Golf: Steele gets his first PGA Tour victory in over five years

Brendan Steele earned redemption at Silverado and won the Safeway Open in Napa, California, for his first PGA Tour victory in more than five years.

Steele rallied from four shots behind in the rain Sunday and finished with three straight birdies for a 7-under 65, giving him a one-shot victory over a faltering Patton Kizzire.

A year ago at Silverado, Steele lost the 54-hole lead by shooting 40 on the back nine.

He two-putted from long range on the par-5 16th, holed an 18-foot birdie on the 17th and then made a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

Kizzire struggled to find fairways on the back nine. Needing birdie on the par-5 18th to force a playoff, he missed the green with a 9-iron and failed to chip in for birdie.

LPGA

Carlota Ciganda beat Alison Lee with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff in the rainy LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship in Incheon, South Korea, after each player lost big leads.

The 26-year-old Spaniard won her first LPGA Tour title with a 6-foot putt after Lee’s birdie chip from the rough off the back edge of the green missed a half-inch to the right.

Ciganda overcame a five-stroke deficit to Lee, then blew a five-stroke advantage on the final five holes – getting into the playoff when Lee bogeyed the par-5 18th after hitting into the water.

Ciganda played the final five holes in 4 over – making a double bogey on 14 and bogeys on 16 and 18 – for a 2-over 70 at Sky 72. Three strokes ahead of U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang entering the day, Lee had a 75 to match Ciganda at 10-under 278 on the Ocean Course.

Needing a par on 18 for her first victory, Lee hit a wedge that smacked into the front bank and bounced into the water. The 21-year-old was able to drop a few feet off the right edge of the green, chipped past and made a 5-footer to force the playoff.

Lee had four bogeys in a five-hole stretch in the middle of the round to seemingly fall out of contention. But while Ciganda faltered in the group ahead, Lee made a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th and a 12-footer on the par-3 17th.

China’s Shanshan Feng (70) and South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim (71) tied for third at 8 under.

Champions Tour

Doug Garwood ran away with the SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina, for his first PGA Tour Champions title, closing with an 8-under 64 for a four-stroke victory.

The 53-year-old Garwood won in his 44th start on the 50-and-over tour. He finished at 16-under 200 in the regular-season finale at Prestonwood Country Club.

Garwood birdied the last three holes on the front nine for a 6-under 30, made it four in a row on the par-4 10th, added birdies on the par-5 13th and 16th and closed with a bogey.

Bernhard Langer, two strokes ahead of Garwood and Larry Mize entering the day, had a 70 to finish second. Mize shot a 69 to tie for third with Tom Byrum (65) and Jeff Sluman (68) at 11 under.

The top 72 players on the money list earned spots in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs opener, the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood in California on Oct. 28-30.

Corey Pavin finished 72nd with $183,192, but is sidelined by a right elbow injury and won’t play at Sherwood. Michael Bradley was 73rd, $2,388 behind Pavin. Bradley closed with a 69 to tie for 13th at 6 under. A spot also was available for the top finisher in the top 10 in the tournament who ended up outside the top 72 for the season, but all the top-10 finishers were in the top 72.

European Tour

Sweden’s Alex Noren held on to win the British Masters in Watford, England, for his third European Tour victory in his last eight tournaments.

Noren shot a 2-under 69 at The Grove to finish at 18-under 266. He also won the Scottish Open and European Masters in Switzerland.

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger was second after a 67.

England’s Lee Westwood (67) was 15 under, and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (68) was 13 under along with France’s Alexander Levy (67), Sweden’s Peter Hanson (70) and Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood (70) and Richard Bland (71).