OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — J.J. Spaun turned a sloppy mess of a U.S. Open at wet and nasty Oakmont into a thing of beauty at the end Sunday with two stunning shots that carried him to his first major championship.
First came his driver on the 314-yard 17th hole onto the green for a birdie that gave him the lead. Needing two putts from 65 feet on the 18th to win, he finished his storybook Open by holing the longest putt all week at Oakmont for birdie and a 2-over 72.
That made him the only player to finish under par at 1-under 279. It gave him a two-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre of Scotland.
And it made Spaun, the 36-year-old Californian who resembles the late Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris, a major champion in only his second U.S. Open. He finished last year at No. 119 in the world with only one PGA Tour title in his career.
MacIntyre birdied the 17th and split the fairway on the 18th for a key par, a 68 and the clubhouse lead. Three groups later, Spaun delivered what looked like the winner, a powerful fade that rolled onto the green like a putt and settled 18 feet behind the cup. And then the final putt — no one made a longer one all week.
LPGA Tour
BELMONT, Mich. (AP) — Carlota Ciganda birdied the final two holes to win the Meijer LPGA Classic for her first LPGA Tour victory in more than 8 1/2 years, while Lexi Thompson had two late bogeys to dash her bid to end a long drought of her own.
Ciganda hit to a foot to set up her birdie on the par-4 17th, then made a 4-foot comebacker on the par-5 18th to avoid a playoff with playing partner Hye-Jin Choi.
Part of a six-way tie to start the day at Blythefield County Club, Ciganda shot a 5-under 67 — her fourth straight round in the 60s — to finish at 16-under 272 on the tree-lined layout in the final event before the major KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Texas.
Ciganda won for the first time since the 2016 Lorena Ochoa Invitational, a span of 8 years, 7 months, 2 days. The 35-year-old Spanish player has three LPGA Tour victories and has won eight times on the Ladies European Tour, the last in December in the Spanish Women’s Open.
Choi finished with a 68, also shooting in the 60s all four days. Fellow South Korean player Somi Lee was third at 14 under after a 65.
Thompson had a 70 to tie for fourth with Celine Boutier (67) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (70). Thompson, the 2015 winner at Blythefield, won the last of her 11 LPGA Tour titles in June 2019.
Other tours
Stanford sophomore Paula Martin Sampedro of Spain won the Women’s British Amateur with a 2-and-1 victory over Texas sophomore Farah O’Keefe at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland. The victory gets the Spaniard into the Women’s British Open next month. … Riley Smyth won the Great Lakes Championship for her second Epson Tour victory of the year. She closed with a 6-under 66 for a a one-stroke victory over Erika Hara and Isi Gabsa at The Highlands in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Smyth also won the season-opening Central Florida Championship. … Shaun Norris closed with a 6-under 66 to force a playoff and beat Yusuke Sakamoto on the second extra hole with a birdie to win the Hana Bank Invitational, his eighth career title on the Japan Golf Tour. … Palmer Jackson, who played his college golf at Notre Dame, closed with a 7-under 64 for a six-shot victory in the Raiffeisenback Golf Challenge, his first Challenge Tour victory. … Sayaka Takahashi closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory over Eri Okayama in the Ai Miyazator Suntory Ladies Open on the Japan LPGA. … Dongeun Lee won the DB Group Korea Women’s Open on the Korea LPGA with a 3-under 69, one shot ahead of Shihyun Kim. … Peter Baker won his eighth Legends Tour title with a 6-under 66 for a six-shot victory in the Costa Navarino Legends Tour Trophy in Greece.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
The Associated Press
