Frittelli earns British Open trip with victory
SILVIS, Ill. — As other contenders faltered, Dylan Frittelli surged to his first PGA Tour title.
Frittelli won the John Deere Classic on Sunday, closing with a 7-under-par 64 for a two-stroke victory over Russell Henley. The 29-year-old South African earned a spot in this week’s British Open, finishing at 21-under 263 after his bogey-free final round at TPC Deere Run.
One of eight players within two strokes of the lead entering the final round, the two-time European Tour event winner birdied the par-5 17th after blasting out of a greenside bunker to 11 feet from the hole, then closed with a par on the par-4 18th.
Frittelli had tied for 46th in each of his past two starts.
“I don’t want to say it was easy out there. It just felt a whole lot easier than it has been the last few weeks,” Frittelli said. “I calmed my nerves down.”
Henley, a 30-year-old former University of Georgia standout, closed with a 61 for the best round of this year’s John Deere Classic. Andrew Landry, who opened Sunday in a twoway tie for the lead, shot a 69 to finish third at 18 under.
Collin Morikawa (66) and Chris Stroud (67) shared fourth at 17 under. Morikawa, a rookie who was coming off a runner-up finish at the 3M Open the weekend before, hit all 18 greens in regulation.
Henley’s career-low round included six birdies on the back nine, capped by one on No. 18 — the same hole he took a double bogey on in the second round. Henley made six putts of at least seven feet, including 26- and 46-footers.
“If you would have told me at the start of the day, ‘We’ll give you 66,’ I’d have said, ‘That’s pretty good,’” Henley said.” So to get five better than that is really awesome.”
Henley, who finished well before Fritteli made the turn, could only watch from the clubhouse as Frittelli surpassed him and everyone else in the field.
Goosen closes deal
AKRON, Ohio — Retief Goosen birdied the final two holes at Firestone Country Club to win the Senior Players Championship for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
The 50-year-old South African, already a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, broke a tie for the lead with a 15-foot putt on the par-4 17th and made a 10-footer on the par-4 18th for a 2-under 68 and a twostroke victory over a pair of Americans — 65-year-old Jay Haas, who closed with a 67, and 52-year-old Tim Petrovic, who shot a 68.
Goosen finished the 72-hole event at 6-under 274.
A 14-time winner on the European Tour who also has seven PGA Tour victories, Goosen won the U.S. Open in 2001 and ’04. Now he has a senior major championship to go with those two, thanks to his first win in a decade.
Three strokes ahead after opening rounds of 69 and 62, Goosen dropped a stroke behind Scott Parel on Saturday with a 75, but Parel shot a 73 on Sunday and shared fourth with Kent Jones (71) at 2 under.
Haas was trying to become the oldest winner in the 50-and-older tour’s history.
Playoff in Scotland
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Bernd Wiesberger beat Benjamin Hebert on the third playoff hole at the Scottish Open to earn his sixth European Tour title.
Hebert closed with a bogey-free 9-under 62 to set the clubhouse target at 22-under 262 at The Renaissance Club.
Wiesberger, the tournament’s 54-hole leader, recovered from a slow start in the final round to move back into the top spot with his fourth birdie of the day on the 16th, but he made a bogey on the 17th and had to settle for a five-foot par putt on the 18th to force the playoff.
The 33-year-old Austrian parred the third extra hole to beat Hebert and move to the top of the standings in the season-long Race to Dubai. It’s the second victory of the year for Wiesberger, who won the Made in Denmark tournament in May.
Hebert, a 32-year-old Frenchman, had the consolation of sealing one of three available qualifying places for the British Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. It will be just his second appearance in a major — he missed the cut at the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.
England’s Andrew Johnston (62) and Italy’s Nino Bertasio (68) took the other two qualifying spots after finishing in a five-way tie for fourth at 19 under with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (66), Italy’s Andrea Pavan (66) and the United States’ Andrew Putnam (64).
France’s Romain Langasque (67) was third at 20 under.
Birdies for the win
SYLVANIA, Ohio — Sei Young Kim won the Marathon Classic for her second LPGA Tour title this season and the ninth of her career, making five straight birdies in a midround burst and shooting a 6-under 66 for a twostroke victory over Lexi Thompson.
Kim began the birdie run on No. 7 and finished at a tournament-record 22-under 262 at Highland Meadows Golf Club. The 26-year-old South Korean won the LPGA Mediheal Championship in May for her first victory of 2019.
Thompson, a stroke behind Kim entering the day, closed birdie-eagle for a 66 as she missed out on what would have been the 12th win of her LPGA Tour career.
Six shots ahead of the 24-year-old American after the birdie run, Kim played the final seven holes in par, offsetting a birdie on 15 with a bogey on 16. Kim broke the event mark of 263 set by In-Kyung Kim in 2017.
Stacy Lewis (66) was third at 16 under, a stroke ahead of U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 (69).