Potgieter wins a playoff in Detroit for first PGA Tour win. Harrington wins another Senior Open

San Francisco Chronicle​

13 hours ago

DETROIT (AP) — Aldrich Potgieter made an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole, outlasting Max Greyserman to win the Rocket Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.
The 20-year-old from South Africa is the youngest player on the tour and its biggest hitter. He became the ninth player to win for the first time this season.
Chris Kirk, who closed with a 5-under 67, missed a 9-foot putt for the win on the first playoff hole and was eliminated on the second extra hole when he missed a 4-foot par putt.
Greyserman missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation, missing his chance to win and closing with a 67. Potgieter, who started with a two-shot lead, shot 69 to join Kirk at 22-under 266.
Michael Thorbjornsen (67) and Jake Knapp (68) finished a stroke out of the playoff.
USGA and PGA Tour Champions
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Padraig Harrington came out on top of a major championship that felt more like match play, closing his round with seven straight pars at the U.S. Senior Open for a 3-under 67 to beat Stewart Cink by one shot.
Playing alongside Cink for the fourth straight day, Harrington finished at 11-under 269 on the tricky, heavily sloping Broadmoor. The Irishman sealed this match by hitting his approach to 8 feet on No. 18, putting pressure on Cink, who trailed by one but sat 30 yards in front of him on the fairway.
Cink's approach landed on the precipice of a ledge, but spun back to 35 feet away to set up a two-putt. Harrington took two putts for the win, his second U.S. Senior Open title in four years that gets him in the U.S. Open next year at Shinnecock Hills.
LIV Golf League
CARROLLTON, Texas (AP) — Patrick Reed lost the lead with a 3-over 75 and then atoned for it by making a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a four-man playoff to win LIV Golf Dallas, his first title since joining the Saudi-funded league in 2022.
Reed, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, fell behind late in the day at Maridoe Golf Club until Jinichiro Kozuma made bogey on the 18th hole and then made par on his final hole at No. 1 for a 68. That got him into a playoff with Reed, Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Paul Casey (72).
On the first extra hole, Oosthuizen drove into the water and Casey took four shots to reach the green on the par-4 18th. Kozuma missed his 25-foot birdie try, setting the stage for Reed.
Jon Rahm finished out of the top 10 for the first time in LIV, while Sergio Garcia claimed the one LIV spot for the British Open.
LPGA Tour
MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Somi Lee poured in an 8-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to team with fellow South Korean Jin Hee Im to win the Dow Championship, denying Lexi Thompson her first LPGA title in six years.
Thompson's partner, Megan Khang, had a chance to extend the playoff, but she missed a 5-foot birdie putt that was on the low side of the hole from the start.
The final round was fourballs, but switched to foursomes for the playoff.
Thompson made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-3 18th hole for the American duo to finish with a 10-under 60 in fourballs. They were the first to post at 20-under 260. Lee made a 10-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead on the 17th. They shot 62.
European Tour
TUSCANY, Italy (AP) — Adrien Saddier claimed his first European tour title in his 200th start with a back-nine charge in the Italian Open, closing with a 4-under 66 for a two-shot victory over Martin Couvra.
Couvra, the 54-hole leader, closed with a 69 and appeared headed for victory until Saddier had five birdies over the final seven holes at the Argentario Golf Club on the Tuscan coast.
Saddier and Couvra earned places in the British Open field at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland next month.
Calum Hill of Scotland and Dan Bradbury of England finished tied for third, four strokes behind.
Korn Ferry Tour
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Austin Smotherman holed out for eagle to take the lead for the first time and closed with an 8-under 63 for a one-shot victory over Alvaro Ortiz in the Memorial Health Championship.
It was the second Korn Ferry Tour victory this year for Smotherman, who moved to No. 1 on the points list and is virtually certain of returning to the PGA Tour next year.
Ortiz began had a four-shot lead going into the final round and his lead was down to one when he bogeyed the 11th hole. Smotherman followed by holing out for eagle on the 408-yard 12th hole. Both player made birdie on the par 5s coming in and Smotherman held on for the win.
Sandy Scott shot 60, with pars on the last two holes, to tie for third.
Other tours
Jillian Hollis rallied from a three-shot deficit with a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Kelli Ann Strand in the Otter Creek Championship on the Epson Tour. ...Tatsunori Shogenji closed with a 6-under 65 for a one-shot victory over Ryuichi Oiwa (62) in the Japan Players Championship, his second Japan Golf Tour victory this year. ... Shannon Tan of Singapore captured her second Ladies European Tour title with a 5-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Helen Briem of Germany in the Amundi German Masters. ... David Horsey birdied the final hole for a 3-under 69, and then made birdie again to win a four-man playoff against James Allan, Joseba Torres and Daniel Young in Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France. ... Shuri Sakuma closed with a 2-under 70 and won the Earth Mondahmin Cup by one shot over Nana Suganuma on the Japan LPGA. ... Jiu Ko closed with a 5-under 67 to hold off Hyungjo Yoo (62) for a two-shot victory in the McCol-Mona Youngpyong Open on the Korea LPGA.