Boutier wins first LPGA major, Hodges wins first PGA Tour title #Boutier #wins #LPGA #major #Hodges #wins #PGA #Tour #title

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — Céline Boutier became the third woman from France to win a major championship when she closed with a 3-under 68 for a six-shot victory in the Evian Championship.

The outcome was never really in doubt as Boutier began the final round with a three-shot lead and opened with two birdies. Brooke Henderson of Canada had a 70 to finish second.

Boutier is the first Frenchwoman to win the Amundi Evian Championship, which was designated an LPGA major in 2013. She finished at 14-under 270.

The other two French women to win LPGA majors were Patricia Meunier-Lebouc in the 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship and Catherine Lacoste, who won the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur.

Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who started the final round in second place, could only manage a 70 and tied for third with former U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso (70), Celine Borge (68) Gaby Lopez (68) and A Lim Kim (69).

Rose Zhang closed with a 68 and tied for ninth, her third top 10 in a major since she turned pro in June.

PGA TOUR

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Lee Hodges shot 4-under 67 in the final round for a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the 3M Open and his first PGA Tour victory, setting tournament records with a 260 and a seven-shot win.

The victory gets Hodges into the Masters next year and moved him to No. 33 in the FedEx Cup with one tournament left before the postseason.

Hodges, who led by five at the start of the round, led by three over J.T. Poston going to the par-5 18th. Poston took a risky shot trying to make eagle and went into the water, leading to triple bogey and a 69. He went from second place alone to a three-way for second, costing him $260,000 and 92 points in the FedEx Cup.

Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman also tied for second.

Tony Finau, the defending champion and highest-ranked player at 10th in the FedEx Cup standings participating in this field, shot a 70 to land in a three-way tie for seventh.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

BRIDGEND, Wales (AP) — Alex Cejka defeated Padraig Harrington with a birdie on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl.

Cejka, who closed with 5-over 76, birdied the second extra hole to claim his third senior major title after he and Harrington (75) tied at 5-over 289 in miserable wet and windy conditions.

Harrington, who also finished runner-up to Darren Clarke last year, narrowly missed an eagle putt on the first extra hole at No. 18. Returning to the 18th, the Irishman duffed a chip from the back of the green and had to settle for a par.

Cejka began the final round with a double bogey on the first and dropped another shot on the fourth, but battled back to hold a two-shot lead with two holes to play. But he bogeyed the 17th hole, and Harrington caught him with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

Vijay Singh shot 77 and finished two shots out of the playoff. Conditions were so difficult that Y.E. Yang and Rob Labritz were the only players to match par.

KORN FERRY TOUR

GLENVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Trace Crowe made a 20-foot birdie on the first extra hole to extend the playoff, then won with a par on the second playoff hole to capture the NV5 Invitational for his first Korn Ferry Tour victory.

Patrick Fishburn made a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole in regulation for a 7-under 64 that got him into the playoff with Crowe, who overcame a triple bogey on the second hole with eight birdies for a 66. They finished at 259.

Crowe had to made a 20-footer to match birdies with Fishburn on the first playoff hole. Back to the 18th, Fishburn took two shots from the bunker and made bogey.

Ryan McCormick birdied the last two holes for a 66 to finish one shot out of the playoff.

OTHER TOURS

Bryan Kim made a 7-foot birdie on the 35th hole and went on to a 2-up victory over Joshua Bai in the rain-delayed U.S. Junior Amateur. The victory gives the 18-year-old Kim, an incoming freshman at Duke, a spot in the U.S. Open next year at Pinehurst No. 2. … Kensei Hirata lost an early lead and rallied for a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory in the Japan PGA Championship on the Japan Golf Tour. Taiga Semikawa and Takumi Kanaya tied for second. … One week after Brandon Robinson Thompson made the cut in the British Open, he won his first Challenge Tour title on Sunday by closing with a 4-under 67 for a two-shot victory in the Irish Challenge. … Davis Shore closed with a 4-under 67 and won the Osprey Valley Open by one shot over Myles Creighton on the PGA Tour Canada. … Peter Kamis closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory in the FNB Eswatini Challenge on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. … Kokona Sakurai shot 6-under 66 and won the Rakuten Super Ladies by one shot on the Japan LPGA.