Times wires
Sunday, August 21, 2011
HARRISON, N.Y. — Fred Couples finished off John Cook with a nifty wedge shot to 3 feet on the third hole of a playoff Sunday at the Senior Players Championship, winning his first senior major title.
"I knew when it was going, it was a really good shot," Couples said. "I didn't think it was going to be short and trickle down the hill. I just felt like it was going to be right there."
Couples closed with even-par 71 to match Cook (70) at 11-under on Westchester Country Club's West Course, a longtime PGA Tour venue where Couples estimated he has played about 100 rounds in 30 years.
Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, won for the first time this season after winning four times last year in his first season on the 50-and-over tour. And he won after having a nontraditional back procedure six weeks ago, and had to battle the stiff wind and a sore left hip that began giving him trouble during a nearly two-hour rain delay.
Couples joined Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd as the only players to win the Players Championship on the regular and senior tours. He also earned a spot in The Players Championship, an event he won in 1984 and 1996. "I get to play with the studs," he said, "so that'll be fun."
Cook, seeking his first major win, held a share of the lead for nine holes but bogeyed No. 16 and missed birdie putts on the last two holes to force the playoff.
Simpson wins first as FedEx Cup field set
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Webb Simpson won the Wyndham Championship for his first PGA Tour title, finishing with bogey-free 3-under 67 for a three-stroke victory at the event that serves as the last chance to gain FedEx Cup playoff points.
The Raleigh native and former Wake Forest standout had an 18-under 262 total at Sedgefield Country Club.
"I really couldn't think of a better place to win than here in Greensboro," Simpson said. "… That was probably the most fun 18 holes I've ever been a part of."
George McNeill (64) was second, and Tommy Gainey (69) was third at 14 under.
Some big names came to Greensboro hoping to play their way into the playoffs. The top 125 qualify for The Barclays later this week in New Jersey (see the playoff field at golf.tampabay.com).
Padraig Harrington, who called off a vacation so he could try to escape the bubble, finished 6 under and went from No. 130 to No. 124. Ernie Els, who entered at No. 126, made it in, his 8-under finish good for 118th.
Among those who didn't make it: Justin Leonard missed a 13-foot putt on the 18th, and that left him at No. 126.
Pettersen rallies from 9 back at Safeway
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Suzann Pettersen rallied to win the LPGA Safeway Classic, overcoming a nine-stroke deficit with 7-under 64 and beating Na Yeon Choi with a par on the first hole of a playoff at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
In the playoff, Choi's second shot on the par-4 18th went into the water and she missed a putt for bogey before Pettersen sank her winning putt.
Pettersen won her second LPGA Tour title this year and eighth overall, jumping to No. 2 in the world rankings behind Yani Tseng.
"I didn't really expect this when I when I woke up this morning nine strokes back," Pettersen said. "I guess when you're on a roll, you're on a roll."
Choi finished with 73 to match Pettersen at 6 under. Choi birdied the par-4 17th to take a one-stroke lead but dropped a shot after leaving a chip short on the final hole to force the playoff.
Seminole's Brittany Lincicome, who started the day tied for fourth, shot 75 to tie for 18th at 2-over 215. Tampa's Kristy McPherson shot 71 to tie for 24th at 3 over.
PGA-Wyndham Championship
At Greensboro, N.C.
Final
W. Simpson (500), $936,000 66-65-64-67— 262 -18
G. McNeill (300), $561,600 65-70-66-64— 265 -15
To. Gainey (190), $353,600 63-65-69-69— 266 -14
C. Howell III (104), $196,040 69-65-66-67— 267 -13
Jerry Kelly (104), $196,040 67-66-69-65— 267 -13
Kyung-tae Kim, $196,040 69-67-65-66— 267 -13
C. Pettersson (104), $196,040 65-70-63-69— 267 -13
Vijay Singh (104), $196,040 65-69-68-65— 267 -13
Jim Furyk (75), $140,400 65-67-69-67— 268 -12
Chez Reavie (75), $140,400 66-69-68-65— 268 -12
Ca. Villegas (75), $140,400 70-64-68-66— 268 -12
269 — Jason Bohn (59), $101,920;65-68-67-69; Joe Durant (59), $101,920;67-70-67-65; Davis Love III (59), $101,920;70-67-66-66; John Mallinger (59), $101,920;68-65-65-71; Scott McCarron (59), $101,920;68-67-69-65; 270 — Retief Goosen (51), $65,780;67-65-68-70; Justin Leonard (51), $65,780;66-67-68-69; Pat Perez (51), $65,780;68-69-68-65; Tim Petrovic (51), $65,780;68-66-67-69; Aron Price (51), $65,780;72-65-68-65; Heath Slocum (51), $65,780;70-64-67-69; Daniel Summerhays (51), $65,780;66-65-68-71; David Toms (51), $65,780;66-70-69-65; 271 — Tim Herron (44), $40,560;65-68-68-70; Jarrod Lyle (44), $40,560;68-66-69-68; John Rollins (44), $40,560;67-67-68-69; Josh Teater (44), $40,560;70-66-69-66; Michael Thompson (44), $40,560;68-69-66-68; 272 — Blake Adams (37), $28,964;68-65-70-69; Stuart Appleby (37), $28,964;64-67-70-71; Briny Baird (37), $28,964;68-69-68-67; Ernie Els (37), $28,964;65-66-69-72; Lucas Glover (37), $28,964;70-65-69-68; Billy Horschel (37), $28,964;67-67-66-72; Brandt Jobe (37), $28,964;69-67-67-69; Marc Leishman (37), $28,964;68-68-67-69; Rod Pampling (37), $28,964;68-69-66-69; Alexandre Rocha (37), $28,964;66-66-70-70; 273 — Kris Blanks (28), $19,240;69-65-69-70; Brendon de Jonge (28), $19,240;69-67-65-72; Tom Gillis (28), $19,240;68-68-68-69; Bill Lunde (28), $19,240;67-67-68-71; Will MacKenzie (28), $19,240;68-65-71-69; Nick O'Hern (28), $19,240;68-68-67-70; Kevin Stadler (28), $19,240;69-65-68-71; 274 — Chad Campbell (22), $13,749;68-67-68-71; Paul Casey (22), $13,749;65-67-69-73; Padraig Harrington (22), $13,749;69-68-69-68; Jeff Quinney (22), $13,749;63-70-71-70; Cameron Tringale (22), $13,749;69-67-69-69; 275 — Charles Warren (16), $12,005;67-68-75-65; Bud Cauley, $12,005;69-68-68-70; Greg Chalmers (16), $12,005;66-70-71-68; Nathan Green (16), $12,005;67-69-69-70; William McGirt (16), $12,005;69-64-72-70; Vaughn Taylor (16), $12,005;66-68-67-74; Johnson Wagner (16), $12,005;69-67-67-72; 276 — Woody Austin (10), $11,336;67-70-68-71; Jim Herman (10), $11,336;70-64-68-74; Kent Jones (10), $11,336;68-66-72-70; Sunghoon Kang (10), $11,336;68-67-70-71; Kevin Kisner (10), $11,336;70-67-71-68; 277 — Joseph Bramlett (7), $10,972;69-67-70-71; David Duval (7), $10,972;67-69-72-69; 278 — John Daly (3), $10,608;69-68-70-71; Andres Gonzales (3), $10,608;68-69-69-72; Lee Janzen (3), $10,608;65-69-70-74; Patrick Reed, $10,608;66-68-71-73; Jimmy Walker (3), $10,608;65-71-74-68; 279 — Joe Ogilvie (1), $10,296;72-65-70-72; 285 — D.J. Brigman (1), $10,140;66-69-75-75; Jim Renner (1), $10,140;66-70-75-74.
Senior Players Championship
At Harrison, N.Y.
Final
Fred Couples (810), $405,000 68-66-68-71— 273 -11
John Cook (475), $237,600 69-68-66-70— 273 -11
Peter Senior (389), $194,400 66-69-68-71— 274 -10
Tom Lehman (324), $162,000 73-67-67-68— 275 -9
M. O'Meara (259), $129,600 68-70-69-69— 276 -8
277 — Chip Beck (167), $83,700;73-70-69-65; John Huston (167), $83,700;72-70-68-67; Bernhard Langer (167), $83,700;71-73-66-67; Hal Sutton (167), $83,700;73-68-67-69; Tommy Armour III (167), $83,700;68-72-67-70; Jeff Sluman (167), $83,700;65-73-69-70; 278 — Mark Calcavecchia, $59,400;69-71-67-71; 279 — Kenny Perry, $52,650;73-70-69-67; Jay Don Blake, $52,650;69-73-68-69; 280 — Brad Bryant, $47,250;71-70-72-67; Russ Cochran, $47,250;68-71-70-71; 281 — Michael Allen, $37,035;67-73-71-70; Tom Kite, $37,035;71-68-72-70; Bob Tway, $37,035;71-72-67-71; Olin Browne, $37,035;70-71-67-73; Mark Wiebe, $37,035;69-71-68-73; Corey Pavin, $37,035;67-69-69-76; 282 — Ted Schulz, $27,054;71-72-71-68; Steve Lowery, $27,054;76-68-68-70; David Eger, $27,054;70-72-69-71; Phil Blackmar, $27,054;71-68-71-72; Gary Hallberg, $27,054;66-75-68-73; 283 — Loren Roberts, $21,870;73-73-67-70; Tom Watson, $21,870;76-69-70-68; Mark McNulty, $21,870;70-70-72-71; Joe Ozaki, $21,870;75-72-65-71; 284 — Chien Soon Lu, $17,820;75-71-67-71; Bruce Vaughan, $17,820;74-71-67-72; Tom Jenkins, $17,820;73-73-71-67; Jay Haas, $17,820;67-74-70-73; Jim Rutledge, $17,820;74-71-72-67; 285 — Morris Hatalsky, $14,850;71-67-75-72; David Peoples, $14,850;70-72-73-70; Bobby Wadkins, $14,850;73-70-68-74; 286 — Eduardo Romero, $12,690;77-68-70-71; Bobby Clampett, $12,690;70-77-69-70; Trevor Dodds, $12,690;75-67-69-75; Bob Gilder, $12,690;76-71-72-67; Joey Sindelar, $12,690;71-76-72-67; 287 — Lonnie Nielsen, $9,720;73-70-71-73; Hale Irwin, $9,720;73-74-68-72; Keith Fergus, $9,720;73-74-68-72; Mark Brooks, $9,720;73-71-71-72; Scott Simpson, $9,720;73-67-75-72; Bill Glasson, $9,720;72-70-69-76; 288 — D.A. Weibring, $7,290;70-77-68-73; Nick Price, $7,290;69-72-71-76; Lee Rinker, $7,290;75-72-72-69; 289 — Robert Thompson, $6,480;72-71-72-74; 290 — David Frost, $5,805;76-67-71-76; Mike Goodes, $5,805;73-69-73-75; Steve Pate, $5,805;70-73-73-74; Jim Thorpe, $5,805;75-74-68-73; 291 — Craig Stadler, $5,130;78-71-69-73; 292 — Wayne Levi, $4,455;74-73-71-74; Larry Nelson, $4,455;75-71-72-74; James Mason, $4,455;74-75-70-73; Tim Simpson, $4,455;70-76-74-72; 293 — Tom Purtzer, $3,375;70-75-72-76; Keith Clearwater, $3,375;70-76-72-75; Mike Reid, $3,375;75-77-67-74; J.L. Lewis, $3,375;73-78-70-72; Steve Haskins, $2,457;73-78-70-73; 294 — Dan Forsman, $2,457;75-76-71-72; Brad Faxon, $2,457;77-73-72-72; Jim Gallagher, Jr., $2,457;73-75-74-72; 296 — Peter Jacobsen, $1,971;72-73-75-76; Ben Crenshaw, $1,971;73-77-75-71; 297 — Rod Spittle, $1,782;74-73-74-76; 298 — Fuzzy Zoeller, $1,620;74-71-73-80; Bruce Fleisher, $1,620;72-73-77-76; 299 — John Morse, $1,458;78-74-73-74.