NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Aaron Rai shifted into high gear Sunday and pulled away from a world-class field with one amazing shot after another until he became the first English-born player in more than
a century to capture the PGA Championship.
Rai, who dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver until he turned to golf as a boy, was three shots behind and approaching the turn at Aronimink Golf Club when he delivered a performance worthy of a major champion.
He made a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth during a stretch when he one-putted seven straight greens to take the lead.
And on the closing holes when the contenders needed him to stumble, Rai holed a birdie putt of some 70 feet across the 17th green for the clincher.
The 31-year-old Rai closed with a 5-under 65.
Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose, they all had their chances and until they were undone by untimely mistakes or failure to get good looks at birdie. McIlroy, who closed with a 69, played the par 5s in even for the week and he chopped up the reachable par-4 13th for a bogey.
Rai, who finished at 9-under 271, is the first player from England with his name on the Wanamaker Trophy since Jim Barnes in 1919, the second edition of this major and the first after World War I.
He wound up winning by three shots over 54-hole leader Alex Smalley and Rahm, who had his best finish in a major since defecting to LIV Golf at the end of 2023. Rahm shot 68.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Lottie Woad held off Haeran Ryu on a gusty Sunday afternoon at Maketewah Country Club in the Kroger Queen City Championship.
Three strokes ahead of playing partner Amanda Doherty and four ahead of Ryu entering the round, Woad closed with a 1-under 69 for a two-stroke victory. The 22-year-old English player finished at 12-under 268.
Ryu had a double bogey on the par-4 13th in a 67. Nelly Korda shot a 67 to tie for eighth at 5 under after winning in her previous two starts. She began the day nine strokes back after a third-round 72.
Woad won for the second time on the LPGA Tour, following a victory last year in the Women’s Scottish Open in her professional debut. The former Florida State star also won the European tour’s Irish Open last summer as an amateur.
Miyu Yamashita has third at 9 under after a 64.
ELGIN, S.C. (AP) — Cole Sherwood won the Colonial Life Charity Classic on Sunday for his first Korn Ferry Tour victory.
Sherwood shot a 4-under 66 to finish at 16-under 264 at The Woodcreek Club, a stroke ahead of Zac Blair (64).
Sherwood had a 64 in the third round. He played at Vanderbilt.
Kyle Westmoreland was third at 14 under after a 66.
Leonie Harm closed with a 4-under 69 for a one-shot victory over Casandra Alexander in the Amundi German Masters, winning on home soil for her first Ladies European Tour title. ... Pablo Ereno shot a 6-under 66 and won the Catalunya Challenge in a playoff with a par on the second extra hole to beat Hamish Brown on the Challenge Tour. ... Cole Anderson won the PGA Tour Americas' Diners Club Peru Open with a bogey on the first hole of a playoff with Patrick Flavin. Anderson eagled the par-5 14th in a closing 7-under 65 en route to his first tour title. Flavin shot 70 to match Anderson at 21 under. ... Gerhard Pepler closed with a 7-under 65 for a two-shot victory in the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. ... Shiho Kuwaki closed with a 5-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Chia Yen Wu in the Sky RKB Ladies Classic on the Japan LPGA. ... Shinsil Bang rallied from 3 down with four to play and won the Doosan Match Play in 19 holes on the Korea LPGA when Eunwoo Choi bogeyed the last three holes. ... Fiona Xu of New Zealand won the Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah, on Saturday for her second career Epson Tour title. She finished with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory.
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