Golf roundup: Max Homa wins Wells Fargo Championship for first PGA Tour win; Baylor alum Keith Mitchell in top 10

Max Homa celebrates after winning the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Homa closed with a 67 for a three-shot victory over Joel Dahmen.
Max Homa celebrates after winning the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Homa closed with a 67 for a three-shot victory over Joel Dahmen.
photo Joel Dahmen holds up the ball after a bogey putt on the ninth hole during Sunday's final round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Dahmen closed with a 70 and finished second.
photo Max Homa watches his putt on the 18th hole at Quail Hollow Club as he closes out a win Sunday in the Wells Fargo Championship.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Max Homa traded in a shovel for a ladder to get places he always thought he could reach.

Two years ago in his second try on the PGA Tour, he made only two cuts the entire season and played only one round on a Sunday. Eight months ago, he was on the verge of going back to Q-school and an uncertain future until closing with four straight birdies to make the cut in a Web.com Tour event that gave him another shot at the big leagues.

It made Sunday all that much sweeter in the Wells Fargo Championship.

In a three-way tie for the lead, in the final group on the PGA Tour for the first time, with Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose right behind him, Homa outplayed them all with a 4-under-par 67 for a three-shot victory at Quail Hollow Club and his first PGA Tour title.

"I used to say when I hit rock bottom, I found a shovel and kept digging. I went to some low, low places," he said. "I'd use a shovel and dig deeper. I realized in that year or two when I started to play bad that my attitude was going to have to get a lot better. I'm very proud I finally found a ladder and started climbing, because it was getting dark down there."

Suddenly, the immediate future is bright as can be. He has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a tee time at the PGA Championship next week at Bethpage Black and a spot in the Masters next year.

A former NCAA champion at the University of California, Homa has "Relentless" in block letters tattooed on his right forearm. The 28-year-old Californian also has a signed photo from former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who once told him to look at the picture and be reminded to believe in himself.

The trophy at his side, Homa's news conference was interrupted for him to take a call from the 91-year-old Lasorda.

"I guess my whole world is different," he said.

Golf felt so hard for Homa for so many years after he left Cal, and then he made it look so easy in a final round that made him so nervous he wanted to throw up, except when he had his hands on a golf club. He pulled away with two birdies to start the back nine for a four-shot lead. He didn't make a bogey until it only affected the final margin.

It was a one-hour rain delay that tested Homa the most. He was leading by three strokes when he nearly went in the water on the 14th hole and chipped up to six feet from the cup when the horn sounded to stop play. With time he didn't need on his hands, he called his fiancée and his coach and can't remember what either of them said.

Then he returned and buried the putt.

"I knew in the back of my mind if I made that putt, I win this golf tournament," said Homa, who finished at 15-under 269.

Joel Dahmen, who pushed Homa as hard as any major champion, saved par with a tough chip over the creek for a 70 and was second, a shot ahead of second-ranked Justin Rose (68).

"I didn't beat myself today, which was kind of the goal," said Dahmen, a cancer survivor who keeps golf in perspective. "Max is playing awesome. He's a good friend. I think we're going to celebrate tonight."

Homa effectively sealed it with a perfect play to the green on the par-5 15th for a two-putt birdie, and a 10-foot par putt on the 17th to keep a three-shot lead before Quail Hollow's tough closing hole. He made a 10-foot par putt there, too, and the celebration was on for a victory worth $1,422,000, or about $454,000 more than he had made in his previous 67 starts.

"Over the moon, man," Homa said before going to sign his card. "It means a lot to do it under pressure, and job security is great. I haven't had that."

Fourth place was shared by Paul Casey (69), Jason Dufner (73) Rickie Fowler (68) and Garcia (68) at 9 under.

There was a five-way tie for eighth at 7 under, a group that included Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell. The former Baylor School and University of Georgia golfer closed with a 69 to earn $213,300 and 75 points in the FedEx Cup standings, pushing his season totals to $2,234,593 and 847 points.

Two other Baylor graduates were also around for the final day. Harris English (72) tied for 54th at 2 over, and Luke List (75) tied for 65th at 5 over.

In double digits

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Scott McCarron won the Insperity Invitational for his 10th PGA Tour Champions victory overall and second in three weeks.

The 53-year-old McCarron held off Scott Parel by two strokes, closing with a 5-under 67 to finish at 17-under 199 and match Fred Couples (2010) for the best score since the event moved to The Woodlands Country Club in 2008.

McCarron won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic two weeks ago at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia, then teamed with Brandt Jobe to tie for fifth last weekend in Missouri in the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. McCarron, who won three times on the PGA Tour, earned $330,000 with Sunday's victory and increased his lead in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings.

Parel closed with a 66. After Parel birdied the par-5 15th to pull within a stroke, McCarron hit a 6-iron shot to a foot from the hole for birdie on the par-3 16th to push his advantage back to two shots. Parel missed a chance to pull within one on the par-4 17th when his three-foot birdie putt caught the left edge and lipped out.

Lee Janzen (67) was third at 12 under, with Marco Dawson (68) and Paul Goydos (70) another stroke back in fourth.

Chattanooga's Gibby Gilbert III closed with a 72 and tied for 48th at 1 over.

Hard-earned win

DALY CITY, Calif. - Sei Young Kim overcame a rough start to win the LPGA Mediheal Championship in cold and windy conditions, outlasting Bronte Law and Jeongeun Lee6 with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff at Lake Merced Golf Club.

Three strokes ahead after 54 holes, Kim opened her final round with a double bogey and a bogey and dropped another stroke on No. 8. The 26-year-old South Korean birdied the par-5 15th to regain a share of the lead, dropped back with a bogey on the par-3 17th and birdied the par-5 18th for a 3-over 75 and a spot in the playoff at 7-under 281.

England's Law closed with a 65, finishing more than two hours before Kim, and South Korea's Lee6 had a 67.

Kim won for the eighth time on the LPGA Tour, improving to 4-0 in playoffs. She nearly retraced her regulation path on the 18th in the playoff, almost driving into her own divot and hitting another 4-iron shot from 199 yards a foot closer than before onto the front right fringe.

Law left her approach short and right and pitched to six feet from the hole. Lee6's approach bounced into the middle of the green, leaving her a 40-foot eagle putt she hit six feet past the cup. After Kim putted to two feet away, Law missed her birdie putt to the right and Lee6's try went left. Kim then ended it.

Charley Hull (74), Eun-Hee Ji (71), Lexi Thompson (71) and Amy Yang (71) tied for fourth at 5 under.

China comeback

SHENZHEN, China - Mikko Korhonen held his nerve to edge Benjamin Hebert in a playoff, completing a comeback to win the Volvo China Open.

Finland's Korhonen started the final round three shots behind France's Hebert, the third-round leader, but Korhonen closed the gap by shooting a 6-under 66 that left him and Hebert tied at 20-under 268 at the end of regulation. Hebert closed with a birdie for his final-round 69.

From there, the 38-year-old Korhonen didn't take long to wrap up his second European Tour title, sinking an eight-foot putt for a birdie on the first playoff hole at Genzon Golf Club, the par-4 18th.

Korhonen, who made seven birdies in the final round to offset a lone bogey, won for the first time since last June at the Shot Clock Masters in Austria. Sunday's victory moves him into the top 100 in the World Golf Ranking and is likely to earn him another trip to the PGA Championship, which starts next week.

Spain's Jorge Campillo (67), who was in the final group with Hebert and Korhonen, finished third as he missed the playoff by a stroke. China's Li Haotong, the tournament's 2016 winner, was another three shots back in fourth. Five golfers shared fifth at 15 under: France's Romain Langasque (67) and Mike Lorenzo-Vera (64), the United States' David Lipsky (66), England's Jordan Smith (67) and China's Ashun Wu (70).

Chinese golfer Kuang Yang, who on Friday became the youngest person to make the cut at a regular European Tour event - outside the majors - at 14 years, 6 months, 12 days, closed with a 73 and tied for 55th at 4 under.

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