Hoffman halts another drought
Charley Hoffman rallied from a three-shot deficit Sunday by closing with a 5-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Shawn Stefani in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Hoffman ended another long drought with his third career victory on the PGA Tour. He had gone 105 starts between his first and second victories, and this time went 108 starts until winning the final PGA Tour event of the calendar year.
“It’s been awhile between wins,” Hoffman said. “I kept calm and kept hitting good shots.”
He referred to it as a low-stress round, with a few exceptions, including the final hole on the El Camaleon course at this Mexican resort.
Stefani, who closed with a 69, made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 17th to get within one shot. Stefani then hit into a fairway bunker with a lip so steep that he had no option but to hit sand wedge some 50 yards short of the green. Hoffman hit driver that rolled up against the base of a tree, which forced him to play a left-handed shot back to the fairway.
Hoffman pulled his approach some 30 feet left of the hole. Stefani’s pitch came up woefully short, and he chipped to 5 feet. That allowed Hoffman two putts for the win, and he rolled his par putt to within 18 inches for a tap-in bogey.
Hoffman finished at 17-under 267.
Danny Lee ran off seven straight birdies on the front nine to take the lead, but the former U.S. Amateur champion couldn’t hold on. Lee didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way, dropping three shots on the back nine for a 67. He finished two shots behind in a tie for third with Andres Gonzalez, who had a 67.
Jason Bohn, the 54-hole leader, shot 40 on the front to fall out of contention.
LPGA
Christina Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico City for her first LPGA Tour title in nine years, beating China’s Shanshan Feng in a playoff after blowing a five-stroke lead in the final round.
Kim won with a par on the par-4 18th on the second extra hole. The 30-year-old American won for the first time since the Tournament of Champions in November 2005.
Kim bogeyed the final hole of regulation for a 1-under 71, leaving her tied with Feng at 15-under 273 at Club de Golf Mexico. Feng shot 66.
Senior PGA Pros
Frank Esposito Jr. won the Senior PGA Professional National Championship in Port St. Lucie, Florida, closing with a 1-under 71 for a four-stroke victory.
The 51-year-old Esposito, the PGA head professional at Brooklake in Florham Park, New Jersey, holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole on PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course. He finished at 16-under 272 and earned $20,000.
The top 35 earned spots in the Senior PGA Championship in May at French Lick (Indiana) Resort. That list includes Jeff Coston, a three-time champion of Spokane’s Rosauers Open Invitational. Coston finished sixth at 10 under.