DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) - Jason Dufner never lost sight of the big picture even after losing a big lead. It paid off for him Sunday when he rallied from a four-shot deficit and holed a 30-foot par putt on the 18th to close out a victory in the Memorial.
Dufner lost a five-shot lead in the third round. He started the final round facing a four-shot deficit. And then he played his best golf on the back nine, and kept his composure during two rain delays, to close with a 4-under 68 and win by three shots.
“Yesterday was not my best day,” Dufner said of his 77. “But I had to get over it quick. It’s a 72-hole tournament, there’s a lot of things that can happen out there. I knew I was still in the mix.”
Dufner finished at 13-under 275 for his fifth PGA Tour victory, and he joined tournament host Jack Nicklaus as the only Ohio-born winners of the Memorial.
Not since Nick Faldo in the 1989 has anyone shot 77 in the third round and still won on the PGA Tour.
Rickie Fowler, in prime position to force a playoff on the 18th hole by making birdie, instead made bogey after Dufner ended it with his big par putt. Fowler shot 70 and tied for second with Anirban Lahiri, who closed with a 65. Daniel Summerhays, who began the final round with a three-shot lead, began the back nine with two straight bogeys, and he finished with a double bogey for a 78 to tie for 10th.
SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - In-Kyung Kim held off two-time defending champion Anna Nordqvist in the ShopRite LPGA Classic for her fifth tour title.
Tied with Paula Creamer for the second-round lead, Kim closed with a 2-under 69 in windy conditions for a two-stroke victory over Nordqvist at Stockton Seaview.
Kim was making her sixth start since bruising her tailbone falling down stairs. The 28-year-old South Korean player won the Reignwood LPGA Classic late last season in China.
Nordqvist shot a 69.
Kim finished at 11-under 202.
Michelle Wie had a 65 to tie for third at 7 under with Jenny Shin (69), Jacqui Concolino (70) and Jeong Eun Lee (71). Creamer had a 74 to drop into a tie for seventh at 6 under.
On Saturday, Ariya Jutanugarn took the No. 1 spot in the world ranking to be released Monday. Taking the week off, Jutanugarn replaced Lydia Ko atop the ranking when So Yeon Ryu missed the cut. Ko, also skipping the event, was guaranteed to lose the top spot to Jutanugarn or Ryu, and Jutanugarn got the position when Ryu failed to finish solo third or better.
NORDEA MASTERS
MALMO, Sweden (AP) - Renato Paratore won the Nordea Masters for his first European Tour title, finishing with 3-under 70 for a one-stroke victory.
The 20-year-old Italian held of defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick (68) and fellow Englishmen Chris Wood (72). Paratore had an 11-under 281 total at Barseback.
South Africa’s George Coetzee (6) and Denmark’s Tjorbjorn Olesen (71) were 9 under.
REX HOSPITAL OPEN
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Conrad Shindler won the Rex Hospital Open for his first Web.com Tour title, beating hometown favorite Chesson Hadley with a par in strong rain on the first hole of a playoff.
Hadley made a 1 1/2-putt to win after Hadley missed a 3-foot par try.
Shindler closed with a 4-under 67 to match Hadley at 15-under 269 at TPC Wakefield Plantation.
The 29-year-old former Texas A&M player earned $117,000 to jump from 50th to fifth on the money list with $152,528 in his rookie season. The top 25 at the end of the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards.
Hadley, the 2013 winner, eagled the par-5 15th in a 66.
Andrew Putnam (66), Andrew Landry (66) and third-round leader Kyoung-Hoon Lee (69) tied for third at 14 under. Putman leads the money list with $222,872, and Landy is second at $188,054.
FUCCILLO KIA CLASSIC
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen took advantage of Daniela Iacobelli’s closing double bogey to win the Fuccillo Kia Classic on Sunday for her second Symetra Tour victory of the year.
The 22-year-old Koerstz Madsen shot a 5-under 66 at Capital Hills at Albany for a one-stroke victory over Iacobelli (67) and Kim Welch (67).
Five strokes behind Hannah Green at the start of the day, Koerstz Madsen earned $18,750 - and a Kia Forte LX - to take the season money lead with $53,527. The final top 10 will earn 2018 LPGA Tour cards, and Koerstz Madsen also moved within a victory of an immediate LPGA Tour promotion.
Koerstz Madsen finished at 8-under 205.
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