Kisner claims win in 6-man playoff
Kevin Kisner finally broke his playoff drought to win the Wyndham Championship. He hopes the victory will help him achieve another milestone — representing the United States in the Ryder Cup.
Kisner stuck his approach to 3 feet on the second extra hole and made the putt to win a record-tying six-man playoff Sunday in Greensboro, N.C.
The 37-year-old Kisner, an excellent putter who now has four PGA Tour wins, has never qualified or been selected to represent the U.S. in the biennial matches against Europe. American captain Steve Stricker will make six picks after the Tour Championship, and Kisner believes he’s at least put himself in the mix.
“Who knows, man?” Kisner said. “I’ve never been picked before, so I’m not going to go out there and jump on a limb and say that I’m going to get picked this year.
“I love Stricker, he’s a great friend and great guy. He’ll do what’s best for the team and the country.”
And that could mean Kisner, who’s 23rd in the U.S. Ryder Cup points standings, yet has shaken off an uninspired year with improved play at the right time.
Kisner has shot in the 60s in 12 of his last 20 rounds. His 66 on Sunday at Sedgefield included birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to reach 15 under and the playoff.
In the playoff, he bested former Masters champ Adam Scott as well as Roger Sloan, Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim and Branden Grace after all had made pars on the first additional hole.
“To be standing here is pretty sweet,” said Kisner, who had been 0-5 in playoffs.
With Scott looking at a 4-footer for birdie on the first extra hole, Kisner thought he would have to hole a pitch from short of the 18th green just to stay in the playoff, and he nearly did it. Kisner grimaced as his ball settled just right of the cup.
But Scott’s short putt missed badly and all six players went back to the 18th tee. This time, only Kisner gave himself a close look at birdie on the 505-yard closing hole.
Kim shot 64 in the final round. Scott had a 65 while Grace, Na and Sloan each closed with 66.
It was the third six-man playoff on the PGA Tour and the first since Robert Allenby won at Riviera in 2001.
It didn’t look like a playoff would be necessary after Russell Henley, who led after the first three rounds, recovered from a slow start to reach 17-under after a birdie on the 10th hole. But Henley bogeyed three of the next four and came to the 72nd hole needing par to stay at 15 under.
But Henley missed a 6-footer to go 0-for-3 this season with the 54-hole lead. He was in front after three rounds at Las Vegas last October and at the U.S. Open in June.
“I knew I had to shoot under par today, so just disappointed,” Henley after his 1-over 71. “It stings pretty bad.”
There was drama through the final round of the tour’s last regular-season event as players outside the postseason sought to get in.
It looked like former Fedex Cup champion Justin Rose, who started the week 138th, had done enough to make the 125-man field for The Northern Trust. But the Englishman missed a 5-footer for par on the final hole that dropped him to 126th — first outside the playoff field.
“Obviously it was in my hands up 18,” Rose said. “I didn’t do a very good job of that.”
Rose’s loss was Chesson Hadley’s gain. The veteran who finished second at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June made a hole-in one on the par-3 16th — complete with an awkward, leg-kicking celebration — and shot 62.
That was enough to sneak him into next week’s field at No. 125.
Long wait over: Ryann O’toole won her first LPGA Tour event in 228 starts, closing with a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Dumbarnie Links for a three-shot victory in the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open in Fife.
O’toole, 34, finished at 17-under 271. With the wind down and plentiful sunshine, former world No. 1 Lydia Ko closed with a course-record 63 to post 14 under, tying for second with Atthaya Thitikul (66).
Barron wins 2nd senior title: Doug Barron birdied the final three holes for his third straight 6-under 64 and a two-stroke victory in the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta.
The 52-year-old Barron also eagled the par-5 11th in a back-nine 30 at Canyon Meadows. He also won the 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.
Michigan State senior wins U.S. Amateur: Facing his largest deficit of the week and running out of time, James Piot won four straight holes to start the back nine at Oakmont outside of Pittsburgh and went on to win the U.S. Amateur over Austin Greaser.
Piot closed out his 2-and-1 victory by going bunker-tobunker on the reachable par-4 17th hole and saving par with a 20-foot putt. Greaser, who was 3 up at the turn, just missed an 8-foot birdie putt to extend the match.
The victory gives Piot, a 22-year-old senior at Michigan State, entry into the three professional majors next year — the Masters, the U.S. Open at Brookline and the British Open at St. Andrews. Greaser gets into the Masters and the U.S. Open as the runner-up.