Ko keeps cool, holds off Lewis

Stacy Lewis reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 14th green of the Lake Merced Golf Club during the final round of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic golf tournament on Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Daly City, Calif. Lewis finished second after shooting a 1-under-par 71 to finish at total 11-under-par. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Stacy Lewis reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 14th green of the Lake Merced Golf Club during the final round of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic golf tournament on Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Daly City, Calif. Lewis finished second after shooting a 1-under-par 71 to finish at total 11-under-par. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Monday, April 28, 2014

DALY CITY, Calif. - Poised and unflappable, Lydia Ko birdied the final hole for her third LPGA Tour victory and first as a professional, holding off Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shin on Sunday in the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

It went down to the final shots, when the teenager made a 6-foot birdie putt moments before Lewis knocked in a 4-footer of her own to finish one stroke back.

“The 18th hole I knew how loud the claps were and that I needed to get close and give myself a birdie chance,” Ko said.

After beginning the day a stroke behind Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks), Ko birdied three of her final four holes on the front nine on the way to a 3-under 69 and 12-under 276 total at Lake Merced.

Ko earned $270,000, celebrating on the 18th green three days after celebrating her 17th birthday at the first tee box with the gallery singing “Happy Birthday.”

Ko will move up two spots to No. 2 when the next world rankings are announced.

She won the Canadian Women’s Open as an amateur the last two years and took the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in December in Thailand in her second start as a professional. She has six victories in pro events, also winning in Australia and New Zealand.

Lewis will head to her home state of Texas next week looking to build on a disappointing near miss in which she struggled all day with her short game.

“I knew she wasn’t going away. Lydia played great,” Lewis said. “Every time I hit a shot in there, she answered.”

Shin, still looking for her first tour victory after her best finish this year, finished at 10-under 278 with a 68 over the 6,507-yard course.

Playing together for the fourth consecutive day, neither Ko nor Lewis hit any dazzling shots early.

Ko’s second of three bogeys came on the 417-yard, par-4 7th in which her tee shot hit a tree and dropped in the rough. Lewis’ 10-foot birdie putt on No. 9 lipped out.

Ko pulled into a first-place tie at 10 under as they made the turn on a picture-perfect spring day.

“The front nine, I did everything I wanted to do, the putts just didn’t go in,” Lewis said. “I expected her to do exactly what she did today. … She hit every shot she needed to make from 13 on in.”

The third-ranked Lewis had her sixth runner-up finish since winning the Women’s British Open in August.

Michelle Wie, who won last week in her home state of Hawaii, tied for ninth at 2 under.

Second-ranked Suzann Pettersen shot a 70 finish at 3 over in her first event since last month after missing three tournaments with a back injury. Top-ranked Inbee Park tied for fourth at 6 under.

There were two holes-in-one Sunday: Jimin Kang on the 164-yard 3rd and Dewi Claire Schreefel with a 7-iron on the par-3 157-yard 12th hole that earned her a $100,000 prize from China Trust Bank.

The weather held for the final day after both fog and rain delays earlier in the tournament.

PGA Noh, 22, wins first

AVONDALE, La. - Seung-Yul Noh overcame windy conditions and his nerves, shooting a 1-under 71 on Sunday to win the Zurich Classic by two shots for his first PGA Tour victory.

While Noh, the leader through three rounds, never fell out of first, he did make his first three bogeys of the tournament and briefly fell into a tie with Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner who had the gallery behind him.

But Bradley did himself in with a bogey on the fifth hole and a triple bogey on the sixth, while Noh remained steady enough to hold off remaining challengers.

Noh, the youngest winner this season at 22, wore yellow and black ribbons on his hat to honor the more than 300 dead or missing in a ferry accident in waters off his home country.

After taking the thirdround lead and becoming the first to play 54 holes at TPC Louisiana without a bogey, he said he hoped he could string together one more bogey-free round and come through with a victory to lift the spirits of his nation.

He accomplished the second part, and he’ll take it. His best finish in 77 previous PGA Tour starts was a tie for fourth at the 2012 AT&T National.

The seventh first-time PGA Tour winner in the last 10 years in the event, Noh finished at 19-under 269 and earned $1,224,000.

Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb tied for second. Svoboda had a 69, and Streb shot 70.

Jeff Overton, who briefly pulled within a stroke of Noh on the back nine, had a 70 to finish fourth at 16 under.

Bradley would up with a 75 to tie for eighth at 13 under.

Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-under 70 to finish 5 under, earning him $21,080 for his 45thplace finish.

EUROPEAN PGA Levy wins by four

SHENZHEN, China - Alexander Levy, 23, of France held on to win his maiden European Tour title at the China Open on Sunday, recovering from a late double bogey to shoot a 69 and beat Tommy Fleetwood by four strokes.

Levy, playing in his second year on tour, vaulted into the lead with a career-best 10-under 62 in the second round, then held off a late challenge from Fleetwood in the final round to take home his first trophy. He carded a 19-under 269 overall.

Fleetwood, who was trying for his second European Tour title, pulled within one stroke after birdieing the 17th hole, but Levy closed with back-to-back birdies to seal the victory.

WEB.COM

Final round wiped out

MIDLAND, Texas - Andrew Putnam won the WNB Golf Classic for his first Web.com Tour title Sunday when high wind wiped out the final round at Midland Country Club.

The 25-year-old Putnam completed seven holes and had an eight-stroke lead when play was stopped shortly after noon with sustained wind of 28 mph and gusts to 43 mph.

The gusts reached 50 mph about an hour later.

Putnam, a former Pepperdine player from Tacoma, Wash., shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to reach 20 under and open a seven-stroke advantage.

Sports, Pages 15 on 04/28/2014