Golf Capsules: Day tries to close out win in Boston
NORTON, Mass. (AP) — The Deutsche Bank Championship isn't the only thing at stake on Labor Day.
Jason Day has a one-shot lead going into the final round — the only scheduled Monday finish on the PGA Tour — thanks to a routine birdie on the par-5 18th hole that didn't get nearly as loud of a cheer as Brandt Snedeker chipping in for par.
Day shot a 5-under 66 and tied the 54-hole record at the TPC Boston of 17-under 196. He will play in the final group with Snedeker, whose amazing par gave him a 67, for the second straight day.
For so many others, the Deutsche Bank offers much more.
Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson have a chance to get to No. 1 in the world ranking for the first time in their careers, and while Stricker was closer to the lead, Mickelson had more scenarios of replacing Tiger Woods.
Woods is 10 shots out of the lead after a 69 in the third round Sunday. It's the third straight tournament he has been at least nine shots behind going into the final round, so winning is out of the question. And while Woods playfully called out to Ryder Cup assistant captain Davis Love III, "Will you pick me?" he is virtually certain to be one of the four captain's picks on Tuesday.
As for the others?
Monday could go a long way toward players making one last pitch, even if no one has distinguished himself. Among the 14 players that captain Corey Pavin had on a white sheet of paper, Ryan Palmer in a tie for 18th — nine shots back — is the first name on the leaderboard.
And then there's the FedEx Cup playoffs, with the top 70 in the standings moving on to Chicago next week, one tournament closer to the season-ending Tour Championship and a shot at the $10 million prize.
Among those on the bubble are Vijay Singh, who made an albatross in the third round, and Andres Romero, who was tied for 10th in a tournament that he wouldn't even be at except for a 40-foot birdie putt he made on the last hole of the previous tournament.
Also still with an outside shot: Padraig Harrington, who missed the cut, although he would need a lot of help.
Day is only concerned with one thing.
"I think the biggest thing for me is to commit to the shot that needs to be hit and not standing up there and second-guessing myself," he said. "Because the moment I do that, the moment the ball starts to go a little wide, especially with the driver. I need to try and give myself as much birdie chances out there as possible. I think that's the key (Monday)."
He has the lead, but not control.
Not with Snedeker only one shot behind, followed by Luke Donald of England at 15-under 198. Donald is far more relaxed knowing that he has been picked for Europe's Ryder Cup team, also he figures a victory would quash any debate on whether he was the right pick.
Stricker, the defending champion, and Charley Hoffman were four shots behind, with most of the attention on Stricker. He has not made a bogey all week at the TPC Boston, and his streak without a bogey is 72 straight holes dating to last week.
At 12-under 201 — five shots behind — is the group that features Mickelson and a pair of Aussies, Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott.
Mickelson is hitting fairways, but he had the most fun hitting the pin.
A year ago on the 15th hole, facing a front left pin, he banged his approach off the flag and watched it roll off the green. He was determined not to let that happen again and said he told his caddie, "I'm going to try to just miss the pin."
He missed his mark — and hit the pin.
The ball spun around, caught the false front and rolled into the rough. Instead of getting mad, Mickelson got even. He chipped in for a birdie, and gave his biggest fist pump of the day.
"That was a fun little moment, because that stuff happens," Mickelson said.
This is the 10th tournament this year that Mickelson has had a mathematical chance of replacing Woods at No. 1 in the world, and one of his better chances. He was four shots behind going into the final round at Firestone and shot 78.
This time, Mickelson might only need to finish in fourth place alone, provided Woods is out of the top 24. And this time, he is far more confident in his driving, with only his iron play needing to get a little more sharp.
"I haven't paid attention to what needs to happen," Mickelson said. "But I'm looking forward to getting in the hunt tomorrow and seeing if I can get off to a good start and make some birdies."
Woods keeps making progress, although not on the leaderboard.
He got off to a good start and got within four shots of the leaders — before they had teed off — until he stopped making putts. Woods made a difficult flop shot behind the 18th green look easy, hitting it to a foot for birdie. He appears safe to advance to the third round of the playoffs next week at Cog Hill, where he is the defending champion.
"I think I played better than what my score indicated," Woods said. "I had a lot of putts that I didn't make."
Snedeker is making plenty, including back-to-back birdies late in his round that kept him in the game. The chip-in for par certainly helped, although Snedeker figures every shot will count somewhere on the course or during a tournament.
Playing in the final group one shot behind? It was too early to get excited.
"We're both going to have to go out there and play some good golf," he said. "There's a lot of guys right there with a chance, and Jason played fantastic today. I don't see him slipping up any."
Wrist injury ends Verplank's season
NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Scott Verplank could no longer hold onto a golf club and figured there was no point in playing.
Verplank was back in Oklahoma on Sunday waiting to get an MRI on his left wrist a day after he withdrew from the Deutsche Bank Championship after four holes in the second round. He says he has been fighting the injury the last two months, and it reached a point at the TPC Boston where he could not control where the club was pointed.
He is among the most accurate players in golf. And as Verplank says, if he can't hit it straight, he's not very good.
Pulling out of the Deutsche Bank could drop him out of the top 70 to advance to the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, although Verplank says he would not have been able to play next week.
FUTURES
LaCrosse has big day on Futures Tour
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Cindy LaCrosse won the Futures Tour's season-ending Price Chopper Tour Championship in a playoff Sunday and took the money title to top the 10 qualifiers for the 2011 LPGA Tour.
LaCrosse beat Jennifer Song with a par on the first hole of a playoff for her third victory of the year. The 23-year-old former Louisville star from Tampa, Fla., earned $16,800 to finish the season with $94,578.
"I'm so happy with the way the year went," said LaCrosse, the developmental tour's player of the year. "I reached a lot of my goals that I set at the beginning of the year. My goals for next season are to be up there in contention and have fun."
Song, a two-time winner this season and the tour's rookie of the year, finished second on the money list with $63,375.
"I'm flying in the air," said Song, the former Southern California player who won the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links last year. "I'm so happy to be a member of the 2011 LPGA Tour. It's definitely a dream come true."
Christine Song ($63,036) was third on the money list, followed by Jenny Shin ($53,686), Gerina Mendoza ($53,408), Angela Oh ($50,156), Ryann O'Toole ($45,806), Tiffany Joh ($41,451), Hannah Jun ($40,406) and Pornanong Phatlum ($39,261).
LaCrosse and Jennifer Song closed with matching 2-under 69s to finish at 5-under 208 on the Capital Hills at Albany course.
Champions
Ted Schulz wins First Tee Open
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Ted Schulz won the First Tee Open on Sunday for his first Champions Tour title, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach en route to a 2-under 70 and a one-stroke victory over Tom Pernice Jr.
The 50-year-old Schulz — in the field on conditional status in his 12th start on the 50-and-over tour — finished at 14-under 202. It was his first victory since winning the 1991 Nissan Open for the second of his two PGA Tour titles.
"It's huge," said Schulz, who had an eagle, birdie and two bogeys. "I played pretty solid most of the day. I didn't hit is as close as yesterday and I figured I would win if I shot four under. It turned out, two under was enough."
Schulz, who quit the PGA Tour in 2000 and is the director of golf at the University of Louisville, earned $315,000, the biggest payday of his career and nearly twice what he earned for his Nissan Open title.
"I was pretty nervous. I got up four times last night," Schulz said. "But once I got it going, I was pretty solid the whole day."
Pernice finished with a 67.
"I didn't know Ted had birdied 17 behind me," Pernice said. "I would have played 18 differently. I hit a terribly layup. But I'm happy for Ted. He hasn't been there in a while."
Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Kite closed with 69s to tie for third at 12 under. Fred Couples (68) followed at 11 under.
Jeff Sluman, the 2008 and 2009 winner, shot a 71 to finish at 6 under.
PGA European
Jimenez wins European Masters ahead of Molinari
CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland (AP) — Miguel Angel Jimenez won the European Masters on Sunday, shooting a 4-under 67 to beat Edoardo Molinari by three strokes.
Jimenez finished at 21-under 263 to secure his third European Tour victory of the year, following wins in Dubai and France.
Molinari also shot a 67, while fellow Italian Matteo Manassero had a 68 to finish third another two shots back.
Despite his convincing victory margin, the 46-year-old Jimenez nearly faltered on the back nine.
After leading by three shots going into the final round, the Spaniard extended his advantage to six as he covered his first nine holes in 4-under.
But in the space of four holes that lead was cut to just one stroke as Molinari produced birdies at the 12th and 14th holes, and then holed a 2-foot eagle putt at the par-5 15th.
With Jimenez having bogeyed the 14th, there was a chance Molinari might produce a late dash for the line for the second weekend running. He birdied the last three holes to come from behind and win the Johnnie Walker Championship last Sunday.
Jimenez, however, got up and down after hitting a tree at the par-3 16th, which Molinari bogeyed after finding a green side bunker.
The Spaniard then birdied the 17th to ensure a long awaited victory in the Swiss mountains. It was his 22nd appearance in the European Masters and his best previous finishes had been second place in 1993 and 2004.
"It was not easy," Jimenez said. "At one point I was six ahead of Edoardo, but at the 14th I missed the fairway with my drive and went into a bunker, missed the green with the third shot, and missed a putt for a par.
"That was a lot of misses and Edoardo hit two superb shots to 2 feet at the 15th where I struggled just to make par. But it feels good to win after so many visits to these mountains where not only had I finished second twice but also been in contention many times. So I really wanted to come here and win this tournament."
The 17-year-old Manassero, appearing in his sixth tournament as a professional, won $161,445, putting him over the threshold to qualify for his first full European Tour playing card in 2011.
"I am now a full member of the European Tour for the first time, which is great,: he said. "It has been my goal since I turned professional earlier this year, something I wanted to do and making my card is fantastic."
South Korea's Noh Seungyul finished fourth after a 67 took him to 13-under, three shots behind Manassero.
Nationwide
Kevin Kisner wins Mylan Classic
CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former Georgia player Kevin Kisner won the inaugural Mylan Classic for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a bogey-free 4-under 67 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Geoffrey Sisk.
Kisner finished at 13-under 271 at Southpointe Golf Club and earned $108,000 to jump from 50th to 14th on the money list with $194,692. The final top 25 on the list will earn 2011 season PGA Tour cards.
"This game is so much about winning and you have to beat 155 great players in order to have a chance," Kisner said. "This is pretty special."
Kisner closed with a 4-foot par putt, but didn't know that Sisk (71) had fallen behind with a double bogey on the 17th. The 45-year-old Sisk then failed to birdie the 72nd hole, giving Kisner the title.
"I didn't know I was going to win even when I made that last putt," Kisner said. "I was kind of in shock. I thought I might have been one short or maybe could get into a playoff. My whole world turned upside down there in a minute."
Kisner hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
"I played solid all day. I made a lot of the 4- and 5-footers that you need to make," Kisner said. "I just stayed in my own game. I was as calm as I've ever been in that situation, which is odd considering this was probably the biggest stage I've ever been on. I didn't look at a board all day."
Chris Nallen (66) and Steve Wheatcroft (71) tied for third at 10 under.
LPGA
Davies wins Austrian Ladies Open for 75th victory
WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP) — English star Laura Davies won the Austrian Ladies Open on Sunday for her 75th worldwide victory, closing with a 2-under 70 to beat France's Virginie Lagoutte-Clement by a stroke.
Davies, also the winner at Golf Club Foehrenwald in 2007 and 2008 and second last year, finished at 11-under 205. She won with a birdie on the final hole after hitting a shot from a greenside bunker to 6 feet.
"I was shaking," Davies said. "Over that bunker shot, with all the water behind, my legs were a bit shaky on that and over the putt, but I guess that's just the adrenaline and you're just excited about trying to win a golf tournament."
At 46 years, 11 months, she broke her own record as the oldest winner in Ladies European Tour history. The four-time major champion also won LET events this year in New Zealand and Germany.
Lagoutte-Clement shot a 68.
