Couples rallies to win
Fred Couples rallied to win the American Family Insurance Open in Madison, Wis., for his second PGA Tour Champions title of the year and 13th overall. The 57-year-old Couples closed with a 6-under 66 in cool windy, conditions for a 2-stroke victory over Scott Verplank. Verplank had a 69.
Couples birdied six of the first 11 holes and finished at 15-under 201.
“I am thrilled that I hit the ball very, very well today,” said Couples, coming off a seven-week break. “When you’re off, you kind of get excited to play.”
Couples also won the 50-and-over tour’s Chubb Classic in February in Florida. The Hall of Famer, long hampered by back problems, won 15 times on the PGA Tour, his lone major coming in the 1992 Masters.
“I can take time off and hit the ball, that’s not really the problem,” Couples said. “It’s the scoring part.”
Couples played alongside Steve Stricker, the tournament host and local favorite who tied for third.
“I made a putt at 18 yesterday, which put me in a pairing with Steve,” Couples said. “That was a big deal because everyone (knew there would be) 15,000 people all following Steve and I wanted to be in that group. It gets your heart rate going, it gets a lot of things going. And I did do that and I played well on the front nine.”
Fellow Madison player Jerry Kelly had a 70 to tie for 13th at 8-under.
Paul Broadhurst, 2 strokes ahead after each of the first two rounds, had a 73 to finish fifth at 11-under. Broadhurst had four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch in the middle of the round.
“Just lost my way a little bit,” Broadhurst said.
Europe: Romero rolls
Andres Romero picked up seven shots in his last 10 holes to win the BMW International Open in Munich by 1 stroke.
The Argentine carded a bogey-free round of 65, the day’s best, to sign off at 17-under par, one better than Thomas Detry (66) and overnight leaders Sergio Garcia (69) and Richard Bland (69).
Detry had been leading but the Belgian could only watch as Romero finished with his seventh birdie.
Garcia’s hopes took a hit with his second bogey on the 16th hole, while Bland had his second bogey on the 17th. Both ended with birdies but it wasn’t enough to catch Romero.
LPGA: Ryu wins again
So Yeon Ryu became the LPGA Tour’s first two-time winner this season, taking the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark., with a tournamentrecord 18-under 195 total.
Five strokes ahead after a course-record 10-under 61 in Saturday’s round, the third-ranked Ryu closed the tourney with a 69 for a 2-shot victory over fellow South Korean player Amy Yang (64) and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn (66).
Ryu has five LPGA Tour victories, also winning the major ANA Inspiration in April in a playoff with Lexi Thompson. Ryu won here four years after losing a playoff to Inbee Park.
Stacy Lewis (69) and Michelle Wie (64) tied for fourth at 13-under.