Henrik Stenson, who had two runner-up PGA Tour finishes this year, broke through for his first win of the season, shooting a five-under 66 to capture the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts.
The 37-year-old Swede also moved into first place in the FedEx Cup playoff standings with the victory, surpassing Tiger Woods for the overall lead.
Stenson, who won on the PGA Tour for the first time in more than three years, finished at 22-under 262 in a Monday finish to tie the tournament scoring record at TPC Boston.
Photo: AFP
“I’m just pleased I won here,” Stenson said. “This was a big goal of mine to win a golf tournament after all those nice finishes.”
American Steve Stricker, 46, finished two shots back in second.
Stricker’s performance earned him a spot on Team USA after he improved to seventh from 11th in the President’s Cup standings.
Canada’s Graham DeLaet shot 69 to finish alone in third and 54-hole round leader Sergio Garcia of Spain shot a two-over 73 to tie for fourth with three Americans: Jordan Spieth (62), Matt Kuchar (66) and Kevin Stadler (68).
The Deutsche Bank event is the second leg of the four-tournament FeEx Cup playoffs which until Monday was led by Woods. Woods stumbled to a two-over 73 on Monday and finished in a tie for 65th.
“It wasn’t my week. I didn’t play well and didn’t make anything,” Woods said. “I didn’t have it today.”
The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the third playoff event, the BMW Championship, which begins on Sept. 12.
Heavy rains all week led to low scores and plenty of delays, including two more on Monday.
The third round was completed in near darkness after a lengthy weather delay. Some players had started their third rounds, but the long stoppage forced organizers to erase that play and have players go out in threesomes of split tees.
Stenson, who comes from Gothenburg, posted his first win on the PGA Tour since the 2009 Players Championship by rolling in six birdies at TPC Boston.
Stenson finished second at The Open Championship and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational followed by a third at this year’s PGA Championship.
At the Deutsche Bank Championship, Stenson made bogey on No. 2, but then birdied five straight holes beginning at No. 4. He compiled a three-shot lead through eight holes.
“It’s been long, hard work getting back to this place,” he said. “There’s no magic, no quick fix. It’s just hard work.”
Zach Johnson joins Stricker on the President’s Cup team. Johnson closed with a birdie on his final hole on Sunday and a 66, which tied him for 27th.
He finished 10th and earned the final automatic qualifying spot for the US Presidents Cup team. US skipper Fred Couples will name his captain’s picks today.
“I stayed in my process,” Johnson said. “I stayed just playing and hitting shots. I had a good day today. I missed some short putts, but I made some long putts. It was an odd day.”
He had both the 36-hole and 54-hole leads, but stumbled to five bogeys.
“I just wasn’t comfortable,” Garcia said. “I wasn’t able to trust myself as I did the first few days.”
Garcia has now won just three of the past 11 times in which he owned at least a share of the 54-hole leads.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two