Kitayama wins at Bay Hill; Jin Young Ko triumphs on LPGA

ORLANDO, FLA. » Kurt Kitayama let an All-Star cast of contenders back into the tournament with a triple bogey, only to beat them all with a clutch birdie and the best lag putt of his life to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday.

With five players tied for the lead with only three holes left, Kitayama pulled ahead with a birdie putt from just inside 15 feet on the par-3 17th hole for the lead. Then, his 50-foot putt on the last hole stopped an inch from the cup.

The tap-in par for an even-par 72 might have been the easiest shot he had all day.

Rory McIlroy missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole and shot 70 to finish one shot behind with Harris English, who played bogey-free on the weekend at Bay Hill and closed with 70.

LPGA TOUR » Jin Young Ko held off an early charge from Nelly Korda and closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the HSBC Women’s World Championship, her first victory in a year.

Ko became the first player to win back-to-back at the tournament and joined Inbee Park as the only multiple winners of the LPGA Tour event at Sentosa Golf Club.

She said it was the most important of her 14 wins on the LPGA Tour and 11 on the Korea LPGA because of going so long without a win while struggling with a wrist injury late last year. PGA TOUR » Colombian rookie Nico Echavarria seized control with two straight birdies on the back nine and closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour title.

Echavarria was soaked on a sunny day at Grand Reserve, with friends and family spraying him with champagne after he tapped in for par.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS » David Toms got up-and-down for his third bogey of the week on the par-4 18th hole at Tucson National to beat Robert Karlsson by one stroke in the Cologuard Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.

The 56-year-old Toms was surprised to learn that his tee shot on 18 had rolled into the water flanking the right side of the fairway. After a penalty drop, he hit his third shot right of the green, then left his chip about 6 feet short. He pumped his fist as the bogey putt curled in to secure his third victory on the over50 tour.

Toms closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-day total of 15-under 202 and won $330,000.

Karlsson shot 67. The 53-year-old Swede won 11 times on the European tour but has never won in the United States.