UF alum Horschel bests Day in playoff
IRVING, Texas — Billy Horschel won the AT&T Byron Nelson with a par on the first playoff hole Sunday after Jason Day pulled his 4-foot par putt left and past the hole. That miss by Day almost wasn't even needed for UF alum Horschel, whose 36-foot birdie chance was rolling straight toward the center of the cup before stopping just short. He won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour and for the first time since taking the 2014 Tour Championship for the FedExCup title.
With a 1-under 69, including a 60-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole, Horschel matched Day at 12-under 268. Day had a 68. Thirdround leader James Hahn finished a stroke back after shooting 71. He just missed a miraculous eagle at the 18th hole that would have gotten him in the playoff with his playing partners.
Because of early rain that delayed the start Sunday, threesomes were used instead of the usual weekend twosomes. No one outside of that final group made a real charge to contend with the final trio. The playoff wrapped up the Nelson's 35th and final tournament in Irving. The event will shift next year to the new links-style Trinity Forest Golf Club south of downtown Dallas.
The tournament was first played in Irving in 1983, but its roots go back to 1944 as the Texas Victory Open at Lakewood Country Club, where Byron Nelson won a year before his streak of 11 PGA Tour victories in a row. In 1968, the tournament became the first named after a PGA Tour player.
Day, who got the first of his 10 PGA Tour victories at the 2010 Nelson, had the lead alone only once. He pitched in a 78-foot shot from the rough by the greenside bunker for a birdie at the 477-yard 15th after two horrible shots to get in that position. His tee shot went into the rough to the far right under the trees, and his approach set up an awkward stance.
But at the par-5 573-yard 16th, the easiest hole at TPC Four Seasons, Day's wayward tee shot hit a spectator. After making sure the woman was OK, his approach shot settled pin high on the green but a 9-foot birdie chance curled by the hole. Horschel, who earned $1.35 million, also got to that green in two, and twoputted from 44 feet for a tying birdie before they both parred the last two.
Hahn almost matched them at 12 under when his approach from 122 yards at the 18th hit on the green, spun back and skimmed over the edge of the cup. He made the 4-foot birdie putt to finish alone in third, ahead of Jason Kokrak.
Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, had a closing 69 to tie for 13th at 6 under. Defending champion Sergio Garcia had birdies on six of his last eight holes Saturday to get within four strokes of the lead. But he was as quickly out of contention after giving back four strokes in a three-hole stretch early in the final round.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Lexi Thompson shot a 6-under 65 to finish off a wire-to-wire victory in the Kingsmill Championship with a tournament-record 20-under 264 total.
Thompson broke the tournament record of 19 under at Kingsmill's River Course set by Annika Sorenstam in 2008.
The victory came in Thompson's third event since she lost the ANA Inspiration in a playoff after being penalized four strokes for a rules violation reported by a television viewer during the final round. The victory, Thompson's eighth, gave her at least one in five consecutive seasons. That matches topranked Lydia Ko for the longest streak on tour.
In Gee Chun, playing with Thompson, shot a bogey-free 67 but was no match for the leader, finishing five shots back.
Thompson was also bogey free and finished the tournament with just two bogeys, both on the par-3 17th hole.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bernhard Langer cruised to his second straight Regions Tradition victory, shooting an 8-under-64 to match Jack Nicklaus' record of eight PGA Tour Champions major titles. Langer wiped out a six-stroke deficit over the weekend and entered the final round down two strokes to Fred Funk. He finished at 20-under 268 for a five-stroke victory.
VERDURA, Sicily — Alvaro Quiros of Spain beat Zander Lombard of South Africa on the second hole of a playoff to win the Rocco Forte Open on Sunday and claim his first title in more than six years.