Furyk wins US Senior Open; Glover clinches John Deere Classic title
Making his debut in the event, Furyk closed with a 1-over 71 to become the eighth player to win both the US Open and Senior Open, joining the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper and Gary Player
Jim Furyk recovered from a rough start on Sunday in the final round of the US Senior Open to hold off Retief Goosen and Mike Weir by three strokes.
Making his debut in the event, Furyk closed with a 1-over 71 to become the eighth player to win both the US Open and Senior Open, joining the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper and Gary Player.
Furyk finished at 7-under 273 at Omaha Country Club.
Furyk played the first three holes in 3 over, finding the unforgiving rough three times on the second hole and a tricky lie in the greenside bunker on the third. Suddenly, his four-shot lead was down to one.
Furyk righted himself with a birdie on the par-5 sixth and, ater going out in 2 over 37, regained the four-shot lead by the time he made the turn.
It wasn’t until he stuck his 109-yard approach to 3 feet to birdie the par-5 16th that he put away his closest pursuers, major champions Goosen and Weir. That put him three up with two holes to play.
Furyk played his final 15 holes in 2 under and finished at 7-under 273 to win the Francis D Ouimet Memorial Trophy and $720,000.
Weir tied for lowest round of the day with a 67, and Goosen shot 69.
GLOVER SHINES: Former US Open champion Lucas Glover notched his first PGA Tour victory in more than a decade on Sunday, firing a final-round 64 to win the John Deere Classic by two strokes.
Glover had eight birdies in his seven-under par effort at Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, liting a trophy for the first time since the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship.
“Prety ecstatic,” said Glover, who won the US Open in 2009. “Still hasn’t really sunk in yet, but long day.
Fellow Americans Ryan Moore and Kevin Na shared second, both firing six birdies in three-under 68s to land on 17-under 267.
Overnight leader Sebastian Munoz of Colombia setled for an even-par 71 that let him sharing fourth on 268 with Adam Schenk (67), Luke List (68) and Scot Brown (69).
Glover, who started the day four off the lead, came out firing.
He was three-under at the turn, and responded to his lone bogey of the day at the 11th with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th.
Glover, 41, said changes he’d made a few years ago in his approach to training and practice had helped him extend his career and become a contender again.
Glover, ranked 115th in the world, joined 40-somethings Stewart Cink and Brian Gay -- and 50-year-old Phil Mickelson -- as winners this season.
HATAOKA GRABS LPGA TITLE: Japan’s Nasa Hataoka claimed her fourth LPGA tour title on Sunday as rain washed out the final round of the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.
“Course conditions have not improved at the Marathon LPGA and it remains unplayable,” a tweet from the LPGA said.
“Finishing the tournament tomorrow is not an option due to an unfavorable forecast. The tournament will be reduced to a 54 hole event with Nasa Hataoka as the winner!”
It would have taken Hataoka’s rivals some doing to catch the 22-year-old, who took a commanding six-shot lead into the scheduled final round with a 54-hole total of 19-under 194.
She hit 17 of 18 fairways and rolled in eight birdies in her seven-under 64 on Saturday -- swelling the lead she had first seized with sparkling first-round 61 -- the lowest opening round score on the LPGA in almost seven years.