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

Triplett’s SAS win his second of year

Triplett
Associated Press

Kirk Triplett won the SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina, for his second victory of the year and fourth in three seasons on the Champions Tour.

The 52-year-old Triplett, a former Pullman resident, closed with a 3-under 69 on Sunday for a three-stroke victory over Tom Lehman. Triplett finished at 14-under 202 at Prestonwood Country Club.

Triplett followed each of his three bogeys with birdies. The three-time PGA Tour champion also won the ACE Group Classic in February.

Lehman eagled the par-5 17th in a 70.

Bernhard Langer and Kenny Perry tied for third at 10 under. Langer, the 2012 winner, finished with a 68. Perry, the 2011 champion, had a 67.

Langer extended his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup race. He has a tour-high five wins – two of them majors – and leads the money list.

PGA Tour

Bae Sang-moon built a big lead and was steady enough on the back nine at Silverado in Napa, California, to win the Frys.com Open in the first event of the new PGA Tour season.

Bae missed a short birdie putt on the 18th that only affected the margin. He closed with a 1-over 73, the first player on the PGA Tour since Ben Crane at the St. Jude Classic in June to win with a final round over par.

Bae won by two shots over Steven Bowditch, who closed with a 67 on a dry, hot day in the Napa Valley.

The only drama came from the 28-year-old South Korean, who was six shots ahead when he made a par on the 10th hole. Bae had a trio of three-putts – two of them from just off the green – to start coming back to the field. But no one got closer than two shots all day.

Hunter Mahan closed with a 70 and wound up in five-way tie for third with Retief Goosen, Hideki Matsuyama, Martin Laird and Bryce Molder. Matsuyama finished with two straight birdies, and tied for third for the second straight year at the Frys.com Open.

Bae, who finished at 15-under 273, won for the second time in his career and earned a return trip to the Masters in April.

LPGA

China’s Shanshan Feng rallied to win the LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur for her fourth LPGA Tour title, playing a six-hole stretch on the back nine in 6 under.

The 25-year-old Feng, four strokes behind Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum entering the round, closed with a bogey-free 8-under 63 for a three-stroke victory over Phatlum.

Feng birdied Nos. 11-14 to tie Phatlum at 16 under and pulled away with a four-stroke swing when she holed a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th and Phatlum made a double bogey on the par-3 15th.

Feng parred the last two holes to finish at 18-under 266.

Lydia Ko missed a chance to take the No. 1 ranking from Stacy Lewis. The 17-year-old New Zealander needed to win and have Lewis tie for 12th or worse. Instead, Ko closed with a 70 to tie for eighth at 11 under. Lewis had a 69 to tie for 21st at 7 under.