Hodges romps to first PGA title
Lee Hodges shot a 4-underpar 67 in the final round Sunday for a wire-to-wire win at the 3M Open and his first PGA Tour victory, setting tournament records with a 260 total and a sevenstroke win in Blaine, Minn.
Hodges, who started the day with a five-stroke lead on J.T. Poston, was up by three entering the par-5 last hole in his 65th career start. After Poston’s go-for-broke approach yielded a triple bogey, Hodges made a short putt for his third birdie of the round.
“The process I went through, I’ll take this week forever,” Hodges said.
Poston shot a 69 to drop into a tie for second with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman. Dylan Wu shot a 64 to tie Keith Mitchell for fifth at 16 under.
Entering the week in 74th place in FedEx Cup standings, Hodges soared to 33rd with the $1.4 million prize for the win.
Hodges had his lead cut from six to four when he three-putted the 15th hole and Poston, his final-round playing partner, smacked his second shot from the fairway to the green about 7 feet from the cup for his fourth birdie of the afternoon. But Hodges bounced right back to match Poston’s birdie on 16.
Beau Hossler gave his postseason bid a bump with a blistering 62 to tie the course record and finish at 13 under for the tournament, tied for 13th place. LPGA — Céline Boutier carded a final round of 3-under-par 68 to win the Évian Championship by six shots for her first major title.
The 29-year-old finished at 14-under 270 in Évian-les-Bains, France. She is the first Frenchwoman to win the tournament, which became a major in 2013.
“It has been my biggest dream since I started watching golf,” Boutier said.
Boutier is the third Frenchwoman to win a major, following Patricia Meunier-Lebouc at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship and Catherine Lacoste, who was an amateur when she won the 1967 US Women’s Open.
Boutier, who had never finished better than 29th in six appearances at the tournament, was six shots clear of secondplace Brooke Henderson (70) who was 8 under.
Boutier took a three-shot lead into the final round and eased any worries she may have had with two birdies to start and another on the fifth hole. Champions — Germany’s Alex Cejka prevailed over Ireland’s Padraig Harrington on the second playoff hole to win the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl at Bridgend, Wales.
Cejka birdied the second extra hole for his third senior major title after he and Harrington finished tied on 5 over par.
Harrington narrowly missed an eagle putt on the first extra hole and could only make par when the players returned to the 18th after duffing a chip from the back of the green.
US Junior Amateur — Bryan Kim won the final two holes for a 2-up victory over Joshua Bai at Charleston, S.C.
The win earned the incoming Duke freshman, an 18-year-old from Brookeville, Md., an exemption into the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 next June.