Saigo wins Chevron Championship in 5-way playoff. Novak and Griffin team to take Zurich Classic
Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from the first tee during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)
Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)
First-place individual champion captain Joaquín Niemann, center top, of Torque GC, is sprayed on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf via AP)
Andrew Novak hits along the 2nd fairway during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Ben Griffin, 18th green Andrew Novak, after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament with teammate Andrew Novak at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Andrew Novak, right, embraces teammate Ben Griffin on the 18th green after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, holds the trophy after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates her birdie putt on the 18th green during a playoff of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, jumps into the water after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, prepares to dive into the water off the 18th green after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, prepares to dive into the water off the 18th green after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from the first tee during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)
Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)
First-place individual champion captain Joaquín Niemann, center top, of Torque GC, is sprayed on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf via AP)
Andrew Novak hits along the 2nd fairway during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Ben Griffin, 18th green Andrew Novak, after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament with teammate Andrew Novak at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Andrew Novak, right, embraces teammate Ben Griffin on the 18th green after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, holds the trophy after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates her birdie putt on the 18th green during a playoff of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, jumps into the water after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, prepares to dive into the water off the 18th green after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Mao Saigo of Japan won the Chevron Championship on Sunday for her first major title, making a 3-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a five-way playoff.
Saigo birdied the par-5 18th in regulation for a 2-under 74, leaving her tied with Hyo Joo Kim, Ruoning Yin, Ariya Jutanugarn and Lindy Duncan. They finished at 7-under 281 at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Advertisement
Saigo won on the 18th in the playoff after Yin and Jutanugarn had birdie tries lip out. Jutanugarn bogeyed the 18th in regulation after stubbing her third shot only inches.
Saigo won for the first time on the LPGA Tour. She was the tour's rookie of the year last season. The 23-year-old player is the first Japanese winner in the event and the fifth major champion. She has six victories on the Japanese tour, five in 2022.
Winners had been jumping into Poppie's Pond off the 18th green at Mission Hills since 1988, and Saigo became the second to do it in Texas by leaping into the brown-tinged water. She shrieked and smiled as she went in holding hands with two members of her team.
Saigo took home $1.2 million from the $8 million purse.
Advertisement
PGA Tour
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin shot a 1-under 71 in alternate-shot play to become first-time PGA Tour winners — by one stroke — at the Zurich Classic.
They finished at 28-under 260 at the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana and Novak finally broke through after a pair of top-three finishes this month — the last a playoff loss to Justin Thomas a week ago at the RBC Heritage.
Play was delayed by weather for just over 90 minutes with Novak on Griffin on the eighth hole.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry, the defending champions, were in contention through 12 holes, but fell to 12th — six shots behind — with three late bogeys.
Advertisement
Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard narrowly missed out on a first PGA Tour win, finishing second after a 68.
LIV Golf League
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Mexico City for his third victory in six events this season, closing with a 6-under 65 for a three-stroke margin over Bryson DeChambeau and Lucus Herbert.
Niemann finished at 16-under 197 at Club de Golf Chapultepec. The 26-year-old Chilean star also won last year in Mexico at Mayakoba. He has five LIV victories after winning twice on the PGA Tour.
Herbert tied the course record with a 61, and second-round leader DeChambeau shot 70.
Advertisement
Legion XIII won the team competition Captain Jon Rahm (68), Tyrrell Hatton (68), Caleb Surratt (69) and Tom McKibbin (70) combined for Legion XIII's second victory of the season and sixth overall.
LIV Golf Korea is next week.
European Tour
HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Marco Penge of England closed with a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory in Hainan Classic for his first European tour title, coming just two months after he returned from a ban for betting on golf.
The victory capped off a wild six months for Penge, which began with him narrowly keeping his European card and ended with him finishing third in the Asian Swing to earn a spot in the PGA Championship next month.
Advertisement
The European tour gave Penge a three-month suspension for betting on golf, though it determined he never bet on himself or on anyone in the tournaments he played. He was fined 2,000 pounds.
The 26-year-old Penge finished at 17-under 271 and held off an early charge from Sean Crocker on the front nine. Crocker fell back with too many bogeys and shot 66 to finish three back along with Kristoffer Reitan (67).
Keita Nakajima and Eugenio Chacarra also earned spots in the PGA Championship for leading the Asian swing.
PGA Tour Champions
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Jerry Kelly won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic for his 13th PGA Tour Champions title, birdieing two of the last four holes for a one-stroke victory over Ernie Els.
Advertisement
The 58-year-old Kelly, tied with Els entering the round, closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 20-under 196 at TPC Sugarloaf. He opened with a 62 on Friday and shot 67 on Saturday.
Els birdied the last for a 68. He opened with rounds of 65 and 64.
Steven Alker was third at 16 under after a 65.
Angel Cabrera had a 68 to finish fourth at 15 under. Vijay Singh followed at 13 under after a 70.
Korn Ferry Tour
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Johnny Keefer won the Veritex Bank Championship for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, closing with a 7-under 64 for a three-stroke victory over five players
Keefer finished at 30-under 254 at Texas Rangers Golf Club. The 24-year-old former Baylor player opened with rounds of 63, 61 and 66.
Advertisement
Joshua Creel (61), 17-year-old Blades Brown (63), Zach James (64), Julian Suri (64) and Tyson Alexander (65) tied for second.
Other tours
Takanori Konishi captured his first Japan Golf Tour title when he closed with a 3-under 67 and won the Maezawa Cup by one shot over Shugo Imahira, who bogeyed the 18th hole for a 68. ... Minsun7 Kim closed with a 3-under 69 for a five-shot victory in the Dukshin EPC Championship on the Korea LPGA. ... Briana Chacon won the IOA Championship in Beaumont, California, for her second career Epson Tour title. She closed with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Megan Schofill. ... Jay Card III won the Kia Open in Ecuador for his first PGA Tour Americas victory. Her close with a 1-under 71 to finish at 16-under 200, a stroke ahead of Ricardo Celia and Jake Staiano. ... Scott Hend won the Barbados Legends, finishing with a 7-under 64 for a two-stroke victory. The Australian won for the second time on the Legends Tour title.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
18 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Guardians' ace Bieber will not throw for 7 days after setback in comeback from Tommy John surgery
CLEVELAND (AP) — Guardians ace Shane Bieber will not throw for seven days and will have his right elbow rechecked next week after experiencing soreness during a bullpen session on Tuesday. Bieber met with team doctors and consulted with specialist Dr. Keith Meister on Friday. The right-hander was scheduled to make his second rehab start with Double-A Akron on Friday before the setback. The seven-day shutdown started on Wednesday. He will be rechecked on June 13 before deciding the next steps. Experiencing soreness during rehab is not uncommon. Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in April 2024. He began his rehab Saturday by throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings in an Arizona Complex League game on his 30th birthday. The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner faced nine batters, allowed one hit and struck out five. Bieber pitched 12 scoreless innings in two starts last season, was limited to 21 starts in 2023 due to elbow issues and 16 starts in 2021 because of a shoulder strain. He agreed to a one-year, $14 million contract last fall with a $16 million player option for 2026. Bieber is 62-32 with a 3.22 ERA in 136 appearances since debuting with the Guardians in 2018, when he was 11-5 with a 4.55 ERA. ___ AP baseball:
San Francisco Chronicle
35 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Guardians' ace Bieber will not throw for 7 days after setback in comeback from Tommy John surgery
CLEVELAND (AP) — Guardians ace Shane Bieber will not throw for seven days and will have his right elbow rechecked next week after experiencing soreness during a bullpen session on Tuesday. Bieber met with team doctors and consulted with specialist Dr. Keith Meister on Friday. The right-hander was scheduled to make his second rehab start with Double-A Akron on Friday before the setback. The seven-day shutdown started on Wednesday. He will be rechecked on June 13 before deciding the next steps. Experiencing soreness during rehab is not uncommon. Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in April 2024. He began his rehab Saturday by throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings in an Arizona Complex League game on his 30th birthday. The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner faced nine batters, allowed one hit and struck out five. Bieber pitched 12 scoreless innings in two starts last season, was limited to 21 starts in 2023 due to elbow issues and 16 starts in 2021 because of a shoulder strain. He agreed to a one-year, $14 million contract last fall with a $16 million player option for 2026.
San Francisco Chronicle
36 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Nosek handles the guilt of his costly Game 1 penalty with a little help from his Panthers teammates
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Tomas Nosek had been dealing with the guilt of his puck-over-the-glass penalty ever since the Florida Panthers lost Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on the ensuing power-play goal by Leon Draisaitl. He's not sure how long it took to get over it. 'It was tough,' Nosek said Friday after an optional morning skate. 'You don't want to be the one guy who costs us the game. But obviously everybody can make a mistake. It happened in a bad time in overtime, and it cost us the game. But it's in the past, and now we're looking forward to just keep doing my job.' Nosek gets to keep doing his job. Coach Paul Maurice said he was not making any lineup changes for Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. That means A.J. Greer remains out with an undisclosed injury, though Maurice said the fourth-liner is on track for Game 3 on Monday in Sunrise. The penalty 18 minutes into overtime came when Edmonton's Jake Walman was pressuring Nosek in Florida's defensive zone. Power plays are rare in OT in the playoffs with officials careful about not wanting to have too big an influence on the outcome, but sending the puck over the glass is an automatic call. 'Everybody's making mistakes," Nosek said. "I think it's a part of the game. It's a sport, and you just focus on the next game and preparing yourself for it like every other game.' Nosek, one of several newcomers who weren't around last year when the Panthers won the Cup, is in his second final after helping Vegas get there in 2018. He said teammates have been good about encouraging and supporting him since the costly penalty. "They've been really helpful," Nosek said. "The guys came to me and said, 'Don't worry about it.' It's good.' Linemate Jonah Gadjovich, who reported feeling great after missing some time in Game 1 because of injury, said Nosek shouldn't feel bad about the mistake. 'It happens," Gadjovich said. 'Tough bounce, but he does so many good things for us, no one's mad at him, no one's anything. It's just stuff like that happens in a game.' Coy McDavid Connor McDavid made a pass befitting his status as the best hockey player on the planet to set up the Oilers' tying goal in Game 1, with Mattias Ekholm scoring it. Asked Friday whether the pass from behind the net was intended for Ekholm or winger Evander Kane, he was unwilling to share that information. 'I won't say," McDavid responded. "All that matters is it ended up where it needed to be, and we scored.' McDavid also assisted on Draisaitl's overtime goal, his playoff-leading 28th point in 17 games during this run. Coaching carousel Florida coach Paul Maurice said earlier this week he roots for three teams when he's watching games around the NHL: Vancouver for Jim Rutherford, Winnipeg because he was there for so long and loves the organization and the market, and Dallas for close friend Peter DeBoer. The Stars are probably off that list now after firing DeBoer on Friday following a third consecutive loss in the Western Conference final and comments made about the decision to pull franchise goaltender Jake Oettinger in the decisive Game 5 loss. 'He'll be all right," Maurice said. "He's a good coach. I think you get elite teams, you've got to push them real hard to get to where they get to, and then at some point you need a summer off, pick your spot. He's going to be OK.' DeBoer's dismissal opens a job a day after Boston hired Marco Sturm to fill its vacancy, the last one left in the league. On Wednesday, Pittsburgh went with a little bit of a surprise hiring longtime assistant Dan Muse. Ekholm, who played in Nashville when Muse was on staff there, is interested to see how it goes for a 'super serious guy' with a new school approach. 'I think he's got all the right tools to be a successful coach,' Ekholm said. "It's different to be an assistant than a head coach, so he's got some things to prove but good for him to get an opportunity.'
