Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Goosen earns first PGA Tour win in four years

Associated Press

Retief Goosen took an important step toward rejoining the elite in golf Sunday by closing with a 1-under 70 for a one-shot victory in the Transitions Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla., his first PGA Tour win in nearly four years.

Goosen had a two-shot lead with three holes to play on the demanding Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, when, just like everyone else, he struggled to hang on. The two-time U.S. Open champion barely made it.

Needing only two putts from 25 feet for the win, he watched his first putt roll 5 feet past the hole. His par putt curled in the side of the cup, giving him a one-shot victory over Charles Howell III and Brett Quigley.

Quigley is now 0 for 342 in his 13 years on the PGA Tour.

LPGA Tour

Pat Hurst shot a 4-under 68 to beat top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and Yani Tseng by one stroke at the Mastercard Classic at Huixquilucan, Mexico.

Hurst sank a long putt on the 18th green at the tough BosqueReal Country Club to finish at 10-under 206. Top-ranked Ochoa (69) had three bogeys and six birdies, and Tseng (70) had three bogeys and five birdies.

Hurst won $195,000 for her first victory since the Safeway Classic in 2006.

European Tour

Argentina’s Estanislao Goya won his first European tour title, holding off Scotland’s Callum Macaulay by a stroke to capture the Madeira Islands Open at Porto Santo, Madeira Islands.

The 20-year-old Goya started the day three shots ahead and closed with a 2-over 73 to finish at 6-under 278. Macaulay, ranked No. 1,009, equaled a course record with a 64 in which he birdied eight of the last nine holes.