Golf roundup: Patrick Cantlay closes well to win Memorial Tournament

Jack Nicklaus, left, presents Patrick Cantlay with the Memorial Tournament trophy after Cantlay closed with a 64 to win the PGA Tour event Sunday in Dublin, Ohio.
Jack Nicklaus, left, presents Patrick Cantlay with the Memorial Tournament trophy after Cantlay closed with a 64 to win the PGA Tour event Sunday in Dublin, Ohio.

DUBLIN, Ohio - Patrick Cantlay got another handshake from Jack Nicklaus, this time as the Memorial Tournament winner.

Four shots behind after three rounds at the PGA Tour event hosted by the 18-time major champion, Cantlay closed with an 8-under-par 64 on Sunday to finish at 19-under 269 and win by two strokes. It was the lowest final round by a winner in the history of the 44-year-old tournament, and it moved the 27-year-old Californian into the top 10 in the World Golf Ranking.

Martin Kaymer, who had a two-shot lead after 54 holes and was trying to end a five-year stretch without a victory, never recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the back nine. The 34-year-old German with three PGA Tour wins - two of them major championships, with The Players Championship in 2014 the other - shot 38 on the back nine for a closing 72 that left him third at 15 under.

Adam Scott was the last player with a chance to catch Cantlay when he ran off three straight birdies to get within two shots, but he narrowly missed birdies on the last two holes and had to settle for a 68 that made him the runner-up.

photo Patrick Cantlay tracks the ball after putting on the 16th hole during the final round of the Memorial Tournament on Sunday in Dublin, Ohio. It's his second PGA Tour victory.

Cantlay first met the tournament host as a UCLA freshman, when he was named the top NCAA Division I men's golfer and received an award named after Nicklaus. The former top amateur in the world also leaned on the advice of the Golden Bear going into the final round: Relax, enjoy the surroundings and finish it off.

"I finished it," Cantlay told Nicklaus as he walked off the 18th green at Muirfield Village Golf Club after making an eight-foot par putt that effectively sealed it.

Cantlay won for the second time in a PGA Tour career that is younger than it seems. He was low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open and opened with a 60 at the Travelers Championship a week later but missed two full years with a back injury that nearly cost him his career.

He is in his third year since returning, and a victory over a strong field on a strong course is what long was expected of his skills. Now he moves to No. 8 in the world.

Kevin Streelman (66) finished fourth at 13 under, a stroke ahead of Australia's Marc Leishman (69) and two ahead of Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (72). Jason Dufner (69) and Jordan Spieth (73) shared seventh at 10 under, and Tiger Woods closed with a 67 to share ninth at 9 under with Bud Cauley (72), Emiliano Grillo (71) and Billy Horschel (68).

Baylor School graduate Keith Mitchell (76) shared 48th at par.

Kevin Sutherland wins PGA Tour Champions tourney with amazing comeback

DES MOINES, Iowa - Kevin Sutherland birdied the second hole of a playoff with Scott Parel to win the Principal Charity Classic, capping the third-largest comeback in PGA Tour Champions history.

Two months after outlasting Parel on the seventh extra hole at the Rapiscan Systems Classic in a Monday finish, Sutherland overcame an eight-shot deficit in the final round at Wakonda Club, making eight back-nine birdies in a course-record 10-under 62 to match Parel at 17-under 199.

Parel closed with a 70 as he and Sutherland broke the tournament record of 15 under set by Scott McCarron three years ago. Parel bogeyed the par-5 15th and missed a 10-foot birdie try on No. 18 in regulation. Parel and Sutherland both made par on the first playoff hole.

The 54-year-old Sutherland won for the third time on the 50-and-older tour after winning once on the PGA Tour. He's the only player to shoot 59 on the senior circuit, accomplishing the feat in the 2014 Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

Parel and Sutherland were nearly joined in bonus golf by Jerry Kelly, who left a 65-yard approach a foot right on No. 18 and finished a stroke back after a 66. David Toms (68) was fourth at 13 under.

Ooltewah's Gibby Gilbert III (73) shared 69th at 5 over.

Jeongeun Lee6 wins by two at U.S. Women's Open

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Jeongeun Lee6 was No. 1 at the U.S. Women's Open.

The 23-year-old South Korean closed with a 1-under 70 and finished at 6-under 278 for a two-stroke victory at Country Club of Charleston.

Lee6 endured some shaky moments after opening up a three-stroke lead with three holes to play to hold off France's Celine Boutier, who had shared the 54-hole lead with former Duke University teammate Yu Liu of China.

Lee6 was ahead by three after a birdie on the par-5 15th, but she made bogeys on the 16th and 18th to give Boutier a chance over the final two holes. Boutier missed a long birdie attempt on the 17th, though, and sent her approach shot to the par-4 18th into a bunker, with her escape shot rolling off the green.

Boutier made a double bogey for a 75 that dropped her into a five-way tie for fifth at 3 under. South Korea's So Yeon Ryu (70) and Americans Lexi Thompson (73) and Angel Yin (68) shared second at 4 under.

Lee6, who was two groups ahead of Boutier and already was practicing putts in case of a playoff, bent down in joy when her victory was secure. She became the United States Golf Association's first $1 million women's winner a few days after Tiger Woods' former swing coach, Hank Haney, made disparaging remarks about women's golf by predicting a "Korean" would win the tournament and "I'd go with Lee."

Lee6 has the number in her name because she was the sixth player with the name on the LPGA of Korea Tour. She has embraced the number by answering to it and writing a large "6" on her golf balls. Jeongeun Lee5 also plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.

Haney was suspended for his comments on his PGA Tour SiriusXM radio show when asked who would win the U.S. Women's Open.

"I'd go with Lee," Haney said. "If I didn't have to name a first name, I'd get a bunch of them right."

Haney sent Tweets on Sunday night congratulating Lee6 and saying his prediction was based on statistics and facts: "Korean women are absolutely dominating the LPGA Tour. If you asked me again, my answer would be the same but worded more carefully."

Lee6 said her focus had been fully on the tournament. Because she hasn't mastered English, she said she "didn't really understand him that much, so I didn't really think about it."

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