Golf capsules: Furyk fires 58
Published 1:11 am Monday, August 8, 2016
The Associated Press
CROMWELL, Conn. — Jim Furyk has a place in PGA Tour history all to himself with a new magic number.
Three years after Furyk became the sixth player on tour with a 59, he took it even lower Sunday in the Travelers Championship with a 12-under 58.
The 46-year-old American bounced in an eagle from 135 yards on his third hole, ran off seven straight birdies around the turn and picked up his final birdie on the 16th hole with a putt from just inside 24 feet. He rolled in a short par putt on the final hole at TPC River Highlands, thrust his arms in the air and waved his cap to salute thousands of fans who had rushed to the amphitheater around the 18th green.
Furyk tied for fifth at 11 under, three strokes behind winner Russell Knox.
Furyk reached 11 under with his seventh straight birdie at No. 12. He missed a 12-foot birdie attempt on the 14th hole and, after nearly driving the par-4 15th, his 8-foot birdie putt lipped out.
Ryo Ishikawa shot a 58 in The Crowns on the Japan Golf Tour in 2010. Shigeki Maruyama shot a 58 in U.S. Open sectional qualifying in 2000. And just last week, Stephan Jaeger posted a 58 on the Web.com Tour in the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae.
Furyk had a 59 at Conway Farms in the second round of the 2013 BMW Championship with a bogey on his card. He’s the only player with two sub-60 rounds.
Knox saved par with a 12-foot putt on the final hole to beat hometown favorite Jerry Kelly by a stroke. Knox closed with a 68 for a 14-under 266 total. The 31-year-old Scot won for the second time on the tour, following his breakthrough victory in China in November in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Kelly, the 49-year-old former University of Hartford player, finished with a 64.
3M CHAMPIONSHIP
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Joe Durant made a 10-foot eagle putt on the first hole of a playoff with Miguel Angel Jimenez to win the PGA Tour Champions’ 3M Championship.
The 52-year-old Durant won on the par-5 18th after closing with a birdie on the hole in regulation for a 9-under 63. After a double bogey on the par-4 14th, Jimenez birdied the last four holes for a 67 to match Durant at 19-under 197 at TPC Twins Cities.
Jimenez birdied the 18th in the playoff, too, before Durant rolled in the right-to-left winner.
Durant won for the second time on the 50-and-over tour and the first by himself after teaming with Billy Andrade to win the Legends of Golf last year. Durant won the last of his four PGA Tour titles at Walt Disney World in 2006.
Two-time winner Bernhard Langer birdied six of the first seven holes in a 64 to tie for third with Kevin Sutherland (68) at 17 under. Langer has broken par in all 24 of his rounds in the event.
Two-time defending champion Kenny Perry had a 68 to tie for 37th at 7 under.
U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR
SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (AP) — South Korea’s Eun Jeong Seong won the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green to become the first player to win the event and U.S. Girls’ Junior in the same year.
The 16-year-old Seong outlasted Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta 1 up in hot conditions in the 36-hole final, the first all-international championship match in 106 years.
The 19-year-old Carta, coming off her freshman season at Duke, overcame a dizzy spell that forced a 15-minute delay after the 31st hole. She was trying to become the second player to win the tournament and NCAA individual title in the same year.
Seong won her second straight U.S. Girls’ Junior title last month at Ridgewood in New Jersey.
The finalists earned spots in the U.S. Women’s Open next year at Trump National in New Jersey, and the winner also traditionally receives exemptions into the ANA Inspiration, Women’s British Open and Evian Championship — all only if still an amateur.
Seong took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 25th hole and won the par-4 29th with a birdie for a 2-up advantage. Carta took the par-4 31st with a par to Seong’s double bogey, and Seong rebounded with a par win on the par-3 34th. Carta won the par-5 35th with a 30-foot birdie putt, and Seong missed a chance to end it when her 10-footer burned the right edge. Seong ran in a 40-footer for birdie on the par-4 36th and conceded Carta’s 25-footer to close out the match.
PAUL LAWRIE MATCH PLAY
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — England’s Anthony Wall won his first European Tour title in more than 16 years, beating Sweden’s Alex Noren 1 up in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play.
Noren was looking to win a second title in Scotland in the space of a month, after capturing the Scottish Open on July 10, and was 2 up after two holes over the Archerfield links in the windiest conditions of the week. He didn’t win another hole.
The 41-year-old Wall’s only previous title was at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in 2000 — 16 years, 204 days ago. He has struggled over the past three years with hip and back injuries.
DIGITAL ALLY OPEN
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Wesley Bryan won the Digital Ally Open in a playoff to earn an immediate PGA Tour promotion as a three-time winner this season on the Web.com Tour.
The 26-year-old former South Carolina player became the 21st three-time winner in a season in tour history and the 11th to earn a three-victory promotion. Also the Louisiana Open and El Bosque Mexico winner, he will be fully exempt on the 2016-17 PGA Tour.
Bryan closed with a 4-under 67 to match Grayson Murray and J.T, Poston at 20-under 264 at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate. Murray and Poston each shot 66.
Bryan won with a birdie on the par-3 18th, hitting a 6-iron from 194 yards to 3 feet. The three matched birdies on the par-4 18th on the first extra hole.
Bryan earned $117,000 to push his tour-leading total to $449,392.