HAMILTON, Ontario — Robert MacIntyre — with father Dougie at his side as his caddie and a noisy television drone close by at times, too — held on to win the Canadian Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory.
Four strokes ahead entering the final round at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, MacIntyre shot a 2-under 68 to beat playing partner Ben Griffin by a stroke. On the par-4 18th, the 27-year-old Scottish left-hander two-putted for par from 12 feet, holing out from 1 1/2 feet.
“Goose bumps. It’s incredible,” MacIntyre said. “It’s a dream of mine to play golf for a living. It’s been a dream of mine to win on the PGA Tour. … I just can’t believe I done it with my dad on the bag. The guy’s taught me the way I play golf.”
MacIntyre finished the 72-hole event at 16-under 264 for the breakthrough victory in his 45th PGA Tour start. The former McNeese State player was a member of Europe’s winning 2023 Ryder Cup team and has two victories on the Europe-based DP World Tour, the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown and the 2022 Italian Open.
“I was in a dogfight there,” MacIntyre said. “Obviously, Ben made it difficult coming in the stretch. He played well. It’s just incredible to do this with my dad on the bag and have my girlfriend here, and I’m sure there’s a party going on back home in Oban.”
MacIntyre was agitated by a television drone he thought was too close and loud.
“If it didn’t go away, I was going to start throwing my clubs at it,” MacIntyre said. “That’s how annoyed I was getting. … I mean, it’s a big wasp. I asked them to get rid of it. They did.”
MacIntyre turned to his father on an emergency basis after going through a series of caddies in the past year.
“This week, when I phoned him to come and caddie for me, to be honest, I was just coming here to play a golf tournament,” MacIntyre said. “There was no expectation, there was a lot going on with visas and stuff during the week, and to win it with him on the bag is just — to be honest, I still can’t believe that it happened.”
It was an emotional victory for the two.
“Everything that I’ve done in my life has been with the support of my family,” MacIntyre said. “The game of golf was kind of passed down the generations.”
Griffin had a 65. He closed with a par on the 18th after birdies on the previous three holes.
“I fought hard,” Griffin said. “It felt like there was a lid on the cup for most of the day for me. I hit so many pretty good putts, I wouldn’t say like striped putts, but pretty good putts and just kept burning edges. A couple bad putts, but stayed patient.”
France’s Victor Perez was third at 14 under after his second straight 64.
Two-time Canadian Open champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland also shot a 64 to tie for fourth with South Korea’s Tom Kim (64) at 13 under. McIlroy won in 2019, the last time the tournament was in Hamilton, and again in 2022 at St. George’s in Toronto.
“Three really good rounds of golf, one not so good one,” said McIlroy, who is No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking. “Felt a little out of sorts on Friday. Did a good range session and sort of rectified it.”
Canada’s Corey Conners (65) was sixth at 12 under.
Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell closed with his second 67 in three days. The Baylor School graduate tied for 10th at 9 under.
The Canadian Press photo by Frank Gunn via AP / Robert MacIntyre tees off on the fourth hole during the final round of the Canadian Open on Sunday in Hamilton, Ontario. MacIntyre won the tournament for his first PGA Tour victory in his 45th career start on the circuit.Saso’s second is first for Japan
LANCASTER, Pa. — The first Filipina to win the U.S. Women’s Open, and now the first from Japan.
Sweetest of all for Yuka Saso was sharing the biggest prize in her sport with countries of both her parents.
Saso delivered a masterpiece on the back nine at tough Lancaster Country Club amid collapses from so many contenders. She closed with a 2-under 68 — the four players in the last two groups combined to go 22 over par — for a three-shot victory.
And then she held back tears at the trophy presentation — the silver Semple Trophy has only the names of the 79 winners, not their countries — as she thought about how much her Filipina mother and Japanese father have provided so much care and support.
She won this United States Golf Association event at San Francisco’s Olympic Club in 2021 playing under the flag of the Philippines. Now she has won at Lancaster three years later under the flag of Japan. She couldn’t be prouder of both.
“Winning in 2021, I represented the Philippines. I feel like I was able to give back to my mom,” Saso said. “This year I was able to represent Japan, and I think I was able to give back to my dad. I’m very happy that I was able to do it.
“It’s just a wonderful feeling that I was able to give back to my parents in the same way.”
Only the flag changed. The 22-year-old Saso was just as rock solid down the stretch as she was three years ago in California, where two late birdies got her into a playoff she won over Nasa Hataoka.
This time, she rode four birdies over a five-hole stretch on the back nine with a collection of clutch moments with tee shots and putts, wedges and long irons, everything the hardest test in gold demands. And no one could catch her.
Saso got up and down for par from short of the 18th green to finish 72 holes at 4-under 276, winning by three shots over Hinako Shibuno, who in 2019 became the first Japanese player to capture the Women’s British Open.
They were the only two players under par, the fewest for the U.S. Women’s Open in 10 years.
Andrea Lee, part of a three-way tie for the lead at the start of this wild day, was the last player who had a chance to catch Saso. But the Stanford alum, a former No. 1 amateur, badly missed her tee shot on the easy 16th and had to settle for a par, then took a bogey on the 17th. Lee took one last bogey on the 18th for a 75 to tie for third with fellow American player Ally Ewing (66).
Saso won $2.4 million from the $12 million purse, the largest in women’s golf.
The victory also put Saso in position to return to the Olympics this summer in Paris after she played for the Philippines in 2021 in the Tokyo Games and tied for ninth. She had to decide before turning 21 which country to represent, and she went with Japan.
AP photo by Matt Slocum / Yuka Saso holds the tournament trophy after winning the U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.It’s Els in the end
DES MOINES, Iowa — Ernie Els won the Principal Charity Classic for the fourth victory of his PGA Tour Champions career, closing with a 7-under 65 at Wakonda Club to beat reigning tournament champion Stephen Ames by two strokes.
Tied with Rod Pampling for the second-round lead, Els eagled the par-5 15th and had five birdies in his bogey-free final round. The 54-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer from South Africa finished the 54-hole senior event at 21-under 195 for his first victory since March 2023.
“It’s very special,” Els said. “You know, I haven’t won for a while. I’ve had quite a few chances, but it gets tougher when you don’t get it over the line. So today was very, very competitive. A lot of players, a lot of great players. I just took my chance when it came.”
Ames, the only player on the 50-and-older circuit with multiple wins this year, closed with a 66 for sole possession of second.
Berhnard Langer tied for third at 17 under after a 68. The 66-year-old German star, who is the tour’s career wins leader with 46, was making his fourth start since returning from an Achilles’ tendon injury. Pampling (69) and David Duval (67) also were at 17 under.
LIV player wins Euro Open
HAMBURG, Germany — Laurie Canter held his nerve and overcame three bogeys during a final round of 1-under 72 to win the European Open by two shots.
Canter, a 34-year-old Englishman who primarily competes in the LIV Golf League and is No. 224 in the Official World Golf Ranking, started the day in a two-way tie with Italy’s Guido Migliozzi for a one-shot lead.
Migliozzi’s challenge fizzled with a 78, but Canter was under pressure from others after playing his first 10 holes Sunday in 1 over. South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger were both making moves on the back nine.
Canter recovered with three birdies on his way in as he finished at 13-under 279 in the 72-hole event — a change from the 54-hole, no-cut tournaments he plays on the LIV circuit — and secure his first victory on the Europe-based DP World Tour.
Lawrence (68) and Wiesberger (71) tied for second, one shot clear of France’s Julien Guerrier (69) and Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard (74).