Perry holds on
Wins John Deere Classic in playoff
Kenny Perry beat Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson in a playoff to win the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Ill., and escape with his third victory in five starts after bogeying the 18th hole on Sunday.
Perry had a one-stroke lead at 17-under through 17 only to lose it thanks to some poor shots from the fringe on the final hole of regulation. He and Williamson then watched as Adamonis, the PGA Tour’s oldest rookie at 35, missed an 18-foot putt for birdie that would have won it in regulation and given him his first victory.
The ball stopped three feet short and Adamonis was at 16-under 268 with the others.
While Adamonis and Williamson both hit approach shots into the pond on No. 18, Perry tapped in from 1 foot, 4 inches for par and the victory after his 24-footer stopped just short.
He picked the ball out of the cup and raised both arms, an ear-to-ear grin crossing his face.
He has reason to smile.
He’s enjoying the best stretch of his career and collected $756,000 with his 12th victory. Perry (1-under 70), Adamonis (70) and Williamson (69) were one stroke ahead of Charlie Wi (69), Will MacKenzie (70) and Eric Axley (69) after 72 holes.
LPGA Tour
Paula Creamer shot a 2-over 73 and did just enough to make a big lead stand, going wire-to-wire to win the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Sylvania, Ohio, by two strokes.
Creamer, who captured her seventh career win and her third this season, had worse scores every day after breaking the tournament record with an 11-under 60 in the first round. She followed that with a 65 and a 70 to finish at 16-under 268, two shots better than Nicole Castrale, who closed fast with a 64.
The 21-year-old Californian saw her lead drop to a shot when rookie Shanshan Feng – the first exempt player from China to play on the LPGA Tour – pushed her with five birdies through the first 11 holes. But Feng fell back with three straight bogeys down the stretch.
Wendy Ward (Edwall, Wash.) shot a 72 on Sunday to finish at 285.
European Tour
Graeme McDowell won the Scottish Open at Luss, Scotland, with three straight birdies on the back nine for a 3-under 68 and a two-stroke victory.
Phil Mickelson had a 73 and finished 11 shots off the lead in a tie for 38th.
James Kingston (66) finished second. Richard Green and Miguel-Angel Jimenez shot 69s to tie for third at 274. Simon Khan had a 72 to finish fifth, another stroke back, but secured a spot for the British Open that starts Thursday at Royal Birkdale.
Celebrities
Rick Rhoden birdied the last two holes to win a record seventh American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, edging four-time champ Dan Quinn on the shores of Lake Tahoe where they’ve been rivals for 18 years.
Rhoden dropped a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to shoot a 2-under-par 70 and total 68 points in the modified Stableford scoring system, one ahead of Quinn and four ahead of Tony Romo and Grant Fuhr at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev.
Former Shadle Park, Washington State and NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, who won the first event at Tahoe in 1990, finished with 60 points, good for eighth place.