OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Clutch down the stretch and for six dynamic playoff holes, Patrick Cantlay put a fitting end to an epic battle with Bryson DeChambeau by making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the BMW Championship on Sunday.
DeChambeau missed a 6-foot putt for 59 on Friday and missed four birdie putts to win in regulation and in the playoff Sunday. And then he missed the most important putt of the week from just inside 10 feet to extend the playoff.
Cantlay made putts from 8 feet for par, 8 feet for bogey and 20 feet for birdie on the final three holes of regulation for a 6-under 66, the last one to force a playoff at Caves Valley in the PGA Tour’s first appearance in Baltimore in nearly 60 years. He holed par putts of 6 feet and 7 feet on the 18th hole in the playoff.
The last one gave him the victory, his PGA Tour-leading third of the season and fifth overall. Not only did it move him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings, the victory gave Cantlay the sixth and final automatic spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Cantlay now starts the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead based on his standing as the race concludes for the $15 million prize.
DeChambeau also closed with a 66. They finished at 27-under 261. No one has ever shot 261 on the PGA Tour and didn’t take home the trophy.
Sungjae Im birdied his last two holes for a 67 to finish alone in third, four shots behind. Rory McIlroy closed with a 67 to finish fourth.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
GRAND BLANC, Mich. (AP) — Joe Durant made a 5-foot bogey putt on the par-4 18th for a one-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer in The Ally Challenge.
The 57-year-old Durant closed with a 4-under 68 in windy conditions to finish at 17-under 199 at Warwick Hills. He won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour Champions after winning four times on the PGA Tour.
A stroke behind Langer and Doug Barron entering the round, Durant had four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine and added a birdie on the par-5 16th. He drove left on 18 into an adjacent fairway, clipped a branch hitting over the trees, left his third short of the green and chipped past.
Langer parred the 18th, hitting into two bunkers, in a 70. Two days after shooting his age on his 64th birthday, the German star had just one back-nine birdie — matching Durant on the 16th. Langer has 41 Champions victories, four off Hale Irwin’s record.
Steven Alker was third at 15 under after a 67. Barron (72), Steve Flesch (64) and K.J. Choi (66) were 14 under.
Vijay Singh had an albatross on 16 — holing out with a 5-wood — in a 67 that left him 13 under.
EUROPEAN TOUR
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Rasmus Hojgaard shot a 7-under 63 and won the European Masters by a stroke when Bernd Wiesberger closed with a bogey after hitting into green-side water.
The 20-year-old Hojgaard finished at 13-under 267 for his third European Tour victory. The Dane eagled the par-5 14th and played the final six holes in 5 under.
Wiesberger hit his tee shot at the par-4 18th into a bunker, then found the water with his second shot. The Austrian player finished with a 65.
Henrik Stenson was third at 11 under after a 63.
KORN FERRY TOUR
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Adam Svensson won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, closing with a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke victory in the second of three Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.
Already headed to the PGA Tour next season as a top-25 finisher in the regular-season points race, Svensson finished with a tournament-record 17-under 267 total on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. The 27-year-old Canadian has three career victories, also winning the Club Car Championship in March in Georgia.
Bronson Burgoon (66) and Stephan Jaeger (71) tied for second.
The Korn Ferry Tour Championship is next week at Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana.
OTHER TOURS
Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe won the KBC Augusta for his first Japan Golf Tour title. He closed with a 4-under 68 to finish at 17-under 271. Ryo Ishikawa was a stroke back after a 67. … Alfredo Garcia-Heredia of Spain took the B-NL Challenge in the Netherlands for his first European Challenge Tour title, winning with a birdie on the seventh extra playoff. The 39-year-old Garcia-Heredia closed with a 3-under 68 to match Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde, Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus and Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey at 11 under. Hoey dropped out on the first playoff hole and Magnus on the third. … Michael Blair won the Prince Edward Island Open, beating Maxwell Sear with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event. Blair finished with a 1-under 71 to match Sear at 9 under. Sear also closed with a 71. … Trish Johnson of England won the Senior LPGA Championship in French Lick, Indiana, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Becky Morgan of Wales. Also the 2017 winner, Johnson finished at 7-under 209 on the The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort. Morgan shot a 69. … Pauline Roussin Bouchard of France won the Ladies European Tour’s Didriksons Skafto Open in Sweden in her second professional start. Roussin Bouchard followed a second-round 60 with a 68 to finish at 11 under, a stroke ahead of Sweden’s Linn Grant (62) and Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher (64). … Mone Inami closed with a 6-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Jeon Mi-jeong in the Japan LPGA’s Nitori Ladies. Inami finished at 16 under. Jeon shot a 71. … Lee Da-yeon ran away with the Korean LPGA’s Hanwha Classic, shooting 69-69-65-66 for a seven-stroke victory. She finished at 19 under. … Peiyun Chien of Taiwan won the Circling Raven Championship in Worley, Idaho, for her third career Symetra Tour title. She closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 16 under, a stroke ahead of Demi Runas (66).
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The Associated Press