Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Amateur misses chance to win U.S. Women’s Open
BEDMINSTER, N.J. » With three holes left in the U.S. Women’s Open, HyeJin Choi was all set to rewrite the record books.
The 17-year-old South Korean was poised to become the second amateur to win the biggest title in women’s golf, joining 1967 champion Catherine Lacoste of France.
Quote sheets were handed out featuring the congratulatory words of Lacoste, who is now 72 years old and lives in Spain. Lacoste’s father was famed tennis player and sporting goods clothier Rene Lacoste.
Choi was tied with eventual winner Sung Hyun Park, also of South Korea, heading to the par-3 16th, one of the holes that President Donald Trump watched from his personal viewing box.
“I came a long way from Korea and I had the United States president and his wife cheering for me and clapping for me,” Choi said through an interpreter. “I was quite thrilled. It was a big honor for me.”
Then, trouble struck. Choi tried to be too perfect with her tee shot on the 139-yard hole and deposited it right into the lake.
“Today, I hit the ball perfectly and I tried to hit that one more perfectly,” Choi said. “When I had a birdie on the 15th hole, I thought that I may have a chance. That went through my mind and other people were saying that I might have a chance, but at the 16th hole, my ball went into the hazard. That’s what happened. At the time I felt that all this work, all this hard work I put together was going to disappear, so I was a bit disappointed.”
After taking a drop, Choi settled for a double bogey. With that went all hopes of winning.
DeChambeau rallies to win John Deere
SILVIS, ILL. » Third-round leader Patrick Rodgers knew that it would take a ton of birdies Sunday to win the John Deere Classic.
Bryson DeChambeau took that advice to heart.
DeChambeau overcame a four-stroke deficit to beat Rodgers by a stroke for his first PGA Tour title — and a spot next week in the British Open.
The 23-year-old DeChambeau birdied four of the final six holes at TPC Deere Run for a 6-under 65 and an 18-under 266 total. In 2015, the unconventional former SMU star became the fifth player to win the NCAA individual title and U.S. Amateur in the same year.
McCarron stuns Langer at Players
OWINGS MILLS, MD. » For 70 holes, Bernhard Langer did everything necessary to win his fourth straight Constellation Senior Players Championship.
Unfortunately, his performance at Caves Valley will be remembered only for what happened after that.
Langer’s uncharacteristic collapse on Nos. 17 and 18 paved the way for Scott McCarron to win his first major tournament on the PGA Tour Champions in sensational comeback fashion Sunday.
Cabrera Bello beats Shinkwin in playoff
IRVINE, SCOTLAND » Rafa Cabrera Bello needed the best round of the week and one of the best shots of his life to end his 5½year wait for a victory on Sunday.
A 72nd-hole meltdown from Callum Shinkwin helped, too, at the Scottish Open.
On another signature day for Spanish golf in 2017, Cabrera Bello followed up an 8-under 64 — a course record at Dundonald Links — with a birdie in a sudden-death playoff against Shinkwin to win his third European Tour title.
He set up the birdie with a 3-wood to 8 feet from 275 yards on his second shot at the par-5 18th, having nearly found a burn running alongside the green with a similar shot in regulation play.
“I executed it perfectly,” Cabrera Bello said. “One of the shots of my life.”