Kevin Tway wins Safeway Open in playoff for his first tour title
NAPA >> Kevin Tway made a 10-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff Sunday to win the season-opening Safeway Open for his first PGA Tour title.
The son of eight-time PGA Tour winner Bob Tway, the 30-year-old former Oklahoma State player beat Ryan Moore on the
par-4 10th after Brandt Snedeker dropped out on their first extra trip down the
par-5 18th.
After strong wind died down in the late afternoon on Silverado’s tree-lined North Course, Tway birdied the final two holes in regulation for a 1-under 71, then birdied all three holes in the playoff.
Moore birdied three the last four in a 67.
Snedeker, three strokes ahead entering the day and five in front with 11 to play, had four back-nine bogeys in a 74. The nine-time PGA Tour winner bogeyed the first three holes on the back nine, birdied the par-5 of
16th, bogeyed the par-4 17th and parred the 18th, missing from 9 feet.
Luke List eagled the 18th for a 67 to finish a stroke out of the playoff with Troy Merritt (68), Sam Ryder
(69), Aaron Baddeley (69) and Sungjae Im (71).
LPGA TOUR >> South Korea held off challenges from the United States and England to win the eight-nation International Crown for the first time in front of a delighted home crowd at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
The top-seeded host team started the final round two points clear of the chasing pack and won two of the four singles matchups to finish with 15 points, four ahead of the defending champion United States and England.
Thailand finished fourth, and Sweden fifth. Australia, Taiwan, and Japan were all eliminated at the end of the third round.
In contrast to the wet conditions that cost the tournament an entire day’s play on Saturday after Typhoon Kong-rey hit the Korean peninsula, bright sunshine helped produce a big and passionate crowd that cheered the home team on to victory.
In Gee Chun and I.K. Kim won singles matches for South Korea on the
18th hole. So Yeon Ryu rallied from a 2 down deficit to halve her match with Lexi Thompson. Sung Hyun Park was lost to Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. EUROPEAN TOUR >> Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark closed with a 5-under 67 on the Old Course at St. Andrews for a one-shot victory in the Dunhill Links Championship that denied Tyrrell Hatton a chance at his third straight title.
Bjerregaard started the day four strokes behind Hatton but he reeled in the European Ryder Cup player to finish with at 15-under
273.
Hatton (72) shared second place on 274 with Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood (69).
Hatton, who was attempting to become only the fifth player to win the same tournament in three straight seasons, was six shots clear with 12 holes to play but came undone on the back nine with a 40. He missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff. SYMETRA TOUR >> Ruixin Liu won the season-ending Symetra Tour Championship for her second straight victory and third of the season to top the 10 LPGA Tour qualifiers.
The Chinese player closed with a 1-under 71 for a one-stroke victory over Taiwan’s Pavarisa Yoktuan. Liu finished at 19-under
269 at LPGA International and earned $33,750 to take the season money title with
$124,839.
Yoktuan shot 72. She finished third on the money list with $80,313.Dottie Ardina was second on the money list with $97,822. Elizabeth Szokol, Linnea Strom, Stephanie Meadow, Kendall Dye, Charlotte Thomas, Isi Gabsa and Dana Finkelstein also earned LPGA Tour cards, with Finkelstein edging Min Seo Kwak by $737 for the final spot.
OTHER TOURS >> Takumi Kanaya closed with a 5-under 65 to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur on Sunday and earn a spot in the Masters and British Open next year. Kanaya shot 64-65 on the weekend at Sentosa Golf Club for a two-shot victory over Rayhan Thomas of India and Keita Nakajima of Japan . ... In a battle of Americans on the Asian Tour, John Catlin closed with a 7-under 65 for a twoshot victory over Sihwan Kim in the Yeangder TPC in Taiwan . ... Oliver Wilson of England shot 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the Monaghan Irish Challenge, his second victory this year on the European Challenge Tour . ... Kevin Techakanokboon of Long Beach, California, closed with a 73 and hung on for a one-shot victory over Yuwa Kosaihira of Japan in the Zhuhai Championship on the PGA Tour China Tour . ... Nicolas Echavarria closed with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory in the San Luis Championship on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica . ... Santiago Luna of Spain closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Peter Wilson and Markus Brier in the European Senior Masters on the European Staysure Tour.