Tom Watson wins Senior PGA Championship

Tom Watson holed a 3-foot putt for a birdie to claim the 72nd Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
Watson, 61, became the second oldest player to win the event after the late Jock Hutchison won it at the age of 62 back in 1947.

Watson’s winning putt came in a sudden-death playoff against David Eger; Watson’s 2-under par 70 enough to tie Eger at 10-under par 278. Watson was the only player to shoot four rounds under par in the tournament, with rounds of 70-70-68-70 and wins $360,000.

“When you’re walking up the 18th hole and you have a chance to win a tournament like this, you’re nervous,” Watson said. “You’re nervous. But you’ve been there before. And I said, ‘okay, I know that level of feeling in my gut and now let’s go take care of business.’”

Eger, who has won four times on the Champions Tour, earned his spot in the play-off after a best-of-the-day round of 67, to overhaul a 4-shot deficit.

Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota finished alone in third spot, missing the playoff by one shot. Murota’s level-par 72 included six birdies, six bogeys and six pars.

Hale Irwin was bidding to become the oldest winner of a Major at 65 years old – he turns 66 on Friday, and finished back in fourth place on 8-under par as he shot a closing 73.

Defending champion Tom Lehman finished well down the leaderboard in 22nd place with a level par total for his four rounds.

Bradley triumphs in HP Byron Nelson Championship after playoff

Keegan Bradley saw off long-time leader Ryan Palmer to win his first PGA Tour title at the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas, Texas.

Leading by one shot overnight, Palmer carded a closing 2-over par 72 as Bradley was putting together a 2-under 68 and the pair tied at 3-under par after regulation play.

Bradley had missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole, and had to wait almost an hour for Palmer to finish; the player’s six-footer for par earning him a play-off.

With the pair replaying the 18th, both pushed their tee shots to the right. But as Bradley’s approach found the green, Palmer’s slid off the putting surface into the water hazard.

Palmer gave himself a chance, and holed out for a bogey but with two putts to win Bradley rolled his approach putt to within two feet and sank his par putt to win for the first time. Bradley hadn’t even won on the Nationwide Tour before joining the full PGA Tour at the start of the season.

Japan’s Ryuji Imada bogeyed three of his last four holes after leading the tournament at 5 under par to card a closing round of 71. He shared third with Joe Ogilvie who shot a closing 70; the pair finished a stroke back at 2 under.

Defending champion Jason Day was a further shot back in fifth place after a closing 67 to move to 1-under par. It was Day’s fourth top-10 finish from his last five starts.

In all, only 5 players managed to card under par for their four rounds, with John Rollins and Matt Kuchar finishing level par for the tournament.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia had high hopes of winning his first tournament on any Tour since 2008 after beginning the final round one shot off the lead. But Garcia endured a torrid final round, reaching the turn five over par, before adding another trio of bogeys and a solitary birdie on the homeward nine to card a 77 and drop to 3-over par for the tournament.

It was however good enough to give Garcia a top-20 finish, as the Spaniard finished in a tie for 20th with five other players, including tipster representative Dustin Johnson.

Luke Donald wins BMW PGA Championship in play-off drama

It took a playoff to determine the outcome, but when the dust settled it was Luke Donald who had come out on top to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and become the new world number one.

Donald had started the final day’s play tied for the lead with young Italian Matteo Manassero, but it looked for much of the round as if the world number two was going to play second fiddle to Lee Westwood, who had begun two shots back.

A bogey-bogey start by Donald saw Westwood draw level after just two holes, but Donald regained the lead when Westwood made bogey on the 3rd hole. The pair shared birdies on the 4th hole before Westwood found two more birdies to take a one shot lead into the turn.

Donald briefly tied the lead again at the 10th, but found himself two behind with just three holes left to play as Westwood added further birdies at the 12th and 15th holes, while Donald could only muster pars.

The tide turned for Donald at the 16th where a birdie, coupled with a dropped shot by Westwood saw the pair level once again and they couldn’t be separated over the closing two holes – Westwood missing an 8-foot birdie putt on the last that would have given him victory. Similarly, Donald had – and missed – a 30 foot putt to seal the win.

In the playoff over the 18th hole, both players laid up short of the water hazard in two shots. As Donald put his approach to six feet, Westwood’s approach spun back off the green into the hazard. It was a cruel blow of misfortune for Westwood, who had looked for much of the round as if he was going to win. He signed for a 68, while Donald carded a 70.

Simon Dyson signed for a closing 69 to finish four under and create the first all-English one-two-three in the event since 1974.

Australian Marcus Fraser, Irishman Shane Lowry and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin finished a further two shots behind, while 2010 Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie recorded his first top-10 finish since 2008 with a closing 68 to take a share of 7th place with five other players including Manassero.

The Italian had a tough job in trying to repel the challenges of the top two players in the world, and it was perhaps no surprise to see the 18-year old crumble under the pressure with a series of wayward shots.

It was also third time lucky in terms of the world rankings as Donald’s win saw him leapfrog Lee Westwood at the head of the Official Golf World Rankings. Had Donald won either the Volvo World Match Play Championship last week where he was runner up to Ian Poulter, or The Heritage where he lost a playoff to Brandt Snedeker, he would have been crowned as number one earlier.

Donald’s win was also his ninth successive top-10 finish – his astounding run of form beginning at the WGC Accenture Matchplay back in February, and became the third successive English winner after Paul Casey in 2009 and Simon Khan in 2010.

Palmer takes slender lead in HP Byron Nelson Championship

Spain’s Sergio Garcia is within one shot of claiming a first victory on any Tour since 2008 despite enduring a difficult third round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, Texas.

Garcia, who started the day as joint leader with United States’ Ryan Palmer, couldn’t find a birdie in his third round but did card four bogeys to go round in 74 shots to close on 4-under par. Garcia’s poor round might have been enough to see his challenge end, but Ryan Palmer equally made a hash of things.

The American fared little better than Garcia on the birdie front – finding just one gain and matching Garcia’s tally of bogeys to finish just one shot ahead of the Spaniard at 5-under par, leaving all to play for in the final round.

The windy conditions made good scoring difficult and the last three holes at TPC Four Seasons were played into the wind, and winds blew throughout the day at a sustained 25 mph, with some gusts hitting 40mph. Only eight players of the 74 left in the event managed to put together a sub-par round, while no player managed to avoid dropping at least one shot in their round.

India’s Arjun Atwal was one of the eight players to break par; his 67 moving him into a share of third place two shots behind Palmer. Atwal ‘s round included four birdies in five holes and he was joined on 3-under par by Japan’s Ryuji Imada, who carded a level-par 70.

Matt Kuchar – the highest ranked player in the field – and Gary Woodland both shot 68s to share fifth, along with Joe Ogilvy who shot a 2-over 72.

First round leader Jeff Overton is amongst a group of eight players on 1-under par and sharing 8th place. The group includes Nick Watney, who shot 73 and amateur Jordan Speith who opened his round with back-to-birdies before going on to card a 72.

Meanwhile tipster pick Dustin Johnson’s 69 moved him back to level-par for the tournament, five shots off the pace.

Donald, Manassero ready for final round showdown but Westwood ready to pounce

Luke Donald is one round away from potentially becoming the new world number one, but the Englishman had to fight tooth-and-nail to remain in contention after it appeared early that his challenge for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was about to fizzle out.

Donald, who finished tied for the lead after the third round with Italian Matteo Manassero, played his outward nine holes in 5-over par, but rallied magnificently on the homeward nine to recover all but one of those dropped shots and card a 1-over par round of 72 to close on 5-under par.

Donald admitted afterwards that he felt like the late Seve Ballesteros, such was his waywardness and recovery, and said he would have to play better if he were to be involved in the finish.

“I am going to have to play better than that for sure. I felt somewhat like Seve (Ballesteros) – in the trees, leaves on my back, dropping the ball, escaping from everywhere.”

Manassero had started the third round as one of three players tied for the lead – the others being Donald and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, and the Italian turned in 1-over par 36 before passing up a host of birdie opportunities on the homeward nine to also card a 72 and share the lead.

But Quiros dropped back with a disappointing 76; carding two triple-bogeys at the 9th and 17th holes. Despite a birdie on the last hole, Quiros closed 1-under par for the tournament.

Paraguay player Fabrizio Zanotti shot a round of 69 to move into a share of third, alongside current world number one Lee Westwood who moved menacingly into contention following a second successive round of 69.

Zanotti had started badly with four dropped shots in his first seven holes, before going on a staggering run of play to card a record seven 3s from the 8th hole.
Westwood’s game plan this week had been to steadily work into contention, and he did that to close just two shots behind the leaders.

“I have by no means flushed it or ripped it this week. I am edging my way into the week and hopefully tomorrow I will play special because that’s what I think I will need to win.”

The final day’s play promised to be exciting as Manassero seeks to stave off the challenges of the top two players in the world in Westwood and Donald, and the task will be the young Italian’s sternest test to date. And not only is the title at stake for Westwood and Donald as they prepare to do battle over the final round – whoever comes out on top after today will be the new world number one.

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