MEMPHIS, TENN. (AP) - Harris English won the St. Jude Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, birdieing two of the final three holes to hold off Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings by two strokes.
The 23-year-old former Georgia star in his second year on tour survived a final round where he had six birdies and five bogeys. He finished with a 1-under 69 for a 12-under 268 total.
English made a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 16 to tie Stallings for the lead, but Stallings bogeyed No. 18 to give English the lead to himself. English made a 17-foot birdie putt on No. 17, and two-putted No. 18 to pick up the winner’s check of $1,026,000.
Mickelson shot a 67, and Stallings had a 68.
English became the fourth player to win the event in his first start since the tournament moved to TPC Southwind in 1989 and the second straight after Dustin Johnson a year ago.
English won the Southern Amateur in 2011 and was an amateur when he won on the Web.com Tour at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in July 2011. He moved to the PGA Tour in 2012 and finished 79th on the money list. Now he has his fourth top 10 this year.
LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP
PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) _ Inbee Park birdied the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Catriona Matthew to win the rain-delayed LPGA Championship.
Park made a 20-foot putt on the par-4 18th to go 2-for-2 in LPGA Tour majors this season. She rebounded in the playoff after relinquishing a three-shot lead with a final-round 3-over 75. The top-ranked South Korean star bogeyed three of her final five holes in regulation.
The 42-year-old Matthew, from Scotland, shot a bogey-free 68 to match Park at 5-under 283 at Locust Hill.
After both parred the first two extra holes, Matthew struggled off the 18th tee on the third _ their 39th hole of the day. After having difficulty advancing out of the rough just below the green on her third shot, she missed a 50-foot par chip.
The 24-year-old Park also won the Kraft Nabisco in April and has four victories this year. With the victory, Asian players have won nine straight majors. Also the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open winner, Park became only the seventh player to win the LPGA’s first two majors in a season, and the first since Annika Sorenstam won the same two events in 2005. Park has seven career LPGA Tour victories, six in her last 22 starts.
REGIONS TRADITION
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ David Frost parred the final two holes to hold on for a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples in the Regions Tradition, the South African’s his first Champions Tour major title.
Both birdied No. 16 after play resumed with the sun shining after a delay of 1 hour, 8 minutes for lightning in a round played at times in a driving rain.
Frost didn’t flinch in the showdown with the Presidents Cup captain and World Golf Hall of Famer. Both shot 4-under 68, and Frost finished at 16-under 272.
It was his second victory of the season and fifth career win on the 50-and-over tour. Also the Toshiba Classic winner in March in California, Frost hit his approach shot to 10 feet on the final hole and two-putted to match Couples’ par.
LYONESS OPEN
ATZENBRUGG, Austria (AP) _ Dutchman Joost Luiten won the Lyoness Open for his second European Tour title, closing with a 1-under 71 for a two-stroke victory.
Luiten finished at 17-under 271 on the Diamond Country Club course. He also win the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia in November 2011. Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn shot a 68 to finish second.
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