CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jeongeun Lee6 is No. 1 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The 23-year-old South Korean shot a 1-under 70 on Sunday, enduring some shaky moments after opening up a three-stroke lead with three to play to hold off third-round co-leader Celine Boutier.
Lee6 was ahead by three after a birdie on the par-5 15th, but took bogeys on the 16th and 18th to give Boutier a chance over the final two holes. But Boutier missed a long birdie attempt on the 17th and put her approach to the par-4 18th in a bunker. Her sand shot rolled off the green.
“I felt pretty nervous starting on the holes 16, 17, and 18” after opening the large lead,” Lee6 said. “But I tried the best that I can.”
Lee6 finished at, naturally, 6-under 278 to claim the USGA’s first $1 million women’s winner check.
Lee6 has the number in her name because she was the sixth player with the name on the Korean LPGA. She has embraced the number, answering to it and writing a large “6” on her golf balls. Her South Korean fan club is called “Lucky 6.” Jeongeun Lee5 also plays the LPGA Tour.
Boutier made a double bogey on the final hole to fall into a tie for fifth at 3 under. She shot 75. Lexi Thompson, Ryu and Angel Yin tied for second, two shots behind. Thompson shot 73, Ryu 70 and Yin 68.
Boutier tried to get on No. 18 in two. “And then if I made the putt, then it would be best,” she said. “But I missed the green, so …”
Gerina Piller, Jaye Marie Green, Mamiko Higa of Japan, and third-round co-leaders Yu Liu of China and Boutier were tied for fifth. Piller was the only under par at 68. Higa and Liu shot 74s.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Patrick Cantlay got another handshake with Jack Nicklaus, this time as the Memorial winner.
Starting four shots behind, Cantlay closed with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot victory on Sunday. It was the lowest final round by a winner in tournament history, and it moved the 27-year-old Californian into the top 10 in the world.
Martin Kaymer, trying to end five years without a victory, started with a two-shot lead and never recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the back nine.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Kevin Sutherland birdied the second hole of a playoff with Scott Parel on Sunday at Wakonda Club to win the Principal Charity Classic in the third-largest comeback in PGA Tour Champions history.
Two months after outlasting Parel on the seventh extra hole in Mississippi in a Monday finish, Sutherland overcame an eight-shot deficit in the final round, making eight back-nine birdies in a course-record 10-under 62 to match Parel at 17-under 199.
Parel closed with a 70. They broke the tournament record of 15 under set by Scott McCarron three years ago.
Parel bogeyed the par-5 15th and missed a 10-foot birdie try on No. 18 in regulation. They each parred the first playoff hole.
The 54-year-old Sutherland won for the third time on the 50-and-over tour after winning once on the PGA Tour. He’s the only player to shoot 59 on the tour, accomplishing the feat in the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.