Rory McIlroy wins Scottish Open for confidence boost going to British
Rory McIlroy birdied the last two holes in whipping wind Sunday for a 2-under 68 to win the Genesis Scottish Open, his first victory on Scottish soil, and take a load of confidence into the final major of the year.
McIlroy birdied the par-3 17th from 4 feet to tie Robert MacIntyre, then hit what he called his best shot of the year, a 2-iron into the wind to 10 feet for a final birdie.
It was a heartbreaker for MacIntyre, who was trying to win his national open and delivered a class shot of his own. MacIntyre hammered a 3-wood from the rough on the 18th hole at The Renaissance Club to 4 feet, pumping both fists when it dropped for a 64.
The victory came at an ideal time. McIlroy heads south to Royal Liverpool for the British Open, where he tries to end his nine-year drought in the majors. McIlroy won the claret jug the last time The Open was played at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
McIlroy finished at 15-under 265 and moved past Jon Rahm to No. 2 in the world.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, closed with a 70 and tied for third with Byeong Hun An (70) and David Lingmerth (68). Scheffler has finished among the top five in his last seven tournaments, two of them majors.
An, Lingmerth and Nicolai Hojgaard (67) earned the final three spots in the British Open.
PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Vincent Norrman lipped in an 8-footer for bogey on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff, then scrambled for par on the same hole in sudden death on Sunday to beat Nathan Kimsey and win the Barbasol Championship, his first PGA Tour victory.
The 25-year-old Norrman, a tour rookie from Sweden, won in his 23rd career start. He closed with a 66 at Keene Trace to finish at 22-under 266.
Kimsey, a 30-year-old European tour player from England who made his PGA Tour debut in this co-sanctioned event, shot 64 and got into the playoff after Trevor Cone and Norrman faltered down the stretch.
Norman was 23 under on the 18th tee when he hit his tee shot into an awkward lie left of the fairway and had to salvage bogey. In the playoff, Norrman again went left off the tee, missed the green to the right and chipped to 2 feet.
Kimsey hit his tee shot into thick rough on the right, just missing the water, and failed to get up-and-down from a bunker well short of the green.
Cone shot 68 and finished one shot shy of the playoff alongside Adrien Saddier (66).
Lucas Glover finished alone in fifth at 20 under, his third consecutive top 10. The 43-year-old Glover shot 68 and extended his streak of rounds in the 60s to 12.
LPGA TOUR
SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) — Linn Grant won her first LPGA Tour title after an outstanding start to her career in Europe, enduring a charge from U.S. Women's Open champion Allisen Corpuz and closing with a 3-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Dana Open on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Grant has five victories on the Ladies European Tour but did not play in the United States until this year, when the U.S. dropped its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreign travelers. The Swede did not disclose her reasons for remaining unvaccinated, calling it a private matter.
Grant entered the day with a six-shot lead after a 62 on Saturday. She parred her first seven holes, chipped in for birdie from behind the green on the par-3 eighth, and still led by six at the turn. But Corpuz, a week after she won at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA title, made it interesting with birdies on four of the last five holes to shoot 65 and get within two shots.
Grant saved par on the par-4 16th and finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th, reaching the green in two with a 3-wood that she didn't think she could get there. Her four-day total at Highland Meadows was 21-under 263.
A week after her triumph at Pebble Beach, Corpuz did not shoot worse than 68 over four rounds in Ohio.
Lindy Duncan also closed with a 65 and was alone in third, six shots back. Xiyu Janet Lin (67) and Stephanie Kyriacou (69) were another shot behind.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Steve Stricker won his third PGA Tour Champions major of the year, capping off a dominant weekend at Firestone with a 4-under 66 on Sunday for a three-shot victory in the Kaulig Companies Championship.
Stricker was five shots off the lead after a second-round 73, but closed with rounds of 65-66 for an 11-under 269 total. David Toms shot a final-round 65 to finish alone in second at 8 under.
The 56-year-old Stricker won the Regions Tradition in May, then triumphed two weeks later at the Senior PGA Championship. He has five victories this year on the over-50 tour and a lead of more than $2 million over second-place Bernhard Langer on the Charles Schwab Cup money list.
Stricker earned a spot in next year's Players Championship. This event was previously known as the Senior Players Championship.
Stricker played his first 13 holes in 3 under before his only bogey of the day on the par-4 14th. But he responded with a lengthy putt for birdie on the par-4 15th and a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on the par-5 16th.
Stricker has seven career majors on the PGA Tour Champions, tied with Hale Irwin for fourth all-time. Langer has the most with 12, including this year's U.S. Senior Open.
Harrison Frazar shot 70 and tied for third with K.J. Choi (68) and Ernie Els (68). Langer (66) finished alone in sixth, six shots back.
KORN FERRY TOUR
BERTHOUD, Colo. (AP) — Nicholas Lindheim closed with a 6-under 66 for a two-shot victory in The Ascendant presented by Blue, the third Korn Ferry Tour win for the 38-year-old veteran.
Lindheim finished at 20-under 268 at TPC Colorado. Max Greyserman (66) was second at 18 under and Parker Coody (67) was another shot back.
Lindheim eagled the par-4 third hole in his bogey-free round.
Third-round leader Alejandro Tosti shot 71 and finished in a tie for fourth with Tim Widing (70).
OTHER TOURS
Nelly Korda won for the first time this year when she closed with a 2-under 71 to win the Aramco Team Series-London by four shots on the Ladies European Tour. It comes one week after Korda tied for 64th in the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach. ... Casey Jarvis closed with a 1-under 69 for a one-shot victory in the Euram Bank Open in Austria, giving the 19-year-old South African his first title on the Challenge Tour. ... Davis Lamb won his second straight event on the PGA Tour Canada, closing with a 7-under 63 for a one-shot victory over David Kim (62) in the Quebec Open. ... The final round of the Hartford HealthCare Women's Championship on the Epson Tour in Milford, Connecticut, was suspended because of bad weather before the leaders teed off. The tournament will conclude on Monday.
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