Vegas takes second Canada title in row

Birdie in playoff edges Hoffman; Langer wins by 3.

Jhonattan Vegas successfully defended his RBC Canadian Open title Sunday, beating Charley Hoffman with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff in Oakville, Ontario.

Vegas’ approach from the left bunker on the par-5 18th hit the grass just above the sand lip and still had enough power to clear the water and go through the green.

The 32-year-old Venezuelan chipped to a foot — after racing a chip past the hole in regulation from the same area en route to a par — and won when Hoffman’s birdie try from the back bunker slid past the hole.

“It’s been a special day,” Vegas said. “When I started making a few birdies, especially the putt for birdie on 7, I started feeling the same chills that I felt last year when I won, and I just knew that something good could happen if I kept that going.”

Vegas closed with a 7-under 65 to match Hoffman at 21-under 267.

Vegas is paying close attention to the turmoil in Venezuela, noting, “It’s always on my mind. I have family that live there. It’s my country of birth. I mean, it hurts. Like I said yesterday, it hurts a lot, seeing the country the way it is … and all the suffering that even my family and friends that are having right now. It’s just not fair.”

Champions: Bernhard Langer won the Senior British Open in rain and wind at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales, for his record-extending 10th senior major title and fifth in the last 10.

With a sore throat in the difficult weather, the 59-yearold German star closed with a par 72 to finish at 4-under 280 and beat American Corey Pavin by three strokes.

“Wasn’t 100 percent,” Langer said. “Makes it even more meaningful.”

Langer joined Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three senior majors in a season, and won the event for the third time to match the tournament record.

Langer won the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championship — the first two of the PGA Champions Tour’s five majors — in consecutive weeks in May.

LPGA: Mi Hyang Lee took advantage of Hall of Famer Karrie Webb’s late double bogey to win the Ladies Scottish Open in Irvine for her second tour title.

“I didn’t believe I got a win today,” said Lee, six shots back entering the round. “It was a really surprise for me.”

A stroke ahead of Lee with two holes left at chilly Dundonald Links, Webb dropped a shot back with the double bogey on the par-5 17th after driving into a bunker and having to play out backward.

Lee, playing in the group ahead of Webb, increased the margin to two with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Needing an eagle to force a playoff, Webb closed with a birdie to tie for second with Mi Jung Hur.

Europe: Jordan Smith beat defending champion Alexander Levy in a two-hole playoff to win the European Open in Hamburg, Germany.

Levy was leading by a shot at the 18th hole, but the French player had to tap in a tricky par putt to force the playoff after playing partner Smith, the overnight leader, holed his 10-foot birdie to go 13 under.

Smith’s close-range birdie in the playoff secured his first tour title in his 25th event.