Leishman cruises in BMW
Given another opportunity to win, Marc Leishman didn’t give anyone much of a chance in the BMW Championship.
Staked to a 5-shot lead, Leishman made back-to-back birdies late in the final round yesterday to put away the final challenge, then closed with a birdie for a 4-under-par 67 to set the tournament record and win by 5 strokes over Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler in Lake Forest, Ill.
It was Leishman’s second victory this year, and it sends him to East Lake as the No. 4 seed in the FedEx Cup, giving him a clear shot at the $10 million prize.
Leishman finished at 23-under 261, breaking the 72-hole tournament record that Tiger Woods set at Cog Hill in 2007.
The timing could not have been better for the 33-year-old Australian. In his last event two weeks ago, he lost a 2-shot lead on the back nine at the TPC Boston and said that loss stung more than most.
“I had a few scars from a few weeks ago,” Leishman said. “I was just really, really determined to not let that happen again. Got it done.”
And it was never really close. Rose is the only player who got within 2 shots of the lead, only for Leishman to answer with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole and a 10-footer for birdie on the 16th. Rose closed with a 65.
Fowler made a late run when he was too far back, and he needed one more birdie on the 18th to grab the No. 6 seed for the FedEx Cup finale next week at the Tour Championship. He ripped driver off the fairway and over the stream to the back rough. It was a bold play that preceded a pair of meager efforts — a chip that came up 25 feet short, and a birdie putt that didn’t to the hole. He closed with a 67.
Jon Rahm birdied four of his last five holes for a 67 and will be the No. 5 seed.
Altomare loses playoff
Anna Nordqvist beat former Shrewsbury High star Brittany Altomare in a playoff under driving rain and hail at the first extra hole to win the Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Nordqvist sank a 4-foot putt for bogey 5 on the soaked 18th hole while the 102nd-ranked Altomare had a 6.
The 30-year-old Swede earned $547,500 for winning her first major since the 2009 LPGA Championship.
Altomare got $340,000 for only her second career top-10 finish.
Nordqvist and Altomare both shot 66 for 9-under totals of 204. It was a 54-hole event after weather-affected play Thursday was scrapped.
Second-round leader Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand and two-time major winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand fell out of the playoff by dropping shots on the 18th.
Nordqvist’s victory ensured 10 different major winners in the last two seasons.
Kelly climbs Mountain
Jerry Kelly avoided the late trouble that derailed Lee Janzen and David McKenzie to win the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship in Victoria, British Columbia, for his second PGA Tour Champions victory in four weeks.
Kelly closed with a 3-under 68 — rebounding from a bogey on the par-5 13th with a birdie on the par-4 15th and finishing with three straight pars — for a 1-stroke victory over Janzen. …
Romain Wattel shot a steady 2-under 69 to finish 15-under and win the KLM Open in Spijk, Netherlands, the Frenchman’s first victory in 187 tournaments on the European Tour.
Wattel, who posted a 7-under 64 to move into contention on Saturday, had four birdies and two bogeys in the final round and parred his final seven holes to close out his maiden win. …
Robert Coles scored his fourth point of the week with a singles victory to help Britain and Ireland beat the United States 10-6 in the PGA Cup in Ottershaw, England.
The Englishmen beat Josh Speight of Locust Hill, Virginia, 2 and 1 and Britain and Ireland took 71⁄2 of the 10 singles points to successfully defend the Llandudno International Trophy for the first time since 1984.