Golf roundup: Roberts captures Boeing Classic title
Second-round co-leader Loren Roberts birdied the final two holes to steal the Boeing Classic title at Snoqualmie, Wash., on Sunday and keep Mark O’Meara winless on the Champions Tour.
O’Meara led by a shot until an untimely bogey on the short, par-4 16th when his second shot found a bunker short of the green. O’Meara rebounded with a birdie on the 17th, but could only manage a par on the par-5 18th when his tee shot found a fairway bunker.
Roberts took advantage. He nearly matched O’Meara’s sterling tee shot at 17 and dribbled in a 5-foot birdie putt. Then he birdied the uphill final hole with a short pitch shot to 3 feet and dropped the putt for his third victory this season.
PGA
Heath Slocum finished off a compelling afternoon at Liberty National by making a 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory over Tiger Woods and a cast of stars at The Barclays in Jersey City, N.J.
Woods was one shot behind when he fired a 6-iron from 189 yards into 7 feet on the final hole, adding to his collection of clutch shots. Typical of his week, however, Woods missed the putt and shot 67, then had to wait to see if there would be a playoff.
Slocum and Steve Stricker, tied for the lead, both hit into fairway bunkers and couldn’t reach the green. Slocum raised both arms in the air when his par putt broke gently back to the left and disappeared into the cup.
LPGA Tour
Rookie M.J. Hur hit a 6-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole of the Safeway Classic at North Plains, Ore., to beat Suzann Pettersen for her first LPGA Tour victory.
Hur shot a final-round 65, while Pettersen and veteran Michele Redman each finished with a 67 to finish at 13-under 203 and set up the playoff.
US Amateur
Byeong Hun-An defeated Clemson senior Ben Martin 7 and 5 to become the youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur.
It’s the second straight year the winner has been the youngest in the history of the event, which has been around since 1895 and played 109 times.
A 17-year-old born in South Korea, An took a 3 up lead by winning three of the last four holes in the pairing’s first of two 18-hole rounds. He doubled that edge as Martin bogeyed five of the first seven holes in the afternoon round at Tulsa, Okla.
An is about a month and a half younger than Danny Lee was when he broke Tiger Woods’ record last year to become the U.S. Amateur’s youngest champion. Lee was 18 years, 1 month at the time of his victory.