Harman edges top-ranked Johnson for title
WASHINGTON: Brian Harman sank a 28-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the PGA Wells Fargo Championship, edging top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez by a stroke.
Harman, whose only prior tour triumph came at the 2014 John Deere Classic, birdied the last two holes to deny fellow American Johnson a chance at his fourth consecutive PGA triumph in his comeback event after missing the Masters with a back injury.
“It’s a lot of emotion for sure,” Harman said. “I’ve been fighting really hard. I’ve been working really hard. This one feels pretty good.”
Harman fired a four-under par 68 to finish 72 holes on 10-under 278 at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina — a one-year host for the event while its usual course, Quail Hollow in Charlotte, readies for the PGA Championship in August.
Johnson, who matched the day’s low round with his second consecutive 67, said he feels fit physically and mentally as he prepares to defend his US Open title next month at Erin Hills. He will face the world’s best again next week at the Players Championship.
“I’m happy with where the game is going into next week,” Johnson said. “Physically I’m really good. Everything is 100 percent. Feeling really great. I’m swinging it with no problems.
“Still have a lot of practice to do. I didn’t really know what to expect this week. I didn’t really get any practice time leading into this week.”
It looked as if Johnson, who only made the cut on the number, was destined for a playoff with Perez in his bid to become the first player with four wins in a row since Tiger Woods in 2008. Harman missed a four-foot par putt at the par-3 15th to fall one adrift but sank a four-foot birdie putt at 17 to match clubhouse leaders Perez and Johnson.
His approach at 18 bounded well left of the green and his pitch left him an unlikely birdie putt to grab the lead, but he rammed it home and began a screaming, fist-pumping, high-five-filled celebration.
“It’s surreal,” Harman said. “Three-putted that 15th hole, knew it was going to be tough to birdie those last couple, but I stuck to my game plan and just got it done.”
Harman credited his success to “having a little more belief in myself, knowing I’m pretty good at what I do, staying in the moment and doing what I need to do.”
The only rival with a chance to catch Harman was Spaniard Jon Rahm, playing on the sixth anniversary of the death of Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros.
But there would be no repeat of the magic Sergio Garcia pulled off, winning the Masters for his first major title on what would have been Seve’s birthday.
Rahm made a bogey at 15 to fall one back of Perez and Johnson but could only muster three closing pars, his pitch for eagle miss at 18 ensuring Harman’s win.
“I was making the right swings,” Rahm said. “It just wasn’t getting close enough.” MADRID: World No. 3 Karolina Pliskova was dumped out of the second round of the Madrid Open on Monday 6-3, 6-3 by Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
However, top seed Angelique Kerber fought back from 5-3 down in the deciding set to avoid a similar fate as she overcame Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 to set up a potential third round showdown with Maria Sharapova.
Pliskova, seeded second in the absence of world number one Serena Williams as she is expecting her first child, has struggled on the clay after a great start to the season on the hard courts of Australia and the US.
Following early exits in Stuttgart and on home soil in Prague last week, world No. 22 Sevastova’s run of seven straight games from 3-2 down in the first set to lead by a set and 3-0 was decisive.
Sevastova was solid on serve throughout and needed just one break in the second and she served out to set up a meeting with Barbora Strycova or Lara Arruabarrena in the third round.
Kerber has also had an inconsistent season and her fragile form was on show in the course of the first two sets.
The German romped through the opening set in 27 minutes but then had to save six break points for her only game in the second.
Siniakova served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set, but Kerber should impressive fight to win the last four games.
Next up Kerber will face the winner of Sharapova’s grudge match with Eugenie Bouchard in the headline act of Monday’s night session as the Russian continues her comeback from a doping ban.
Bouchard called Sharapova “a cheater” last week and suggested she should have been banned for life — rather than 15 months — after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. TORONTO: LeBron James scored 35 points and Kyrie Irving 27 as the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a four-game sweep of Toronto, beating the Raptors 109-102 on Sunday to give James his seventh consecutive trip to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Kyle Korver scored 18 points to help the Cavaliers become the first team to win eight straight playoff games the year following a title, and the first to win eight straight in consecutive postseasons.
Channing Frye had 10 points, and Cleveland finished 16 for 41 from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers will face the winner of the BostonWashington series.
James added nine rebounds and six assists. Irving had nine assists.
Serge Ibaka scored 23 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 22 for Toronto.
Wizards 121 Celtics 102: In Washington, Bradley Beal scored 29 points and the Washington Wizards used a 26-0 third-quarter run to beat the Boston Celtics to tie the series at two games apiece.
John Wall added 27 points and 12 assists for Washington. Wall had seven points, three assists and two steals during the third-quarter spree that featured eight Celtics turnovers. Otto Porter scored four of his 18 points in the dominant six-minute span that also included five points from Markieff Morris.
Trailing 53-48 before the run, Washington led 74-53 on Porter’s layup with 5 minutes left in the third. The Wizards led by as many as 26 and outscored the Celtics (237-191) in the two games in D.C.
Isaiah Thomas had 19 points for Boston, but scored 17 in the first 15 minutes. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Boston. Rockets 125 Spurs 104: In Houston, James Harden scored 28 points and Eric Gordon 22 as Houston rebounded from consecutive losses to beat San Antonio and tie their series 2-2. The Rockets never trailed and used hot 3-point shooting to pull away in the third quarter. Game 5 is Tuesday night in San Antonio. Houston made 22 3-pointers in a blowout win in Game 1, but had struggled from long-range in its two losses. The Rockets’ 3-point shooting, a hallmark of their success in the regular season, got back on track Sunday when they made 19 of 43, led by six from Gordon.
Jonathon Simmons had 17 points for the Spurs, and Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 apiece.