Last hole birdie helps Hoffman to Texas win

Charley Hoffman, ice-cool on the back nine, took advantage of a last-day collapse by fellow American Ricky Barnes to clinch his fourth PGA Tour victory by one shot at the Texas Open in San Antonio on Sunday. Two off the pace overnight, Hoffman bucked a worrying recent trend of carding poor scores in final rounds as he closed with a three-under-par 69 on the challenging Oaks layout at TPC San Antonio. The 39-year-old Californian recorded two birdies early on the back nine to break clear of a congested leaderboard, and then held steady before sinking his winning birdie putt from nine feet at the last to post a 12-under total of 276. Compatriot Patrick Reed, who played with Hoffman in the final round, had to settle for second place as he also signed off with a 69, narrowly missing eight-foot birdie putts on 16 and 17 before finishing up with a birdie at the par-five 18th. Barnes, who carded a five-bogey 74, finished three shots off the pace in a tie for fourth. “It’s won,” an emotional Hoffman told CBS Sports, his voice cracking after he had got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the last. “This month was hard, being in contention every Sunday and not closing the door. It’s not me. It was nice to make that putt (on 18), that’s for sure. I’m happy.” Hoffman triumphed for the first time on the PGA Tour since landing the 2015 OHL Classic at Mayakoba, and he did so by posting his first sub-73 score in a final round in his last seven tournaments. Prior to this week, his final-round stroke average of 74.75 was 5.02 shots worse than his first round average, and more than three shots worse than his mean in the second or third rounds. Ten players were bunched within four shots of the lead heading into the final round and overnight pacesetter Barnes fell back into a tie at the top with Brendan Steele when he bogeyed the par-four first after bunkering his second shot. As Barnes’ title bid evaporated, Hoffman narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie opportunity on 15 that would have put him two strokes clear. He then held his nerve with clutch pars at 16 and 17 before finishing in birdie style by ramming his winning putt home.Lee wins in Shenzhen South Korea’s Lee Soo-Min won the rain-delayed Shenzhen International yesterday, claiming his first European Tour title with a two-shot victory over Dutchman Joost Luiten and South Africa’s Brandon Stone. More than nine hours of play were lost to rain and electrical storms during the tournament in the southern Chinese city, and Lee was among three joint leaders when play resumed early yesterday, with another trio just one shot behind. But the 22-year-old went into the outright lead with a birdie on the 16th and when he followed with an eagle three on the par-five 17th, it meant his final-hole bogey was immaterial as he finished on 16 under par. The win came in only his sixth start on the European Tour, and was a contrast to the Maybank Championship Malaysia, where he began the final round with a three-shot lead but made two double-bogeys in his last three holes to slip to a share of second place. The other overnight joint leaders, France’s Alexander Levy and Lee Slattery of England, both slipped back in the final holes to finish tied for fourth with Australian Scott Hend. Two-time US Masters champion Bubba Watson, who is ranked fourth in the world, finished in joint eighth place on 10-under par after a closing six-under 66, while Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez took a share of 13th place another two shots back.Nomura claims 4-shot winHaru Nomura of Japan survived windy conditions and a mid-round meltdown to claim her second win of the season, a four-shot victory at Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco on Sunday. Nomura battled her way to a closing 73 to finish at nine-under-par 279, increasing her three-shot overnight lead on the Lake Merced course, but the final round was anything but a cakewalk for the 23-year-old from Yokohama. Adding to her breakthrough Women’s Australian Open victory in February, Nomura joins world number one New Zealander Lydia Ko and South Korean Jang Ha-na as multiple winners early in the LPGA season. South African Lee-Anne Pace (74) took second alone at     five-under, with American Gerina Piller (73) and South Korean Choi Na-yeon (75) sharing third a shot further back. With high winds whipping throughout the round, the challengers did not make any birdie runs towards Nomura, but they did not have to, because she came back to the field with four bogeys in five holes around the turn. From five in front she dropped to just one clear through 11 holes, before making a magnificent 70-foot birdie putt on the 12th to steady the ship. Choi made a late move with birdies on 11 and 14 but a bogey on 15 and a double bogey on 16 ended her challenge. Piller also rued a costly double bogey, which came at the 11th during Nomura’s tough run. With her husband Martin contending at the Texas Open on the PGA Tour, where he led early on Sunday before finishing equal fourth, it was a day full of emotion for the couple. “It was awesome to see him playing well. He wasn’t getting many starts and he was kind of frustrated with that,” she said. “He’s been working really hard on his game and to see him go out there and compete and be in contention is pretty cool. Nothing brings me more joy than to see him succeed.” Two-time defending champion Ko battled to a 75 on her 19th birthday to tie for sixth at one-under. Michelle Wie withdrew after the 15th hole due to neck spasms.