KANG EARNS 1ST PGA TOUR WIN IN DALLAS
With soft fairways and calm conditions, Trinity Forest in Dallas didn’t offer much of a test in its second year hosting the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Nor did anyone in the field test Sung Kang down the stretch en route to his first PGA Tour victory Sunday.
The 31-year-old from South Korea ran away from Matt Every, Brooks Koepka and the rest of the contenders with a 4under-par 67 in the final round, securing victory in his 159th Tour start. Kang shot 23-under 261 for the week, the lowest winning score in relation to par since Adam Long took home the Desert Classic in January at 26 under.
Every finished tied for second alongside Scott Piercy at 22 under and was looking for his first win since the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational, as well as a spot in this week’s PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. He came up short in large part due to a two-shot swing at the par-4 15th hole, prior to which he was tied for the lead with Kang at 21 under.
Every missed the green from just 131 yards out and two-putted for bogey. Kang dropped a 22-foot birdie putt amid a run of three consecutive birdies and never looked back.
Touted as a firm and fast links-style layout with nuance for days, it’s easy to see the potential unique challenge Trinity Forest can offer in the coming years. But the wind was a non-factor throughout the tournament, just like when Aaron Wise picked up his debut win in 2018
at 23 under, and players ate it up.
Koepka is among the favorites entering the PGA Championship. Based on his Bryon Nelson showing, he’s up for the challenge. Koepka finished fourth at 20 under in his first action since the Zurich Classic and shot 68 or lower in all four rounds. Not bad considering he’d never seen the course before.
Jordan Spieth shot a disappointing even-par 71 Sunday to finish tied for 29th, which is still his second-best result of the season behind a tie for 21st in the Masters. He kept the mistakes to a minimum and now at least has some positive momentum to build on ahead of his career Grand Slam bid at the PGA.
Kang had already qualified for the PGA Championship before Sunday’s breakthrough victory.
European Tour: Maybe the most surprising aspect of Marcus Kinhult’s victory in the $3.4 million Betfred British Masters is that it took him this long to register his first European Tour win. Kinhult’s been a winner in waiting since he won the 2015 Lytham Trophy. The Swede ran out a one-shot winner over England’s Matt Wallace, defending champion Eddie Pepperell of England and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre. The 22-year-old birdied the final two holes at Hillside Golf Club in Southport, England, in a final round, 2-under 70 to get to 16 under. Wallace had a chance to join Kinhult in a playoff but his birdie putt at the 18th just missed. Kinhult holed a 10footer.
Contributing: Alistair Tate of Golfweek