PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Calm under the intense pressure of a playoff at a major, Inbee Park added another title to her impressive LPGA Tour resume.
Park successfully defended her title in the LPGA Championship, beating Brittany Lincicome with a par on the first hole of a playoff Sunday to end the United States’ major streak at three.
“I didn’t feel that nervous at all today,” said Park, also a playoff winner last year. “But once I got to the tee on the playoff hole, I just felt the nerves right away. It was like a replay of last year and experience definitely helped me out. I think I was able to stay calm.”
The victory came on a bittersweet day when the LPGA Tour bade farewell to the Rochester area after 38 years. Next year, the tour will team with the PGA of America to run the Women’s PGA Championship. The 2015 event will be played at Westchester Country Club near New York City.
Park, Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan are the only players to win twice in a row in Rochester.
“Just very happy to be part of history,” Park said.
Lincicome was poised to win her second major and keep that American streak alive, but her nerves got the best of her after she led all day.
“Not being in this position for a while, I think it all caught up with me,” Lincicome said. “Being second at a major is always a good thing. I feel like I played really, really well this week. If I keep playing the way I did, my time’s coming soon. It was nice to be in contention again.”
On the playoff hole on Monroe Golf Club’s par-4 18th, Park hit her second shot into the rough behind the hole. Lincicome hit her approach to the left fringe, nearly identical to her position on the final hole of regulation when she made a bogey to fall into the playoff.
Lincicome chipped 6 feet past the hole and failed to convert for bogey. Park, the winner last year at Locust Hill on the third extra hole with Catriona Matthew, chipped to 3 feet and calmly sank her par putt for her fifth major title and fourth in the last two seasons.
Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Camilo Villegas won the Wyndham Championship by a stroke for his first PGA Tour victory since 2010, closing with 7-under 63 at Sedgefield.
He finished at 17-under 263 and earned $954,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points in the final regular-season event.
The Colombian had four birdies and an eagle on the front nine, added a birdie on the par-5 15th and took the lead into the clubhouse.
He then watched the rest of the field stumble late, giving him his fourth PGA Tour title and first since the 2010 Honda Classic.
Bill Haas and Freddie Jacobson tied for second. Haas had a 64, and Jacobson shot 66. Jacobson needed a par on the final hole to force a playoff, but he rolled his 11-foot putt inches past the hole.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Open
ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Bernhard Langer rallied to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for his fifth Champions Tour victory of the year, while Kevin Sutherland followed his tour-record 59 with a 74 to tie for seventh.
The 56-year-old Langer played all 54 holes without a bogey, closing with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Woody Austin and Mark O’Meara. Langer finished at 16-under 200 at En-Joie for his 23rd career victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Sutherland, the second-round leader, had five bogeys — four on the first 10 holes — and three birdies in the final round. Playing his third Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, he finished at 12 under.
Langer, tied for fifth with Bob Charles on the tour victory list, earned $277,500 to increase his tour-leading total to $2,652,520. The German has three victories in his last five starts.
By wire sources