Molinari wins, Woods ties for 4th in National
POTOMAC, MD. » Francesco Molinari delivered a record performance to win the final edition of the Quicken Loans National.
Molinari holed a 50-foot eagle putt to start the back nine, and he never stopped until he turned the final round into a runaway Sunday at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. The Italian closed with an 8-under 62 for an eight-shot victory, matching the largest margin this year on the PGA Tour.
Molinari followed that eagle putt with an approach to 2 feet on No. 11, one of the hardest par 4s on tour that had yielded only one other birdie in the final round. He made three more birdies and ended his round by missing a birdie putt from 8 feet.
No matter. He finished at 21-under 259, breaking the tournament record by seven shots.
Tiger Woods closed with a 66, his lowest final round in more than five years, and he was never close. Woods tied for fourth, his best result since a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship three months ago, though he was 10 shots behind.
Ryan Armour had a 68 to finish second, earning one of four spots to the British Open. The other three spots went to Sung Kang, who finished third after a 64; Abraham Ancer, who tied for fourth after a 72; and Bronson Burgoon, who had a day he won’t forget. He played with Woods for the first time and experience larger crowds and louder noise than he had ever experienced. And with a birdie on the final hole for a 67, he tied for sixth to earn his first trip to the British Open.
Molinari’s decision to stay in America paid off in a big way. He is around the fringe of Ryder Cup qualifying, and the French Open was this week on the Ryder Cup course outside Paris. He also was No. 123 in the FedEx Cup, so Molinari decided to play the Quicken Loans National and the John Deere Classic in two weeks to improve his standing.
The victory, his second on the PGA Tour schedule, gives him a two-year exemption and moved him to No. 42 in the FedEx Cup. Molinari previously won the HSBC Champions in 2010, a World Golf Championships event in Shanghai. But that was before the PGA Tour recognized it as an official victory unless a PGA Tour member had won the tournament.
LPGA TOUR
KILDEER, ILL. » Sung Hyun Park beat So Yeon Ryu on the second hole of a playoff in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her second major title.
After a brief rain delay on the par-4 16th hole at Kemper Lakes, Ryu’s birdie try rolled past, and Park finished off her South Korean compatriot with a 10-footer. Park raised her arms and placed her hands on her head before hugging her caddie and wiping away tears.
Japanese teen Nasa Hataoko, after shooting an 8-under 64 to post at 10 under, dropped out of the playoff with a par on the par-4 18th.
Ryu made a 20-footer for birdie from the fringe, and Park followed from 10 feet.
Park closed with a 3-under 69. Ryu had a 73. She took a two-stroke lead on the 16th, but hit into the water on the par-3 17th en route to a double bogey. Park made a brilliant par save on 16.
The 24-year-old Park also won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open.
Nine strokes behind Ryu entering the day, the 19-year-old Hataoka nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in LPGA Tour history. She won the NW Arkansas Championship last week for her first tour title.
SENIOR TOUR
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. » David Toms made one long putt to take the lead, then another one to preserve it on his way to a one-shot victory Sunday at the U.S. Senior Open.
Toms sank a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 16th hole at the Broadmoor to take the lead, then held on with a 20-foot downhill make after laying up from a fairway bunker on the 17th hole.
He saved par with a downhill knee-knocker from 3 feet on No. 18 to close out the round of evenpar 70. Toms finished 3-under 277 to edge Jerry Kelly, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Tim Petrovic.
Jimenez (69) and Petrovic (70) each made birdies on the 18th to get to 2 under.
Kelly (72) led after the first three rounds, but finished the tournament without making a putt over 12 feet.
EUROPEAN TOUR
PARIS » Alex Noren closed with a 4-under 67 that stood up for a one-shot victory in the French Open.
The Swede started the day seven shots behind compatriot Marcus Kinhult but he birdied two of his last three holes to finish at 7-under 277.
Julian Suri had a oneshot lead playing the 18th hole and hit his approach into the water, making double bogey. Chris Wood also was at 8 under until two bogeys over his last four holes for a 73. They shared second place with Russell Knox, who closed with a 65.
Knox, Suri and Kinhult each earned spots in the British Open for being the leading three players among the top 10 not already exempt.
The 21-year-old Kinhult, who had a two-shot lead going into the final day, struggled in a round of 76 and tied for fifth with Jon Rahm of Spain and Matthew Southgate. Rahm, needing a birdie on the 18th to force a playoff, pulled his tee shot into the water and made bogey.
Justin Thomas, the No. 2 player in the world, shot 71 and tied for eighth at Le Golf National, the venue for the Ryder Cup this fall.
John Tavares needed to post only one picture on his Twitter account to explain the grip the Maple Leafs have had on him since he was a youngster growing up in suburban Toronto.
The photo featured a not-yet-10-year-old Tavares in bed, asleep on a pillowcase and under a blanket adorned with Maple Leafs logos, and accompanied by a note that read: “Not everyday you can live a childhood dream.”
In bidding farewell to the New York Islanders, where he was the captain and face of the franchise since being drafted with the No. 1 pick in 2009, Tavares chose Toronto and agreed to a seven-year, $77 million contract about an hour after the NHL’s freeagency signing period opened Sunday.
The 27-year-old Tavares spent last week assessing offers from the Islanders, San Jose, Toronto, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Boston. He called his decision the toughest of his life in choosing between staying in New York or taking “a calculated leap of faith into an opportunity I believe will be special to me and my family.”
In the end, he was unable to avoid the lure Toronto presented, and informed the Maple Leafs he had chosen them late Saturday night.
“I just felt this opportunity was just so rare, the