Golf: Snedeker opens with 59 and closes with victory in Greensboro; Hovland wins U.S. Amateur

Brandt Snedeker won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his ninth PGA Tour title, four days after opening with a 59.

Snedeker closed with a 5-under 65 for a three-stroke victory, breaking a tie with C.T. Pan on the final hole. Pan hit his tee shot out-of-bounds and made double bogey. Snedeker, playing in the group behind, made a 20-foot birdie.

Snedeker finished at 21-under 259 for his first win since 2016 and his second at the tournament, but first at Sedgefield Country Club.

Pan shot a 66 to tie for second with Webb Simpson (62).

Snedeker opened the tournament with the 59 that made him the first tour player this year and just the 10th ever to break 60, then on the final day played 29 holes at 5 under to seal it.

He was never in danger of missing the Fed Ex Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, but the victory gave him a huge jump on the points list. He climbed 50 spots to No. 30 on the list, after arriving at 80th — which would have been his lowest finish.

Severe weather led organizers to suspend the third round with 30 players still on the course and bring everybody back to Sedgefield on Sunday morning, leaving Snedeker with 29 holes to play on the final day.

He wrapped up that round with a one-stroke lead at 16 under before heading back onto the course. Since the tournament moved here in 2008, every third-round leader who was that far under par has gone on to win.

The other subplot at Sedgefield was the last chance to finish in the top 125 and get into the FedEx Cup playoffs. With every player who was between Nos. 122-127 missing the cut, there figured to be plenty of movement near the bubble.

Sergio Garcia will miss the playoffs for the first time in his career after winding up 131st on the points list. Harris English and Nick Taylor played their way in.

Viktor Hovland becomes first Norwegian to win US Amateur

Viktor Hovland became the first Norwegian to win the U.S. Amateur, beating UCLA sophomore Devon Bling 6 and 5 to cap a dominant week at Pebble Beach.

Hovland took control of the match by winning four straight holes midway through the morning round of the 36-hole final and managed to scramble back after his rare mistakes to give him the Havemeyer Trophy.

Hovland trailed after only one hole in six rounds of match play as he was in control throughout with his coach at Oklahoma State, Alan Bratton, serving as his caddie.

Norway has little history of success in men’s golf with no one from the country ever winning a PGA Tour event. The most prominent Norwegian player is Suzann Pettersen, who has won two majors among her 15 wins on the LPGA Tour.

Bling, who is from Ridgecrest and about to start his sophomore year at UCLA, lost the match when he missed a long birdie putt on the 31st hole.

Hovland was barely challenged in the match play portion of the event, winning back-to-back matches 7 and 6 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals and never getting pushed to the limit in his six matches. Hovland won 43 of the 104 holes in match play.

Park reclaims No. 1 world ranking with playoff win in Indy

Sung Hyun Park erased a two-shot deficit over the final four holes and birdied the first hole of a playoff with Lizette Salas to win the Indy Women in Tech Championship.

The two-time major champion from South Korea reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the world with her third LPGA Tour victory of the season and fifth of her career.

Park closed with a 4-under 68 to match Salas at 23-under 265 at Brickyard Crossing.

Salas appeared to be in control until hitting tee shots into the rough on the final two holes. She bogeyed No. 17 to fall into a tie with Park and missed a short birdie putt on No. 18 to close with a 70. In the playoff, the American slid a longer birdie putt just left of the hole.

Park then rolled her 10-foot birdie putt right into the center of the cup.

South Korea’s Amy Yang was third, a shot back after a 69.

Bart Bryant wins Dick’s Sporting Goods Open — again

Bart Bryant made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for the second time in six years.

With playing partner Michael Bradley facing a 7-foot birdie putt that he would make, the 55-year-old Bryant rolled in the left-to-right breaking putt for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke victory.

Bradley, the second-round leader, bogeyed the par-4 15th in a 68.

Also the 2013 winner at En-Joie Golf Club, Bryant made six birdies in a nine-hole stretch from the third to the 11th and had six straight pars before the winning birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

Bryant finished at 16-under 200. The three-time PGA Tour winner’s only senior victories have come at En-Joie, the site of the PGA Tour’s B.C. Open from 1972-2005.

Tom Gillis (67) and Marco Dawson (68) tied for third at 13 under, a stroke ahead of Paul Goydos (65), Kenny Perry (67) and Mark Calcavecchia (67).

Waring wins Nordea Masters for 1st European Tour title

Paul Waring of England captured his first European Tour title on his 200th attempt by beating Thomas Aiken in a playoff to win the Nordea Masters on Sunday.

Waring and Aiken were tied going into the final round at Hills Golf Club and each closed with a 2-under 68 to finish at 14-under 266. On the par-5 18th in the playoff, Aiken hit his tee shot into the water and Waring won with a par.

Maximilian Kieffer shot 65 and finished alone in third.

“It’s 200th time lucky, isn’t it?� Waring said. “I’ve been through a few ups and downs in my career with injuries, some good golf played. To finally get across the line, I’m absolutely ecstatic right now.�

Thorbjorn Olesen finished fourth, earning enough world ranking points to move past Ian Poulter and into the eighth and final qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup with two weeks to go. Poulter and Paul Casey will have access to stronger world ranking points in the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour.

Sungjae Im wins Web.com finale; leads PGA Tour qualfiers

Sungjae Im won the regular-season ending Portland Open to earn one of 25 PGA Cards and become the first player to top the Web.com Tour money list wire-to-wire.

Im closed with a 4-under 67 on Pumpkin Ridge’s Witch Hollow course for a four-stroke victory over John Chin. The 20-year-old South Korean player earned $144,000 to finish the season with $534,326.

Im finished at 18-under 266. He also won the season-opening event in the Bahamas and had three second-place finishes.

Chin shot a 66. He was the only player to move into the top 25 on the money list, going from 41st to 10th.

Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton was third at 13 under after a 66. Jim Knous (67) and Derek Ernst (71) were 12 under, a stroke ahead of Kevin Dougherty (70) and Curtis Luck (69).

Twenty-five more PGA Tour cards will be awarded in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals.