Rose Zhang poses for pictures after winning the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament on May 12 in Clifton, N.J.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for a record fourth time Sunday, overcoming a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five strokes.
No other player has won the event more than twice.
McIlroy closed with a 6-under 65 at Quail Hollow, playing the final 11 holes in 6 under even with a double bogey on the 18th hole. He finished at 17-under 267 after four straight rounds in the 60s and won his second straight PGA Tour event after teaming with Shane Lowry to take the Zurich Classic two weeks ago in New Orleans.
Schauffele shot 71.
McIlroy trailed by two after Schauffele made an eagle on the par-5 seventh, but the world’s second-ranked player quickly shifted into another gear.
The star from Northern Ireland pulled even after birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and then made a 33-foot eagle putt on the 10th for his first lead of the tournament.
McIlroy’s finish was reminiscent of 2010 when he carded six straight 3s en route to a final round 62 to beat Phil Mickelson for his first career PGA Tour win. He also won the event in 2015 and 2021.
LPGA TOUR
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) – Rose Zhang won the Cognizant Founders Cup to end Nelly Korda’s record-tying LPGA Tour winning streak, rallying to beat Madelene Sagstrom by two strokes.
Zhang birdied four of the final five holes to overcome a three-shot deficit in a thrilling final-round duel with Sagstrom after the two broke away from the field Saturday.
Zhang shot a 6-under 66, birdieing Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18 at Upper Montclair Country Club. Sagstrom bogeyed the 16th in a 69.
Korda, who struggled the final two days after playing magnificently in winning the five straight events she entered, had a second straight 73 and tied for seventh at 7 under.
After her final putt, Zhang bent over and put her hands to her mouth, before walking to hug caddy Oliver Brett. The two-time NCAA champion at Stanford who won last year at nearby Liberty National in her pro debut, finished at 24 under 264 total – the best score in the three years the event has been held here.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Doug Barron won the Regions Tradition for his third PGA Tour Champions victory and first major title, shooting a 4-under 68 to hold off Steven Alker by two strokes.
Barron finished at 17-under 271 at Greystone in the first of the season’s five senior majors. He ended a victory drought dating to the 2021 Shaw Charity Classic. Wins eluded him throughout his PGA Tour career, where he didn’t finish higher than third in 238 events.
But there wasn’t a lot of drama in this one as he outlasted some of the tour’s biggest names with a bogey-free round and a casual tap-in finish. Hall of Famers Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington ended up being the ones offering congratulatory hugs at the end. Barron called it “a dream come true to beat all these great players.”
Alker had a 63 to match the tournament record for Greystone.
PGA TOUR
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) – Chris Gotterup won the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic for his first PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under 67 for a six-stroke victory at Dunes Golf & Beach Club.
The tournament was played opposite the Wells Fargo Championship. a signature event in Charlotte, North Carolina. Gotterup got a spot in the PGA Championship next week, but not in the Masters or a guaranteed spot in the remaining two $20 million signature events.
Four strokes ahead entering the round, Gotterup bogeyed the first two holes, then rebounded with a birdie-eagle-birdie burst on the next three. The 24-year-old former University of Oklahoma player won in his 27th tour start, finishing at 22-under 262.
Alistair Docherty (64) and Davis Thompson (68) tied for second.
Blades Brown, the second 16-year-old in two weeks to make a cut, tied for 26th at 19 under after a 69. Last week, Kris Kim advanced to the weekend in the Byron Nelson.
OTHER TOURS
Just over a year after Michael Hendry was diagnosed with leukemia, he made it all the way back by winning For The Players By The Players on the Japan Golf Tour. Hendry, a 44-year-old from New Zealand, earned six points in modified Stableford scoring for a one-point victory over Hideto Kobukuro. Hendry, who had to turn down his spot in the British Open last year while being treated, won for the sixth time in his career. … Ruixin Liu of China won the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic for her seventh career Epson Tour title. She closed with a 7-under 64 at the TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course to finish at 14-under 270, three strokes ahead of Mariel Galdiano. Hyo-Joo Kim of South Korea closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour in South Korea. … Joel Moscatel of Spain birdied the last hole for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Tapio Pulkkanen and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen in the Spanish Challenge on the European Challenge Tour. … Michael Hollick closed with a 5-under 68 and won the FBC Zimbabwe Open by two shots over Darren Fichardt on the Sunshine Tour. … Chisato Iwai closed with a 5-under 67 and won the RKB Mitsui Matsushima Ladies by three shots over Saiki Fujita and Miyuu Yamashita. Iwai now has two wins and two runner-up finishes this year on the Japan LPGA. … Yewon Lee shot a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship on the Korean LPGA.