Roberts’ bogey wins it
Loren Roberts bogeyed the second playoff hole, but still won The Tradition on Sunday in Aloha, Ore., beating Dana Quigley, who double-bogeyed the par-4 and failed again to win his first major.
Quigley’s 3 1/2 -foot putt for bogey on No. 17 at the Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club lipped out, while Roberts’ fell.
“It’s just not my turn yet,” Quigley said.
Roberts, who turned 50 this year, was playing in just his third event on the Champions Tour.
Both players had trouble with their second shots on the second playoff hole.
Roberts’ rolled far past the hole and the signature bunker in the middle of the green. Quigley’s hit a rake near a greenside bunker and stayed right on the edge.
Roberts chipped on the green for his third shot, while Quigley was forced into an awkward stance with one foot in the bunker and the other teetering on the lip. Neither was close and both missed long par putts.
On the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, Roberts seemed to have a huge advantage when his second shot bounced on to the green, putting him in position for an eagle putt. Quigley’s second shot went into a greenside bunker but he blasted out to about 3 feet for birdie and Roberts two-putted.
Quigley knocked in an 8-foot putt for an eagle on the par-5 16th in regulation, but bogeyed the next hole and missed a 17-foot birdie on 18 – opening the door for Roberts.
Quigley shot a 4-under 68 to finish 72 holes at 15-under 273.
Roberts made birdie putts on the final two holes to finish a 67 and force the playoff.
Gil Morgan missed a birdie putt on the final hole that would have put him in the playoff. He finished at 14 under. Mark James had a 68 and was another stroke back.
PGA
Brad Faxon rolled in a 3-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the Buick Championship in Cromwell, Conn., over South African Tjaart van der Walt, his first victory since 2001.
Faxon tied the course record in regulation with a 9-under 61, a personal best for the 44-year-old. He charged from the middle of the pack starting at 5 under to play himself in contention, overtaking third-round leader Justin Rose over the closing holes.
Faxon, who made the 36-hole cut on the number, stayed close to home for his eighth PGA Tour victory, earning a $774,000 paycheck. The Rhode Islander has been a mainstay at this New England tournament, appearing 22 times. His best finish had been an eighth in 1996.
Van der Walt shot a 64 Sunday and birdied the final two holes to tie Faxon at 14-under 266 and force a playoff back to the 434-yard par-4 18th.
Rose (69) began the day with a four-stroke lead at 12 under, but never made a move until late in the day. He birdied two of the last four holes to finish one stroke out of the playoff.
Former British Open winner Ben Curtis (69), Jerry Kelly (77) and NCAA runner-up Michael Putnam (63) finished in a tie for fourth at 12 under.
LPGA
Cristie Kerr won the Wendy’s Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio, closing with a 3-under-par 69 shortly after Pat Hurst fell from a tie for the lead with a double-bogey on the last hole.
This was Kerr’s second victory of the year and sixth of her career. She finished at 18-under 270, one shot ahead of Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam. Creamer, the third-round leader, had a 71 and Sorenstam a 66, matching the day”s low round.
Kerr parred the 17th to remain in front, hitting a 12-foot par putt after chipping past the pin from over the green. She rolled in a 4-foot par putt on the final hole.
Hurst’s closing 70 left her at 272 and tied with Jeong Jang, who closed with a 67. Wendy Ward, of Edwall, Wash., shot 72 to finish at 277, tied for ninth-place.
U.S. Amateur
Italy’s Edoardo Molinari rallied from a three-hole deficit and made a 25-foot birdie putt at the 33rd hole to beat American Dillon Dougherty 4 and 3 and win the U.S. Amateur championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.
Molinari is the first Italian male to win a U.S. Golf Association title, and the first European to win the Amateur since Harold Hilton in 1911. He joins Charles “Chick” Evans (1916), Bobby Jones (1924, ‘30), Gary Cowan (1966) and Chris Patton (1989) as amateur champions at Merion, which hosted its 17th USGA championship, the most of any club.
“It means a lot to me,” Molinari said of winning at the historic Hugh Wilson-designed layout. “I still have to realize it completely. I’m really, really happy to have this win and to have won it here, especially.”
The finalists earned an invitation to next year’s Masters and U.S. Open, and, as the winner, Molinari gets a return trip to the British Open, where he finished 60th this year at St. Andrews.
European Tour
England’s David Howell shot a 7-under-par 65 to hold off John Daly by a stroke and win the BMW International Open in Nord-Eichenried, Germany.
Daly closed with a 64 and missed a 6-foot birdie attempt on the last hole that would have caught the Ryder Cup player. Daly tied for second with Australia’s Brett Rumford, who shot a 65.