Associated Press
ANCASTER, Ontario — Four straight birdies put Scott Piercy into the mix early. One big par at the end made him a winner Sunday at the Canadian Open.
Piercy won for the second time in his career when he closed with a 3-under 67, and William McGirt and Robert Garrigus stumbled on the closing stretch at Hamilton Golf & Country Club to finish a stroke back.
McGirt, atop the leaderboard for much of the final round, had his first three-putt bogey of the week on the 15th hole when he ran a 45-foot putt some 15 feet by the hole. Tied for the lead playing the 18th, he put his approach into the bunker and blasted out to 18 feet, missing the par putt that would have forced a playoff. McGirt closed with a 69.
Garrigus, the 54-hole leader, missed six putts inside 8 feet. The last one was the most costly. He three-putted from long range just off the green on the 16th, missing an 8-footer for par that left him one shot behind. He missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff and had to settle for a 70.
Pierce won while sitting in the clubhouse. Moments earlier, he two-putted for par from 50 feet on the 18th to finish on 17-under 263 and tie the oldest 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour. Johnny Palmer had a 263 when he won the Canadian Open in 1952 at St. Charles in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
It was the second time Piercy has won on the PGA Tour in the last year. He picked up his first win at the Reno-Tahoe Open last year, which is held next week for players who don’t get into the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. Now, Piercy is headed to his first World Golf Championship, and then off to the PGA Championship. More perks arrive next year when Piercy goes to Augusta National for the first time to play in the Masters.
In what amounted to a three-man race on a warm, sunny day at Hamilton, Piercy looked as if he took himself out of the hunt when he ran into trouble off the tee at the 14th, had to play out of the trees and make a 6-foot putt to escape with bogey. But he chipped in for birdie on the 15th, and then hung on for pars.
SENIOR BRITISH OPEN
TURNBERRY, Scotland — Fred Couples won the Senior British Open, birdieing the final two holes for a two-stroke victory over Gary Hallberg on Turnberry’s Ailsa Course.
Couples, making his first start in the event, closed with a 3-under 67 for a 9-under 271 total.
Hallberg finished with a 66.
The 52-year-old Couples won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in March and has eight Champions Tour titles. He won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1992 Masters.
EVIAN MASTERS
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — South Korea’s Inbee Park won the Evian Masters, closing with a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over third-round leader Stacy Lewis and Karrie Webb.
Park, also the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open winner, had a 17-under 271 total.
Webb shot a 68, and Lewis finished with a 68.
China’s Shanshan Feng eagled the 18th for a 66 to tie for fourth at 14 under with 17-year-old South Korean amateur Hyo Joo Kim (68) and Natalie Gulbis (68).
NATIONWIDE
CHILDREN’S
HOSPITAL INVITE
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ben Kohles won the Web.com Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in his first professional start, beating Luke Guthrie with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
Kohles closed with a 1-under 70 to match Guthrie at 12-under 272 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. Guthrie birdied three of the final five holes in regulation for a 66.
One of 12 college All-Americans invited to the event, Kohles turned pro after finishing his amateur career last week in the Porter Cup. The 22-year-old former University of Virginia player earned $144,000.
