SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — British Open champion Cameron Smith made his decision to leave the established PGA Tour for a fledgling series pay off Sunday, when he closed with a 3-under-par 69 for a three-shot victory in the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago.
Smith was only briefly threatened in the third and final round at Rich Harvest Farms. One of the key moments for the 29-year-old Australian was his 10-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and neither Dustin Johnson nor Peter Uihlein could do enough to catch him.
Smith, who finished at 13-under 203 in the 54-hole tournament, won $4 million from the $20 million purse for individual play. At No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he is the highest-rated player competing in LIV events.
“I think I had to prove to myself and other people that I’m still a great player, I’m still out here to win golf tournaments,” said Smith, who adds his first LIV win to six from his PGA Tour career and a pair of Australian PGA Championship victories. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but I stuck tough and made some putts.”
Johnson (70) and Uihlein (69) made birdies on the par-5 18th hole and tied for second, each earning $1,812,500.
However, Johnson’s birdie enabled his team to win for the fourth straight time, which was worth an additional $750,000 for Johnson, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed. In playing all five LIV events so far, Johnson has made just more than $12.5 million.
Uihlein’s team, captained by Brooks Koepka, finished second, which was worth $375,00 for each member. With the runner-up finish as an individual and team, Uihlein picked up nearly $2.2 million.
Smith let his short game do most of the damage. He made enough birdies on the front nine to stay in front, then hit a flop shot to a foot on the par-5 11th for another birdie. Uihlein made birdie on the 13th and looked as though he might be able to trim the deficit to one shot until Smith made his clutch par there.
Smith’s team tied for third with the one led by Phil Mickelson, who had his best round since joining the Saudi Arabia-funded series when it started, closing with a 66 to tie for eighth, his first top-10 finish.
Johnson was the only player in the 48-man field to have finished in the top 10 at every LIV Golf event. He was coming off a playoff victory two weeks earlier in the Boston area.
The next LIV Golf event is in three weeks in Bangkok. The series does not return to the United States until the final team event at Trump National Doral Miami the last weekend in October.
PGA Tour: Homa repeats in Napa
NAPA, Calif. — Max Homa knew he had no choice but to go for it on the par-5 18th hole if he wanted to repeat as the winner of the Fortinet Championship. Trailing Danny Willett by a shot, he went for the green in two shots but ended up in a tough spot in a bunker short of the target. He blasted out but still wasn’t on the putting surface.
Homa stayed aggressive, and this time it paid off as he rammed his chip from 33 feet into the hole for a closing birdie. Still, all Willett needed to do was convert his own birdie from short range — but he didn’t deliver.
Willett hit his 3-foot, 7-inch putt too hard. It grazed the lip and ran 4 feet, 8 inches by. Then he missed the comebacker, a shocking collapse that made Homa the winner for the second year in a row on the North Course at Silverado Resort.
“That was crazy. I still don’t really know what happened,” said the 31-year-old Homa, a former college star at California who now has three PGA Tour wins in the Golden State and five on the circuit overall. “Just kind of one of those weekends you just had to hang around.”
Homa high-fived his caddie when his chip shot hit the flagstick and dropped.
Willett laid up 65 yards short of the 18th green, then stuffed his approach close enough that closing out the tournament should have been routine. The 34-year-old Englishman is winless on U.S. soil since he took advantage of Jordan Spieth’s collapse to win the 2016 Masters for his lone major championship.
“Them things happen. Luckily we’ve been in a good position all week, and then unfortunate things happen when you feel like you need them most,” said Willett, who does have three wins on the European circuit since earning his green jacket.
Homa closed with a 4-under 66 to finish the 72-hole tournament at 16-under 272 and heads to the Presidents Cup that starts Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a captain’s pick with three wins in the past 12 months.
Willett’s closing 69 kept him two shots ahead of third-place Taylor Montgomery (64).
Justin Lower held a one-stroke lead going into the final day while chasing his first title after years of struggles just to secure his PGA Tour card. The 33-year-old American shot a 73 and shared fourth with South Korea’s Byeong Hun An (71) at 12 under.
Playoff success at Italian Open
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Bob MacIntyre might have just played his way onto Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
The Scottish left-hander beat U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England on the first hole of a playoff to win the Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, the course next year when the Europeans host their competition against the United States.
“This is what I want. This is my only goal for the season — to make that Ryder Cup team,” said MacIntyre, 26, who is now a two-time winner on the DP World Tour. “I think I’ve made a good start.”
Ryder Cup qualification points for Europe’s team started being awarded in the previous week’s tournament. MacIntyre’s win came against a quality field that included tour leader Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who finished fourth after closing with a 68 that left him two shots out of the playoff.
MacIntyre (64) and Fitzpatrick (67) finished 72 holes at 14-under 270, a shot ahead of France’s Victor Perez (66).
Lee’s first LPGA Tour win
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a year of having to bounce back, Andrea Lee recovered from two early bogeys and pulled away with five birdies on the back nine to close with a 6-under 66 and win the AmazingCre Portland Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.
The 24-year-old from California took the lead for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then hit a superb bunker shot from left of the 17th green to save par and keep a two-shot lead.
She was in the middle of the 18th fairway when she watched Daniela Darquea of Ecuador finish with a third straight birdie for a 66 to pull within one shot. Lee drilled her approach to 15 feet and lagged her putt to within inches to tap in for the win. She finished the 72-hole tournament at 19-under 269.
It was quite a turnaround for Lee, a former No. 1 amateur from Stanford whose game got off track to the point her LPGA status suffered and she started the year on the developmental Epson Tour. And then she climbed her way out of it, winning on the Epson Tour, taking advantage of sponsor exemptions with solid play and finally cashing in at Columbia Edgewater Country Club on Sunday.
Her face was awash in a mixture of champagne and tears, especially when she paid tribute to her grandfather, who died late last year.
“He always believed I was a champion,” Lee said, “and today I am one.”
Runner-up Darquea finished a shot ahead of five players who shared third.
Lee is the ninth first-time winner on the LPGA Tour this year.
“It’s more than anything I could have imagined,” she said. “I can’t believe it, actually. I can’t believe I’m standing here after what I went through last year.”
Champions: Stricker takes playoff
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Steve Stricker earned his second straight PGA Tour Champions win, closing with a 6-under 64 and beating Robert Karlsson with a birdie on the first playoff hole in the Sanford International.
The 55-year-old from Wisconsin had a one-shot lead when he looked behind and saw Karlsson with an excellent birdie chance on the 17th hole. The 53-year-old Swede converted, and both finished with pars to force a playoff after completing 54 holes at 14-under 196.
Stricker made short work of it, making birdie for his third victory of the season. He won the Ally Challenge two weeks earlier and didn’t play last weekend.
“You’ve just got to stay aggressive at times out here, and I was doing that. I did a good job of that today and hit a lot of good putts,” Stricker said. “That one on the playoff, it was a special putt, that was really cool to do.”
Karlsson, who closed with a 66 after rounds of 62 and 68, had a chance to win on the 18th in regulation.
South Africa’s Ernie Els (66) was third, missing the playoff by two shots.