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Teenager youngest LPGA winner

Lexi Thompson watches her approach shot to the third hole during the final round Sunday. (Associated Press)
Lexi Thompson watches her approach shot to the third hole during the final round Sunday. (Associated Press)

At 16, Lexi Thompson has become the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event.

The Floridian closed with a 2-under 70 on Sunday in Prattville, Ala., to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic.

Thompson shattered the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18. Marlene Hagge was 18 years and 14 days old when she won the single-round Sarasota Open in 1952.

Thompson, who turned 16 in February, led by five strokes entering the final round and built that to seven through 10 holes at the Robert Trent Jones Trail’s Capitol Hill complex. Then came the teen’s only big lapse on the pressure-packed day when she bogeyed the next two holes, while Joh surged to within three strokes.

Thompson erased any concerns of a collapse with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.

PGA Tour

Justin Rose chipped in for birdie on the 17th hole and hung on to win the BMW Championship in Lemont, Ill.

Rose closed with an even-par 71 at Cog Hill for a two-shot victory and is headed to the Tour Championship with a shot at the $10 million FedEx Cup prize. But it wasn’t that easy. He watched a five-shot lead shrink to one shot over John Senden until the birdie chip gave him a cushion.

Senden closed with a 70 to finish alone in second and go from No. 55 in the FedEx Cup to No. 9, making him among the top 30 who qualify for the Tour Championship.

Geoff Ogilvy (69) finished third. That gave him a spot at East Lake and at Royal Melbourne for the Presidents Cup.

Champions Tour

Jay Don Blake beat John Cook on the fifth playoff hole for his first Champions Tour victory, winning the Songdo IBD Championship at Incheon, South Korea.

The two Americans shot 68s in the final round to finish at 13-under 203 with Mark O’Meara and Peter Senior at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. O’Meara and Senior were eliminated from the playoff after bogeys on the third hole. Blake won with a 10-foot birdie on the fifth.

In April, Cook beat Blake in a playoff in Lutz, Fla.

Blake had a chance to win on the 18th hole in regulation but missed a 15-footer for birdie. Senior closed with a 64 to reach the playoff while O’Meara had a 67. Second-round leader Michael Allen shot a 75 and finished at 209.