St Jude Classic & Lyoness Open highlights

Golf Writer, Derek Clements wraps up all the action from this weeks tour events

PGA Tour

AFTER 10 years, Greg Owen is still waiting for his first win on the PGA Tour. He went into the final round of the St Jude Classic in Memphis tied for the lead with Fabian Gomez - for a while, it looked like he might finally lay this bogey to rest once and for all, but the 43-year-old Englishman remains without the victory that would change his life.

Highligts from the St Jude Classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5U1WTmigsg

The turning point came at the 12th hole when Owen put his tee shot in the water and broke his three wood in frustration. He recovered well enough to record a 70 and claim second place on his own, while Gomez shot a 66, putting the final nail in Owen's coffin with a birdie on the tricky 18th hole. Gomez finished with a 13-under-par 267 total that earns him a two-year exemption and a cheque for more than $1m.

Owen, who has endured two awful years, will take some consolation from his second runners-up finish in 10 years. He has suffered for years with temperament issues and had claimed to have worked out a way to keep his cool when things go wrong, but breaking a club when things go wrong proves he still has a great deal of work to do.

Phil Mickelson finished with a 65 - the perfect preparation for his attempt to finally win the US Open.

European Tour

Chris Wood won the Lyoness Open in Austria in terrific style at the weekend. Wood has suffered a series of debilitating injuries but, through it all, has remained positive and he finally got his reward when securing his second European Tour title.

The Englishman began the day five shots behind Gregory Bourdy, of France, and four adrift of Rafa Carbrera Bello, the Spaniard who has been in hot form recently. Bourdy, who led from day one, had a nightmare, finishing with a 78 after a day to forget.

The European Tour's Season Pass takes a sideways look at the action 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh6QgOkl3SY

Cabrera Bello led on the front nine, but dropped shots at the ninth, 10th and 11th. It opened the door for Wood, who went in front after birdies at the 15th and 16th and went on to complete a well deserved and long overdue two-stroke victory.

“It’s fantastic to win. It was a long winter sitting at home with a cast on my wrist getting frustrated and just wanting to be out here playing and competing," Wood said. "I have been playing well the last few weeks so I felt that a victory was coming but until the moment comes you always think when will it come?
“I played great all week and today especially. I felt that if I could beat 68 today I would have an outside chance and obviously things went my way and 67 was good enough.

“People will probably look at the result and think it was fairly straightforward but I needed to play well  and for a few other things to go my way and thankfully it all came together for me.

“I injured my wrist playing tennis last October and had to rest for five months. I came back in March and finished third in Morocco which I thought would give me a lot of confidence but then I didn’t get the results after that and played quite poorly for a few weeks. But the last month I have felt I was playing well enough to win so it has been coming. It has been a while since the win in Qatar (2013) but let me tell you it feels a lot better to say I am a two-time winner on Tour – it is a very special feeling to win out here so I am looking forward to celebrating this one.”

European Seniors Tour

Peter Fowler, of Australia, won his second successive  European Senior Tour title at the ISPA Handa PGA Seniors Championship. The Australian went into the final day with a four-shot lead and eventually won by three but he did not have it all his own way during the final round at Close House in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Fowler, the winner of last week’s Acorn Jersey Open, double bogeyed the ninth hole to see his lead disappear as Austria’s Gordon Manson pulled level with the 56 year old.

But Fowler refused to buckle and refocused his efforts on the back nine, producing three birdies to ensure a fifth European Senior Tour win.

Manson finished second, three shots back, with Carl Mason in third place at eight under par.

Challenge Tour

Scotland’s Jamie McLeary landed his second Challenge Tour title six years after the first thanks to a five under par 67 in the final round of the KPMG Trophy in Belgium.

The 34-year-old held off Irishman Ruaidhri McGee and Dutchman Taco Remkes with six birdies and a bogey, reaching 13 under par and taking the €25,600 first prize.

As the final group teed off, 30 players were within three shots of the lead, but McLeary took control with three consecutive birdies from the second. At one stage he had a four-stroke advantage, but it was down to one by the time he reached the 18th. Knowing a par would be good enough to win, he duly delivered.

LPGA Tour

South Korea's Inbee Park reclaimed the world number one spot from Lydia Ko after her third straight victory in the Women's PGA Championship in New York.

Park shot a final round of 68, five under par, to finish 19 under at the Westchester Country Club, beating compatriot Sei Young Kim by five shots.

It is a sixth major title for Park, 26. "I'm so thrilled and honoured to be in this position," she said. "I do things that I can't even believe."

Americans Lexi Thompson and Brittany Lincicome finished third and fourth respectively.