Rookie gets first PGA Tour victory
Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor is the top Canadian, tied for ninth with a 9-under 271
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Rookie Xander Schauffele made a 3-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win The Greenbrier Classic by a stroke over Robert Streb for his first PGA Tour victory.
Schauffele closed with a 3-under 67 and finished at 14-under 266 to cap a daylong duel with Streb and third-round leader Sebastian Munoz.
Streb shot 69. Munoz had a 72 to tie for third with Jamie Lovemark at 12 under. Lovemark shot 69.
After Schauffele’s birdie, Streb found the left fringe on the 161yard 18th and his chip that would have forced a playoff came up short. Munoz needed to ace the 18th to tie it, but settled for par.
At age 53, Davis Love III fell short in his bid to become the oldest winner in tour history. He shot 75 and tied for 29th at 5 under.
Top Canadian was Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, who finished in a tie for ninth at 9-under 271 including a 68 Sunday.
Dave Hearn of Brantford, Ont. tied for 14th at 8-under 272 with a closing round of 68.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas finished in a tie for 20th at 6-under 274 including 67 on Sunday.
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. also finished at 6-under 274 including a final round 69.
Meanwhile in Oneida, Wisc., Katherine Kirk won the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic on Sunday, matching Ashleigh Buhai with a birdie on the final hole for a onestroke victory.
Four strokes ahead of Buhai entering the round, Kirk made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for a 2-under 70. She finished at 22-under 266 in the first year event at Thornberry Creek — the Oneida Nationowned resort near Green Bay.
The 35-year-old Australian won her third LPGA Tour title and first in 152 starts since the 2010 Navistar LPGA Classic.
Kirk earned $300,000 and secured a spot next week in the U.S. Women’s Open. She had six birdies and four bogeys Sunday after opening with rounds of 68, 63 and 65.
Buhai, from South Africa, shot a 67. South Korea’s Sei Young Kim was third at 20 under after a 63.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp had a 68 Sunday to finish at 13-under 275, tied for 23rd.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Augusta James of Bath, Ont., finished in a tie for 28th with 11-under 277.
Samantha Richdale of Kelowna had 78 Sunday to finish at even par 288.