Glover beats Cantlay in playoff in FedEx Cup opener for second straight win #Glover #beats #Cantlay #playoff #FedEx #Cup #opener #straight #win

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lucas Glover made three big putts just to stay in the game and then hit the most important shot — on dry land in a playoff — to beat Patrick Cantlay on the first extra hole and win the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday for his second straight victory.

And so the amazing run continues for the 43-year-old Glover, who two weeks was No. 112 in the FedEx Cup and preparing for an early end to his season. Now he is assured the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake and perhaps consideration for the Ryder Cup.

Glover made a 20-foot par putt, a 30-foot bogey putt and a 12-foot par putt over the final six holes to close with a 1-under 69 and force a playoff with Cantlay, who surged into contention with a 64 at the TPC Southwind.

The playoff effectively ended with one shot. Cantlay hit 3-wood that was about a foot from being perfect. Instead, it hopped down the bank and into the water. Glover found the fairway and two-putted for par. Cantlay took a penalty drop and his 20-foot par putt just slid by the right edge.

Glover becomes only the third player in his 40s to win back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour over the last 25 years, joining Kenny Perry (2003) and Vijay Singh, who did it three times, most recently in the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2008.

Rory McIlroy birdied the last hole for a 65 and tied for third with Tommy Fleetwood (68), who had a birdie chance on the 18th to join the playoff.

LPGA TOUR AND LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, England (AP) — Lilia Vu won the Women’s British Open to claim her second major title of 2023, taking any potential drama out of the final round with a 5-under 67 for a six-stroke victory.

The 25-year-old Californian, who also won the Chevron Championship in April, became the first female player to win two majors in the same year since Jin Young Ko in 2019, and the first American woman since Juli Inkster in 1999.

The win means Vu ascends to No. 1 in the women’s world ranking.

Vu began the final round tied for the lead with Charley Hull, with 11 players within five shots of them. After 10 holes, Vu led by five as all of her rivals faltered and the American stayed out of trouble at Walton Heath.

Hull holed out from a greenside bunker for eagle at the par-5 11th to trim the lead to three shots, but Vu birdied No. 12 and was never threatened down the stretch, finishing with a birdie at No. 18 before being drenched in champagne.

Vu finished on 14-under 274.

Hull, passionately backed at a course near to where she grew up, shot 73 and was the second for the second time in the last three majors. She also was runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — Phil Mickelson’s bid for his first LIV Golf title ended early and spectacularly. Cam Smith rarely made winning look so easy at LIV Golf-Bedminster.

Mickelson, playing in the final group for the first time since joining the Saudi-funded circuit last year, hit two tee shots in the water and made a quintuple-bogey 8 on the par-3 seventh hole at Trump National, effectively ended his hopes.

Smith, who had two early bogeys that dropped his lead to three shots over Mickelson at the time, closed with five birdies and a clean card for a 3-under 68 and seven-shot victory.

Smith won for the second time in three LIV Golf events and took over the season points race in his attempt to claim the $18 million bonus at the end of the season.

He finished at 12-under 201.

Anirban Lahiri closed with a 70 to finish alone in second. Abraham Ancer (69), Patrick Reed (71) and Dean Burmester (72) tied for third.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (AP) — Stephen Ames opened and closed with eagles in a runaway victory in the Boeing Classic, his fourth PGA Tour Champions win of the season.

The 59-year-old naturalized Canadian citizen from Trinidad shot a 9-under 63 at Snoqualmie Ridge for a seven-stroke victory over defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Ames matched the tournament record at 19-under 297 after opening with consecutive 67s to take a one-stroke lead into the final round.

Jimenez, also 59, closed with a 69.

K.J. Choi (65) and Steven Alker (71) tied for third at 10 under. Bernhard Langer had a 69 to tie for fifth at 8 under with Stuart Appleby (65) and Keith Horne (66).

KORN FERRY TOUR

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Alejandro Tosti of Argentina closed with a 9-under 62 to rally from six shots behind and win the Pinnacle Bank Championship, his first Korn Ferry Tour victory that clinched a spot on the PGA Tour next year.

Tosti opened with five birdies in eight holes to start making up ground on John VanDerLaan, and then he finished with a flourish. He eagled the par-4 14th, birdied the next hole and made his last birdie on the 17th that made him too difficult to catch.

VanderLaan had a 71 and tied for second with Max Greyserman (69).

Tosti, who finished at 19-under 265, had eight top 10s coming to Nebraska that lifted him to No. 8 in the points list. The victory moves him to No. 4. He joins Ben Kohles, Rico Hoey, Ben Silverman and Pierceson Coody of players who are mathematically assured to being in the top 30 who get PGA Tour cards for 2024.

Silverman tied for 14th and moved to the top of the points list.

OTHER TOURS

Sam Bairstow closed with a 6-under 65 for a one-shot victory victory over Romain Wattel in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge on the Challenge Tour. … Jacques Kruyswijk shot a 5-under 67 and rallied to beat Heinrich Bruiners by one shot in the Vodacom Origins of Golf series on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. … Gabriela Ruffels closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the Four Winds Invitational, keeping her atop the Epson Tour points list. The tournament ended on Saturday in South Bend, Indiana. … Nana Suganuma shot 3-under 69 and defeated Sora Kamiya in a playoff to win the NEC Karuizawa 72 Golf Tournament on the Japan LPGA.