Watson wins

Tom Watson’s three-shot lead in the Senior British Open was in peril and memories of his back-nine collapse at the U.S. Senior Open three weeks ago came flooding back.

But that was in 90-degree heat at Whistling Straits. Sunday he was at cold and blustry Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland, where the five-time British Open winner and master of Scottish links courses is at home.

Watson fired his tee shot into a fairway bunker at the last hole and took two to get out of the sand, but he survived a double bogey to win his third Senior British Open in five years.

“This has been a very serene week for me,” he said. “The weather was right up my alley, good blowy conditions, a little rain here and there. The beauty of the place, I feel very comfortable.”

Standing in the sand after his wayward tee shot, Watson took a moment to compose himself.

“I thought ‘What am I doing in here? Let’s get the job done,”’ he said.

Watson eventually made it out of the sand, but then missed the green with his fourth shot. With playing partners Mark O’Meara and Stewart Ginn back in contention, Watson got his fifth, a putt from off the green, to within three feet of the flag and made that putt for a 73, a one stroke victory and yet another title on Scottish links courses.

“It’s important to get it done when you have to,” Watson said. “It didn’t look like it at 18, but I did put it in the wrong place (off the tee). It was a stupid shot.

“I didn’t have too much opportunity with the first (bunker) shot. I didn’t get it up far enough and it rolled back in the bunker. But it rolled back in far enough where I had a shot out sideways. I got it up around the green somewhere, two-putted and that was it.”

Watson, who also won two Masters titles and one U.S. Open, captured his fifth senior major with an even par total of 284 to earn $324,531 for the victory. He finished one ahead of O’Meara (72) and Ginn (75).

Canadian Open

Jim Furyk successfully defended his Canadian Open title, taking the lead with a hole-in-one on the 209-yard fourth hole and finishing with a 7-under 64 for a one-stroke victory over Vijay Singh in Markham, Ontario.

Furyk had a 16-under 268 total and earned $900,000 for his 13th PGA Tour victory and first since last September in Ancaster.

“I really appreciate all the support I had,” Furyk told the crowd during the trophy presentation on the 18th green. “It’s been great coming to Canada the last two years.”

Three strokes behind Singh after the third round, Furyk birdied two of the first three holes – holing a 35-foot putt on the par-5 first and a 9-footer on the par-4 third – before moving ahead at 13 under with his third career ace.

Furyk used a 5-iron to attack the back-right pin position on No. 4, a hole he birdied the first three days. His ball landed in the fringe just over a large bunker and rolled about 30 feet straight into the hole.

LPGA

Natalie Gulbis broke through at the Evian Masters, winning her first LPGA Tour title with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff with Jang Jeong of South Korea at Evian-Les-Bains, France.

Jang and the 24-year-old American finished the fourth round tied at 4-under 284. Gulbis had a final round 70, and Jang birdied the last hole to finish with a 72.