OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (AP) - Danielle Kang birdied the final hole to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title, edging defending champion Brooke Henderson.
Kang bogeyed the tricky par-3 17th, and Henderson closed with two birdies to move into a tie for the lead, coming up just short on a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th. But Kang responded with two solid shots to get to the green in two, and then two-putted for the victory.
It was another great finish for the LPGA Tour’s second major of the season. The 19-year-old Henderson beat Lydia Ko in a playoff last year at Sahalee in Washington.
The 24-year-old Kang trailed Henderson and Chella Choi by one after she bogeyed the par-4 10th at Olympia Fields. But Kang moved in front with four straight birdies on Nos. 11-14.
Kang also had a clutch 21-foot par putt at 16 on her way to a 4-under 68 and the winner’s check of $525,000. Henderson closed with a 66 to finish a stroke back, and Chella Choi, who was tied with Kang for the lead coming into the day, was third at 10 under after a 71.
Kang’s previous best finish in a major was a tie for 14th in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open.
QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL
POTOMAC, Md. (AP) - Kyle Stanley got up-and-down for par from just over the 18th green to win the Quicken Loans National on the first hole of a playoff with Charles Howell III.
On a chaotic final day at TPC Potomac that included a 5-minute delay for a pop-up storm, Stanley and Howell finished at 7-under 273 after matching final-round 4-under 66s. Howell had a 21-foot putt to win on the final hole of regulation that rolled over the left edge of the cup.
In the playoff, both missed the fairway and the green. Howell’s chip came up short and he missed the 11-foot par putt. Stanley chipped to 5 feet and pumped his fist as the putt dropped.
Stanley’s previous win came in 2012 at the Phoenix Open. Later that year, he was ranked a career-best 47th in the world. He declined steadily after that, bottoming out at No. 683 in May 2015.
U.S. SENIOR OPEN
PEABODY, Mass. (AP) - Kenny Perry claimed his second U.S. Senior Open title, pulling away from Kirk Triplett at Salem Country Club to finish at 16 under and win by two strokes.
The 56-year-old Perry closed with a 2-under 68 for a record score of 264. Perry also won the event in 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska. It is his fourth major victory on the senior tour.
Perry started the day a stroke behind Triplett but five ahead of the next-closest contender, Brandt Jobe. Triplett, who tied the tournament record with a 62 in the first round, had five bogeys and shot 71.
Perry’s 264 total was three strokes better than the U.S. Senior Open record set by Hale Irwin at Saucon Valley in 2000 and matched by Perry in 2013. Perry was the only player to shoot under par in each of the four rounds on the Donald Ross-designed course, which also hosted the tournament in 2001. That year, Bruce Fleischer won at even par.
Perry has nine overall victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 14 times on PGA Tour.
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