Danielle Kang takes 1st title in LPGA Tour return
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Danielle Kang played the brand of steady golf that wins on tough golf courses, closing with a 2-under 70 at Inverness Club and winning the LPGA Drive On Championship in the first LPGA Tour event in more than five months.
Kang and Celine Boutier of France turned the final hour into a terrific duel, and they were tied when Kang made her lone bogey on the par-5 13th with a poor chip from the thick collar.
It was Boutier who blinked last. She missed a short par putt on the 15th hole to fall one shot behind, and then stuffed her approach to 4 feet below the hole on the 18th. Instead of a playoff, however, Boutier made a tentative stroke on a tricky putt and the ball caught the left edge of the cup and spun away.
Kang, the No. 4 player in the women’s world ranking, won for the fourth time in her career. It was her first LPGA competitoin since Jan. 23 in Florida. She did not go to Australia, and then the COVID-19 pandemic halted play on the Asian swing and then on through the summer.
Boutier, who won the Women’s Texas Open during her time off, made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 14th to tie Kang before she started to slip. Boutier closed with a 71.
Inverness hosted the onetime event, and both contenders are likely to be back next summer when the storied club hosts the Solheim Cup. The LPGA Tour stays in northeast Ohio next week for the Marathon Classic.
Kang finished at 7-under 209. Minjee Lee of Australia shot a 70 to finished third, three shots behind.
Barracuda championship
Richy Werenski holed a flop shot from the fairway on the par-4 18th for a five-point eagle and birdied the last for a onepoint victory over Troy Merritt in the Barracuda Championship.
Werenski won for the first time on the PGA Tour, scoring 13 points in the final round on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course — the first-time venue after 21 years at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
The 28-year-old former Georgia Tech player won the event three years after losing to Chris Stroud on the second hole of a playoff.
The fifth straight first-time winner in the tour’s lone modified Stableford scoring event, Werenski earned a spot next week in the PGA Championship in San Francisco. He and Merritt, also in the field next week at TPC Harding Park, secured spots in the U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot.
Werenski made a 15-footer on the par-4 18th. He finished with 39 points, with players getting eight points for albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or worse.
Merritt failed to convert the 54-hole lead into a victory for the second straight year. Last year at Montreux, Collin Morikawa rallied to beat Merritt. On Sunday, Merritt parred the final 10 holes — leaving a 30-footer short on 18.
Matthias Schwab and Fabian Gomez tied for third with 37 points. Playing on a sponsor exemption, Schwab needed to finish in a two-way tie for second or better to earn special temporary membership on the tour.