Leishman never trails, rolls to BMW Championship win
LAKE FOREST, ILL.» Given another opportunity to win, Marc Leishman didn’t give anyone much of a chance in the BMW Championship.
Staked to a five-shot lead, Leishman made back-to-back birdies late in the final round Sunday to put away the final challenge, then closed with a birdie for a 4-under-par 67 to set the tournament record and win by five over Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler. Leishman led wire to wire.
It was Leishman’s second victory this year, and it sends him to East Lake as the No. 4 seed in the FedEx Cup, giving him a clear shot at the $10 million prize.
Leishman finished at 23-under 261, breaking the 72-hole tournament record that Tiger Woods set at Cog Hill in 2007.
The timing could not have been better for the 33-year-old Australian. In his last event two weeks ago, he lost a two-shot lead on the back nine at the TPC Boston and said that loss stung more than most.
“I had a few scars from a few weeks ago,” Leishman said. “I was just really, really determined to not let that happen again. Got it done.”
And it was never really close.
Nordqvist claims Evian in playoff.
FRANCE» Defying driving rain and hail in a playoff, Anna Nordqvist beat unheralded American Brittany Altomare on the first extra hole to win the Evian Championship.
Nordqvist took the fifth and final major of the season by sinking a 4-foot putt for a bogey 5 on the soaked 18th hole while the 102nd-ranked Altomare had a six.
Course workers removed pools of standAltomare ing water from the 18th green as the players approached the putting surface after their third shots. The par-4 hole played long all afternoon and was near-treacherous for the playoff.
“I am from Sweden and I’m freezing,” said Nordqvist, who was confined to bed for two weeks in July by a bout of mononucleosis. “I feel like I’m pretty used to bad conditions, and that was probably some of the worst I’ve seen.”
The 30-year-old Nordqvist earned $547,500 for the win, her first major since the 2009 LPGA Championship.
got $340,000 for only her second career top-10 finish, three weeks after she secured a third-place tie at the Portland Classic.
“It’s really big,” the 26-year-old Massachusetts native said. “I had a good week in Portland.”
Wattel gets first Euro win in 187 starts.
Romain Wattel shot a steady 2-under-par 69 to finish 15-under and win the KLM Open, the Frenchman’s first victory in 187 tournaments on the European Tour.
Wattel, who posted a seven-under 64 to move into contention on Saturday, had four birdies and two bogeys in the final round and parred his final seven holes to close out his maiden win.
Wattel, 26, said he has been struggling for two years with his putter, but finally found his touch again this week.
Jerry Kelly wins again.
Jerry Kelly VICTORIA, BRITISH avoided the late trouble that derailed Lee Janzen and David McKenzie to win the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship for his second PGA Tour Champions victory in four weeks.
Kelly closed with a 3-under 68 — rebounding from a bogey on the par-5 13th with a birdie on the par-4 15th and finishing with three straight pars — for a one-stroke victory over Janzen.
The 50-year-old Kelly, a stroke behind McKenzie and Jerry Smith entering the final round, won the Boeing Classic outside Seattle last month for his first senior title. The three-time PGA Tour winner finished at 14-under 199 on Bear Mountain’s Mountain Course.