Stanley wins playoff, ends five-year slump
POTOMAC, Md. — Kyle Stanley was in tears on the 18th green after he holed a five-foot par putt to win the Quicken Loans National in a playoff over Charles Howell III.
He wept again in the interview room as he spoke about the long slump between his first and second career victories, as well as the doubts that his game would ever return.
He believed he could win again. But he never really had to think about it until midway through his round on a wild Sunday at TPC Potomac.
“There was some doubt there for a little bit. Yeah, I mean, it’s no fun,” Stanley said, wiping away tears. “You certainly question if you’ll get back … and have a moment like this. It makes this pretty special, for sure.”
On a day when about a dozen players had realistic chances to win, Stanley moved into a share of the lead for the first time with a birdie on the par-5 10th as the leaders faltered behind him. He never had the lead alone until the trophy was his.
Rickie Fowler (65), the biggest name in a tournament lacking star power — including host Tiger Woods — shared third place with Martin Laird (67) as they finished two strokes out of the playoff.
David Lingmerth, who led after each of the first three rounds, struggled to a 73 and was one of eight players who tied for fifth.
Stanley and Howell began the day four shots off the lead, playing together in the fourthto-last group. Stanley got into the mix with birdies on the fifth, sixth and eight holes, none of the putts longer than 10 feet.
Howell nudged ahead momentarily with a 27-footer for eagle on the short par-4 14th, only for Stanley to match him with a two-putt birdie.
Both parred the final four holes to shoot 4-under 66s and finish at 7 under, and no one could catch them. Howell had a 21-foot putt to win on the final hole of regulation that rolled over the left edge of the cup.
Playing the par-4 18th again
in the playoff, both missed their tee shots to the right, with Stanley getting lucky to draw a good lie. Both missed the green. Howell’s chip came up short and he missed the 11-foot par putt. Stanley chipped to five feet and pumped his fist as the putt dropped.
Stanley’s previous win came in 2012 at the Phoenix Open. Later that year, he was ranked a career-best 47th in the world. He declined steadily after that, bottoming out at No. 683 in May 2015.
But even before this tournament, he was having his strongest season since 2012, with four top-10 finishes and three missed cuts in 19 starts.
PEABODY, Mass. — Kenny Perry earned his second U.S. Senior Open title by pulling away from Kirk Triplett at Salem Country Club to finish at 16 under and win by two strokes.
Perry, 56, closed with a 2-under 68 for a record score of 264. Perry also won the event in 2013 in Omaha, Neb. Sunday’s win was his fourth major victory on the PGA Tour Champions.
Perry started the day a stroke behind Triplett but five ahead of the next-closest contender, Brandt Jobe. Triplett, who tied the tournament record with a 62 in the opening round, had five bogeys in a final-round 71.
Jobe (70) finished seven strokes back, while Tom Lehman and Fred Couples each shot a 69 to tie for fourth at 8 under.
Perry was the only player to shoot under par in each of the four rounds at the 6,815-yard Donald Ross-designed course. His 264 total was three strokes better than the U.S. Senior Open record set by Hale Irwin at Saucon Valley in 2000 and matched by Perry in 2013.
Perry has nine victories on the 50-and-older tour after winning 14 times on the PGA Tour.
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Danielle Kang birdied the final hole to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first LPGA Tour title, edging Brooke Henderson — who won the tournament last year — by a stroke.
Kang bogeyed the tricky par-3 17th, but Henderson closed with two birdies to move into a tie for the lead, coming up just short on a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th. However, Kang responded with two solid shots to get to the green in two, then two-putted for the victory at Olympia Fields Country Club.
Kang, 24, trailed Henderson and Chella Choi by one after she bogeyed the par-4 10th. But Kang moved in front with birdies on Nos. 11-14, getting hot with her putter at the right time. She also sank a 21-foot par putt on the 16th green on her way to a 4-under 68 and the winner’s check of $525,000.
Henderson closed with a 66, while Choi, tied with Kang for the lead after 54 holes, was third at 10 under after a 71.
Mi Hyang Lee (67), Amy Yang (68) and Sei Young Kim (68) tied for third at 9 under, and Inbee Park (68) and Lexi Thompson (69) were another two strokes back.
Perry sets mark
Kang is champ
Playoff settles it
Lanto Griffin won on the first hole of a playoff against Abraham Ancer at the Web.com Tour’s Nashville Golf Open.
Ancer closed with a 5-under 67 and Griffin had a 68 as they finished at 16-under 272 at Nashville Golf & Athletic Club.
Taylor Moore (66) and Guillermo Pereira (67) shared third at 15 under.
Athens, Tenn., native Eric Axley (69) finished 12 under and tied for 10th, while former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge (67) finished 11 under and shared 18th.
Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger, the tour’s money leader, had his third 70 of the tournament. With a third-round 76, it left him 2 under and tied for 59th. Baylor School graduate Keith Mitchell (72) tied for 67th at 1 over.
GUYANCOURT, France — England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a faultless 5-under 66 to win the French Open, finishing one shot ahead of Peter Uihlein of the United States.
Fleetwood had five birdies and no bogeys to finish at 12 under as Uihlein just failed to force a playoff after making a late charge at Le Golf National.
Fleetwood, 26, has been in good form recently, finishing fourth at the U.S. Open last month. This was his third European Tour win and second of the year, moving him to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings.
Uihlein, the overnight co-leader, was seeking his second career win. He posted a 3-under 68 that included four birdies on the back nine.
Alexander Bjork (71), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (66) and Thorbjorn Olesen (65) split third place at 8 under. Bjork had shared the 54-hole lead with Uihlein.
Fleetwood wins