ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler made every important putt and closed with a 6-under 66 for a five-shot victory Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Already the best in golf from tee-to-green, Scheffler had a hot putter at Bay Hill and no one stood a chance. He built a three-shot lead at the turn and poured it on to deliver a bogey-free round and the best score of the final round by two shots.
The five-shot victory was the largest margin at Bay Hill since Tiger Woods in 2012.
Scheffler finished at 15-under 273 and won $4 million from the $20 million purse of this signature event. It was his seventh career win, all against some of the strongest fields. And it came a week before Scheffler defends his title at The Players Championship, which had been his last official PGA Tour win.
U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark birdied the 18th for a 70 to finish alone in second. Shane Lowry, who started the final round tied with Scheffler, shot 72 and finished third.
Will Zalatoris had a 72 and tied for fourth, securing an exemption to the British Open this year.
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
HONG KONG (AP) — Abraham Ancer lost a five-shot lead with a 2-under 72, and then regained just enough of composure to make birdie on the first playoff hole to win LIV Golf Hong Kong over Paul Casey and Cameron Smith.
Casey closed with a 64 and Smith had a 66 to force a playoff at Hong Kong Golf Club.
With heavy rain falling, Ancer found the fairway on the 18th hole in the playoff while Casey and Smith drove into the rough. Ancer hit his approach close for a short birdie, as the other two finished with bogeys.
They finished regulation at 13-under 267. Joaquin Niemann, going for his third LIV title in four events this year, had a 63 and missed the playoff by one shot.
Ancer picked up $4 million for his first LIV Golf title. Casey helped Crushers to the team title. Anthony Kim shot a 65, his first round under par in two LIV events since he returned to competition after 12 years.
LPGA TOUR
SANYA, China (AP) — Bailey Tardy picked up her first victory on the LPGA Tour, closing with a 7-under 65 for a four-shot victory over Sarah Schmelzel in the Blue Bay LPGA.
Tardy finished at 19-under 269. Schmelzel closed with a 69, while Ayaka Furue of Japan shot a 65 to finish five shots behind in third.
Tardy, who played college golf at Georgia, is the third player in the last 10 years to make Blue Bay her first LPGA victory, joining Gaby Lopez (2018) and Lee-Anne Pace (2014). Blue Bay returned to the LPGA schedule this year for the first time since 2018.
Lydia Ko, who shared the 54-hole lead with Tardy and Schmelzel, closed with a 71. A victory would have given Ko enough points for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
PGA TOUR
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Brice Garnett holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole Sunday to win the Puerto Rico Open in his first tournament of the year, sending him to The Players Championship next week and giving him PGA Tour status for the next three years.
Garnett closed with a 3-under 69 at Grand Reserve Golf Club, getting back in the game with consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th and then saving par on the 18th in regulation.
Erik Barnes closed with a 68, also saving par on the 18th. They finished at 19-under 269.
Garnett won in the Dominican Republic in 2018 for his only PGA Tour victory, but he fell outside the top 150 last year and was reduced to having low status as a past champion. This was the first tournament he could play this year.
Now he is exempt on the PGA Tour through 2026. He gets in the PGA Championship in May and starts next year at Kapalua for The Sentry.
EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR
EDENVALE, South Africa (AP) — Matteo Manassero broke through with his first European tour win in nearly 11 years, closing with a 6-under 66 after a storm delay to win the Jonsson Workwear Open by three shots.
Once a prodigy in European golf, the 30-year-old Italian picked up his fifth European tour win by making four birdies in his last four holes to finish at 26-under 262.
Thriston Lawrence (63), Shaun Norris (68) and Jordan Smith (68) tied for second.
Manassero became the European tour’s youngest winner at the age of 17 years and 188 days in 2010 at the Castelló Masters in Spain. He won four times in a three-year stretch to start his career, with one of the victories coming at the tour’s flagship event — the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Manassero, currently ranked No. 381, had struggled since those first four victories and dropped off the European tour. He only regained his card at the end of last year after some time on the second-tier Challenge Tour.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Joe Durant took advantage of Stewart Cink’s back-nine meltdown to win the Cologuard Classic for his fifth PGA Tour Champions victory, closing with a 4-under 67 to beat three players by two strokes.
The 59-year-old Durant rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 10th with an eagle on the par-5 11th and parred the final seven holes. He finished at 13-under 200 at La Paloma Country Club.
The 50-year-old Cink, two strokes ahead entering the day after rounds of 62 and 69 in his sixth senior start, played a four-hole stretch in 5 over, making a triple bogey on par-4 13th and bogeys on the par-4 15th and par-5 16th. He had a 73 to tie for seventh at 9 under.
Steven Alker (65), Jerry Kelly (67) and 2020 winner Kevin Sutherland (68) tied for second. Past champion Steve Stricker had a 75 to drop into a tie for 32nd at 4 under.
KORN FERRY TOUR
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Taylor Dickson overcame a seven-shot deficit by closing with a 6-under 66 and winning the playoff with a par over Trey Winstead in the Astara Chile Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Dickson, who played at Winthrop College, won for the first time in his pro career.
Winstead closed with a 73 and did well to get into the playoff. He had three bogeys and all pars on his card until an eagle on the par-5 14th. He followed that with a bogey, answered with a birdie and had a chance to win on the final hole.
They finished at 17-under 271, one shot ahead of Garett Reband (66) and Matt McCarty (68).
OTHER TOURS
Valery Plata closed with a 2-under 70 and won a playoff over Ana Belac to capture the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, the opening event on the Epson Tour. Plata won with a birdie on the second playoff hole. Belac also shot 70 in the final round. … Alexandra Forsterling closed with a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory over Charley Hull in the Aramco Team Series-Tampa, a Ladies European Tour event held in Florida the same week the LPGA Tour was staging a $2.2 million event in China. Lexi Thompson, winless in almost five years, finished 11th in the Aramco event. … Ai Suzuki closed with a 2-under 70 to cap a six-shot victory in the Meijiyasuda Ladies Yokohoma Tire Golf Tournament on the Japan LPGA. … Jae-hee Kim celebrated her 23rd birthday with a 6-under 66 to win the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open by one shot over Shin-sil Bang on the Korea LPGA.
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