OAKVILLE, Ontario - Brandt Snedeker won the Canadian Open on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title of the year, closing with 2-under 70 for a three stroke victory.
Snedeker took the lead Saturday after second-round leader Hunter Mahan withdrew when his wife went into labor, and held on in the breezy final round at Glen Abbey.
“Just ecstatic right now,” Snedeker said. “This is a tournament I said early on in my career I wanted to win just because my caddie (Scott Vail) is actually from Canada and it’s his national open. It meant a lot to him, meant a lot to me.Third-oldest tournament on tour and it’s got some great history to it, and now to put my name on that trophy it means a lot.”
Mahan’s wife, Kandi, gave birth to daughter Zoe Olivia Mahan early Sunday in Texas.
“Zoe will be getting a very nice baby gift from me,” Snedeker said. “I can’t thank Kandi enough for going into labor early. I don’t know if I’d be sitting here if she hadn’t. But that is a way more important thing than a golf tournament. I missed a golf tournament when my first was born, and it was the best decision I ever made. I’m sure Hunter would say the samething.”
Snedeker finished at 16-under 272. The six-time PGA Tour winner also won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.
“It feels great to get a win,” Snedeker said. “Tovalidate all the hard work I’ve put in over the past three months where I haven’t played my best and know that I’m working on the right stuff and able to hold up under some pretty serious pressure this afternoon. To win a tournament like this with those pivotal holes coming down the stretch means a lot.”
Snedeker had two birdies and a bogey on the front nine. He birdied the par-4 10th to move to 16 under, but gave the shot back on the par-3 12th. He birdied the par-5 16th and parred the final two holes.
“I hung in there really well and made the key putts I needed to and I was able to survive,” Snedeker said. “That’s what today is all about.”
Dustin Johnson, William McGirt, Matt Kuchar and Jason Bohn tied for second.
Johnson was tied for the lead after a birdie on No. 16, then drove out of bounds and hit the lip of a fairway bunker en route to a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 17th. He finished with a 70.
“I was playing really well,” Johnson said. “Really confident, swinging the driver really good. So you know, it’s a driver hole for me, and I just blocked it a little bit. Made a poor swing. … Not too happy, but I felt really good with my golf game. … It’s nothing, nothing to worry about. I’ll go get them next weekend.”
McGirt had a 68, and Kuchar and Bohn shot 71.
David Hearn was the top Canadian, shooting a 73 to tie for 44th at 4 under.
“It wasn’t the finish that I was really looking for. I had a nice chance today,” said Hearn, a playoff loser in the John Deere Classic. “I’ll take away some positives from the week. I appreciate the support from everyone here this week and it always feels good to play at home.”
David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) entered the day one shot behind co-leaders Snedeker and Johnson, but he shot a 3-0ver 75 in Sunday’s final round. His 12th-place finish earned him $113,400.
Scott Gardiner (Farmington) shot a 6-under 66 in the first round, slipped to a 74 on Friday and a 75 on Saturday before finishing with an even-par 72 Sunday to finish in a tie for 61st place at 1 under. He earned a $11,984 paycheck.SENIOR BRITISH OPEN Darkness suspends playoff
SOUTHPORT, England - Bernhard Langer and Mark Wiebe were tied after two playoff holes in the storm-delayed Senior British Open when darkness suspended play at Royal Birkdale.
They will finish the playoff this morning.
Wiebe shot a 4-under 66 to match Langer at 9-under 271. Langer had a 70. They each parred the par-4 18th twice in the playoff.
Langer, the 2010 winner at Carnoustie, blew a two-stroke lead with a double bogey on the final hole of regulation after hitting into a greenside bunker. Minutes earlier, Wiebe’s birdie putt at No. 18 came up short.
Corey Pavin, Peter Senior and David Frost tied for third at 6 under. Pavin shot a 65, Senior had a 66, and Frost a 70.
LADIES EUROPEAN MASTERS Eagles boost Webb
DENHAM, England - Hall of Famer Karrie Webb rallied to win the Ladies European Masters, making two eagles in a 7-under 65 for a one-stroke victory in the Ladies European Tour event.
Webb, a 38-year-old Australian, preparing for the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews, had a 16-under 200 total at Buckinghamshire. She has three victories this season, also winning the Australian Ladies Masters in February and the LPGA Tour’s ShopRite LPGA Classic in June.
Webb eagled the par-5 ninth and 14th holes.
South Africa’s Ashleigh Simon was second. She closed with a 69.
The Women’s British Open starts Thursday on the Old Course.
WEB.COM TOUR
Tway gets first victory
BOISE, Idaho - Kevin Tway won the Boise Open on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, beating Spencer Levin with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
Tway, 25, the son of Champions Tour player Bob Tway, closed with a 7-under 64 to match Levin at 23-under 261 at Hillcrest Country Club. Levin finished with a 63.
Michael Putnam, a twotime winner this year who leads the money list, had a 63 to tie for third with Bronson La’Cassie and third-round leader Philip Pettitt at 22 under. La’Cassie had a 65, and Pettitt shot 67.
Russell Knox, the Scot who shot a 59 on Friday to match the tour record, finished with a 69 to tie for 12th at 19 under.EUROPEAN TOUR Hoey wins by four
MOSCOW - Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey won the Russian Open for his fifth European Tour title, finishing with a 2-under 70 for a fourstroke victory.
Hoey had a 16-under 272 total at Jack Nicklaus-designed Tseleevo.
France’s Alexandre Kaleka (68) and England’s Matthew Nixon (69) tied for second.
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/29/2013