Sung Kang pumps his fist after a birdie putt on the 10th hole in the final round of the Byron Nelson on Sunday at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.DALLAS - Sung Kang was a teenager when his father started sending him from South Korea to northern Texas in the winters and summers to work on his golf game.
The 31-year-old Kang, who now lives in the area, got to call his father Sunday to tell him "I did it" after earning his first PGA Tour victory in his 159th start.
Kang closed the AT&T Byron Nelson with a 4-under-par 67 to finish at 23-under 261 and beat Matt Every (66) and Scott Piercy (64) by two strokes.
With three consecutive birdies late, including a 23-footer on the 15th hole, Kang finally regained the lead for good on a 27-hole day at Trinity Forest Golf Club - about 30 minutes from his home in Coppell, where he has lived since his PGA Tour debut in 2011.
"It just feels amazing. I was thinking about winning on the PGA Tour when I was real young and watching Tiger dominating," Kang said. "My dad gave me a lot of support when I was young."
Kang pumped his fist when the birdie dropped in at No. 15, making for a two-stroke swing. Every, who started that 431-yard par 4 tied for the lead, was in the middle of the fairway before what he called "just a terrible shot" on his approach that set up a three-putt for bogey.
"I watched him for 72 holes," Every said. "He didn't miss. Hard to beat."
Twice over the last two days, Every overcame deficits of at least four strokes and went ahead of Kang. They played together all four rounds.
"First two rounds, we're not playing to win. We're just making birdies back and forth, and back and forth. Just getting great momentum," said Kang, who matched the course record with a 61 in the second round Friday. "Then Saturday and Sunday, it's going. He played great on the front nine. I played great on the back nine."
Piercy ended the tournament without making a bogey.
Brooks Koepka, No. 3 in the World Golf Ranking, closed with a 65 to finish fourth at 20 under, missing a chance to seize some major momentum heading into the PGA Championship. Koepka will begin his bid to repeat as the winner Thursday, when the event tees off on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, New York.
"Sometimes you just get beat. That happened this week," Koepka said. "Played good. I like my chances next week. I feel like I'm striking it well, putting it really well. It was important going into next week."
Every and Kang had an extended day on the course Sunday after the third round was delayed six hours by rain and they got in only nine holes before play was suspended by darkness.
Kang started the third round with a four-stroke lead, but he trailed Every by one when play was stopped midway through that round Saturday night. When they resumed Sunday morning, Kang regained the lead with three birdies on the back nine, while Every had four consecutive bogeys.
A third-round 68 put Kang at 19 under, three strokes ahead of Every (67) going into the fourth round.
Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger closed with a 68 and tied for 17th at 14 under. The former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Baylor School standout from Germany was in the 60s all four rounds as he earned $118,500 and 49 points in the FedEx Cup standings. It's his third-best finish in the 2018-19 schedule - he was 14th at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October and 16th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in November - and his best payday this season.
Two more of the four former Baylor School golfers on the PGA Tour were also in the field, with Harris English (68) sharing 43rd at 9 under and Keith Mitchell (72) another stroke back in a tie for 53rd. Mitchell now turns his attention to his first PGA Championship appearance, where the field will include former Red Raiders standout Luke List, who's in the PGA of America's annual major for the third straight year.
Young Swede survives at British Masters
SOUTHPORT, England - Marcus Kinhult birdied the final two holes to secure his first European Tour title after a tense finish to the British Masters.
The 22-year-old Swedish golfer closed with a 2-under 70 and finished at 16-under 272 overall.
His chance of winning appeared to evaporate when he surrendered a one-shot lead with bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes at Hillside Golf Club, but Kinhult recovered to finish a shot ahead of Scotland's Robert MacIntyre (68) and England's Eddie Pepperell (66) and Matt Wallace (71).
Pepperell, who was trying to repeat as tournament champion, had set the clubhouse target at 15 under before MacIntyre produced a stunning eagle-birdie finish to join him at the top of the leaderboard.
"I'm speechless; I don't know what happened the last two holes," Kinhult said. "There's a lot going through my mind, a lot of emotions, and I am just so happy that I managed to handle those pretty well."
A four-man playoff appeared probable when Kinhult birdied the 17th and playing partner Wallace missed from four feet, but after Wallace also missed for birdie on the 18th, Kinhult holed his putt from 12 feet to seal a remarkable win.
"It's small margins. I got off to a good start and just kept the momentum through the week," said Kinhult who opened with a 65 before shooting a 69 on Friday and a 68 on Saturday.
Scotland's Richie Ramsay (72) took fifth at 12 under, with England's Jordan Smith (68) and Paul Waring (67) another stroke back in sixth.
The five-way tie for eighth at 10 under included Tommy Fleetwood, who hosted the tournament in his hometown, and Germany's Martin Kaymer, an 11-time European Tour winner who has no victories since securing his second major championship at the 2014 U.S. Open.
PGA Tour Champions: Not in this weather
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The final round of the Regions Tradition barely got underway before play was suspended because of thunderstorms.
After 4 1/2 hours of steady rain, PGA Tour Champions officials postponed the round to Monday, when an early resumption was to be accompanied by a two-tee start on Greystone Golf & Country Club's Founders Course.
A handful of players got in one hole Sunday before having to leave the course. The leaders did not start the final round of the first of the five annual major championships on the 50-and-older tour.
Steve Stricker held a two-stroke lead at 14-under 202. Billy Andrade, two-time Tradition winner Bernhard Langer and David Toms were tied for second, two strokes back.
The first round was completed Friday after bad weather stopped play Thursday. Stricker still had five holes to go on his way to a 68 and then shot a 64 in the second round, followed by Saturday's 70.
The course was deluged by nearly an inch of rain Sunday morning.