Champ fends off heat to win 3M
BLAINE, Minn. – Cameron Champ fended off dehydration and crisply putted his way to a 5-under 66 on Sunday, winning the 3M Open by two strokes for his third career victory.
The 26-year-old Champ had five birdies in a bogey-free round to finish at 15-under 269 at TPC Twin Cities. Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas and Charl Schwartzel tied for second.
Oosthuizen shot 66, too, in a much stronger finish than the previous weekend at the British Open, where his 54hole lead turned into a tie for third after a fourth-round 71.
Playing six pairs ahead of Champ, Oosthuizen birdied three of the last four holes to give himself an outside chance. His approach to the 18th green almost yielded an eagle on the PGA Tour's hardest par-5 hole, but the ball lipped out. He made a 21/2 foot putt for birdie instead. Schwartzel, his fellow South African, posted a 68 to match Vegas in the final round.
During another 90-degree day, Champ was far from his physical best. He felt some dizziness along the back nine, putting his hands on his knees at one point as he hung his head to try to regain some composure. He had plenty of it on the last hole, after his safe strategy with the tee shot to stay away from the lake landed way left in a trampled, sandy area directly behind a clump of trees.
Champ managed to chip out onto the primary rough, then scoot up the fairway. His approach was a beauty that landed perfectly and rolled back toward the pin. He sank the easy par putt and had enough energy to pump his arms in celebration of his first top-10 finish of the year. Champ had the best putting performance of the entire field, with an average of 8.48 strokes gained.
The Texas A&M product won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019, the year he turned pro, and the Safeway Open in 2020. He missed the cut in his last two majors this season and hadn't had a top-10 finish since tying for eighth in October in the Zozo Championship in California.
Champ entered the week in 142nd place in the FedEx Cup standings, getting a big bump with three events to go before the playoffs.
Cameron Tringale, a one-stroke leader after the third round, took a triple bogey on the par-3 13th hole right after consecutive birdies had brought him back into contention. He shot 74 and finished six strokes behind Champ.
LPGA Tour
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Australian golfer Minjee Lee won a sudden death playoff against overnight leader Jeongeun Lee6 to clinch the Evian Championship on Sunday for her first major title.
Lee6 had to take a drop shot when her second shot on the first extra playoff hole flew into a pond, while Lee's superb second attempt landed near the flag.
Lee6 ended with a bogey to give the 25-year-old Lee three putts for victory and a sixth LPGA title.
Senior British Open
SUNNINGDALE, England – Stephen Dodd birdied the final hole to win the Senior British Open by one stroke, holding off challenges from Miguel Angel Jimenez and Darren Clarke to secure his first major title.
The 55-year-old Welshman closed with a 2-under 68 at Sunningdale for a four-day total of 13-under 267.
Jimenez, the 2018 winner, shot 65 to finish at 12 under, while Clarke (67) was another shot behind.
Dodd equaled the low round in the history of the tournament on Saturday with an 8-under 62 that gave him a twoshot lead heading into the final round of the last senior major championship of the year.
Defending champion Bernhard Langer (68) was fourth, another two shots back. The 63-year-old Langer won in 2019 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes for his fourth victory in the event. Last year's tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two-time British Open champion Ernie Els (72) tied for eighth.
A three-time European Tour winner, Dodd made his senior debut at the Senior British Open in 2016, when he had his previously best finish at the event – a share of 14th place.
European Tour
NEWPORT, Wales – Nacho Elvira squandered a six-shot overnight lead in the Wales Open and bogeyed the 18th hole before rallying to beat Justin Harding in a playoff to win his first European Tour title.
Elvira dedicated his victory to Spanish golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena, who was murdered in 2018.
Harding three-putted the first extra hole, the par-five 18th, to gift victory to Elvira, who had earlier made the same mistake when a closing par would have secured the title at Celtic Manor.
“I thought I had it all pretty much under control and to be honest I got pretty nervous on the last couple of putts on the regular 18(th),” Elvira told Sky Sports. “I was more calm in the playoff than I was on 18.”
Elvira finished the final round on a par 71 for a four-day total of 16-under 268.
Finland's Mikko Korhonen (66) and South Africa's Harding (65) had both played their first 15 holes of the final round in 6-under par to share the lead on 16 under, with Elvira falling a shot behind after covering his first 14 holes in 1 over.
The 34-year-old Spaniard then drove the green on the short par-four 15th to set up a straightforward birdie and holed from 20 feet for another on the 17th to retake the lead, only to three-putt the last from 18 feet.
“To be honest I was thinking especially during the last nine or 10 holes about Celia Barquin, she passed away a few years ago,” Elvira said.