finished with a bogey for a two-shot victory over Steven Alker, who moved up to No. 2 in the standings behind Steve Stricker.
The Australian finished off 15 holes of the second round in the morning with back-to-back birdies, and then he played bogey-free in the final round until the end, when it only affected his margin of victory.
Ernie Els had a 68 and tied for third with Mario Tiziani, who closed with a 65.
OTHER TOURS
Aguri Iwasaki rallied from a three-shot deficit with a 5-under 65 for a two-shot victory over Ryo Ishikawa in the Japan Open, giving the 25-year-old Iwasaki his first Japan Golf Tour title. … Min Woo Lee closed with a 8-under 63 and won the SJM Macao Open by two shots over Poom Saksansin on the Asian Tour. … Ben Eccles closed with a 4-under 68 and won the WA PGA Championship by five shots over Haydn Barron on the PGA Tour of Australasia. … Luca Filippi won the Blue Label Challenge on the Sunshine Tour by two points using Stableford scoring. … Kokona Sakura shot 9-under 63 for a one-shot victory in the Fujitsu Ladies, a Japan LPGA event that was shortened to 36 holes by weather.
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