NAPA, Calif. — Max Homa chipped in from nearly 33 feet for birdie on the closing hole, then watched as Danny Willett shockingly three-putted from inside 4 feet on Sunday to give Homa his second straight title at the Fortinet Championship.
Homa high-fived his caddie when his ball hit the flagstick and dropped. His previous shot from a nearby bunker came up short of the green at the par-5 18th hole. Willett, meanwhile, had a one-shot lead at the rain-soaked PGA Tour season opener and stuffed his third shot to 3 feet, 7 inches.
He rammed his first putt 4 feet, 8 inches by, then missed the comebacker to hand Homa his fifth victory on tour.
Homa closed with a 4-under 66 for a total of 16-under 272 and now heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup with three wins in the past 12 months. Willett shot 69. Taylor Montgomery was alone in third at 13 under after a closing 64.
LIV GOLF
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — British Open champion Cameron Smith made his decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf pay off when he closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago.
Smith was only briefly threatened in the third and final round. One of the key moments was a 10-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and neither Dustin Johnson nor Peter Uihlein could do enough to catch him.
Smith won $4 million from the $20 million purse for individual play.
Johnson (70) and Uihlein (69) each made birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Rich Harvest Farms and tied for second, each earning $1,812,500.
Johnson’s birdie enabled his team to win for the fourth straight time, which was worth an additional $750,000 for Johnson, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. In the five events Johnson has played, he now has made just over $12.5 million.
LPGA TOUR
PORTLAND, Ore. — Andrea Lee recovered from two early bogeys and pulled away with five birdies on the back nine to close with a 6-under 66 and win the AmazingCre Portland Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.
Lee took the lead for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then hit a superb bunker shot from left of the 17th green to save par and keep a two-shot lead.
She was in the middle of the 18th fairway when she watched Daniela Darquea of Ecuador finish with a third straight birdie for a 66 to pull within one shot. Lee drilled her approach to 15 feet and lagged her putt to within inches to tap in for the win.
It was quite a turnaround for Lee, a former No. 1 amateur from Stanford whose game got off track to the point her LPGA status suffered and she started the year on the developmental Epson Tour.
And then she climbed her way out of it, winning on the Epson Tour, taking advantage of sponsor exemptions with solid play and finally cashing in at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for her first win.
