LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Xander Schauffele cashed in at just the right time Sunday, swirling in a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the PGA Championship for his first major with the lowest score in major championship history.
The Olympic gold medalist got something even more valuable in silver — that enormous Wanamaker Trophy after a wild week at Valhalla.
Schauffele closed with a 6-under 65 to beat Bryson DeChambeau, who made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 64.
Schauffele became the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2005 at Baltusrol to win the PGA Championship with a birdie on the last hole to win by one.
Viktor Hovland, the FedEx Cup champion who wasn’t sure he even belonged at Valhalla while trying to work his way out of a slump, also had a 10-foot putt after DeChambeau hit his to tie for the lead. He missed the birdie, then missed a meaningless par putt and shot 66 to finish third.
Schauffele, who began this championship with a 62 to tie the major championship record, finished at 21-under 263 with that winning birdie. That beats by one shot the major record previously shared by Brooks Koepka in the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive and Henrik Stenson in the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, whose week included an arrest and brief jail time right before his second round for not following police directions, shot 65 and tied for eight.
Schauffele moved to No. 2 in the world and secured his spot in the Olympics.
LPGA TOUR
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Nelly Korda won a back nine showdown with Hannah Green of Australia with a par on the 18th hole to capture the Mizuho Americas Open by a stroke Sunday for her sixth win in seven starts on the LPGA Tour this year.
The victory made the 25-year-old Korda the first player since Inbee Park (2013) to record six wins in a single season. Korda also bounced back from seeing her record-tying five-tournament winning streak snapped last week by Rose Zhang at the Cognizant Founders Cup.
Zhang withdrew Thursday after three holes with an intestinal issue.
After playing the front nine in 2 over, Korda matched birdies with Green on the 10th, 13th and 15th holes at scenic Liberty National to stay tied with Green. The Australian’s two wins this year made her the only other multiple winner on tour this year.
After Korda put her drive in the fairway on the par-4, No. 18, Green pulled her drive into the left rough. Her second to the green was short and left and still in the rough and she failed to get up-and-down for par to force a playoff.
KORN FERRY TOUR
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Harry Higgs made eagle on the par-5 18th hole Sunday to force a playoff with Tanner Gore, and then made birdie on the first extra hole to capture the AdventHealth Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
It was a sudden turnaround at the end. Higgs was three shots behind when he made his eagle putt for a 6-under 66. Gore, a Monday qualifier, took bogey on the 17th and then narrowly missed a birdie putt for the win on the closing hole. He shot 69.
Higgs, who grew up in the area, was projected to move to No. 7 on the points list, a big step toward returning to the PGA Tour.
Dalton Ward birdied his last two holes for a 64 and missed the playoff by one shot.
OTHER TOURS
Fiona Xu closed with an 8-under 64 to win the Copper Rock Championship by seven shots. She set the Epson Tour record by finishing the 54-hole event at 22-under 194. … Takahiro Hataji won for the second time this year when he closed with a 3-under 67 for a three-shot victory in the Kansai Open on the Japan Golf Tour. Hataji also won the New Zealand Open before the Japan tour season began. … Alexandra Forsterling of Germany won the Amundi German Masters for her fourth Ladies European Tour title in the last nine months. She shot 5-under 67 in the final round and defeated Emma Spitz of Austria in a playoff. … Harry Hillier, who shot a 59 in the second round, closed with a 5-under 67 for an eight-shot victory in the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Bogota on the PGA Tour Americas. It was the sixth sub-60 round on tours around the world this year. … Rio Takeda closed with a 4-under 68 and won the Bridgestone Ladies Open by two shots on the Japan LPGA. … Hyunkyung Park lost a 3-up lead early and then won the last two holes for a 1-up victory over Ye Won Lee in the Doosan Match Play on the Korea LPGA.
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