GOLF ROUNDUP \ Sunday’s events
LPGA Ginn Open
REUNION, Fla. — Lorena Ochoa became the first LPGA Tour player in 45 years to win four tournaments in consecutive weeks. Ochoa shot a 3-under 69 in the final round of the Ginn Open and beat rookie Yani Tseng by three strokes for her fifth victory in six starts this year. Ochoa trailed early in the final round, but went ahead for good with three straight birdies beginning at No. 8. She finished at 19 under and became the second player to win four times in four consecutive weeks. Mickey Wright did it in 1962 and 1963. Kathy Whitworth (1969) and Annika Sorenstam (2001) also won four consecutive events, but there were off weeks during their runs. Sorenstam (2004-05) and Nancy Lopez (1978) hold the tour record with five straight victories in events entered, b===ut neither of those came in consecutive weeks. The 22-time tour winner will give her colleagues a chance to take the spotlight next week in South Florida. She will sit out the Stanford Invitation Pro-Am and will try to make it five straight in two weeks in Tulsa, Okla.
Verizon Heritage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Boo Weekley won the Verizon Heritage for the second straight year, closing with an even-par 71 for a three-stroke victory over Anthony Kim and Aaron Baddeley. Last year, Weekley needed chips-ins on the 71st and 72nd holes to beat Ernie Els by a stroke on a Monday for his first PGA Tour victory. On Sunday, Weekley strode up the 18th fairway with the win very much in hand and the gallery chanting, “Boooo! Boooo!” “It was a lot easier than last year, wasn’t it?” a smiling Weekley said to his group on the 17th hole after his routine par.
Weekley finished at 15 under. He earned $990,000, and a second straight invitation to the Masters. He tied for 20th at Augusta National to miss qualifying for 2009. Kim and Baddeley also finished with 71s, Jim Furyk (69) finished fourth at 11 under.
Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am
LUTZ, Fla. — Tom Watson successfully defended his Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am title, saving bogey after hitting into the water on No. 18 for a 1-under 70 and a one-stroke victory over Jay Haas and Scott Hoch.
A year after ending an 0-for-93 Florida drought at the TPC Tampa Bay, Watson finished at 9 under for his 50th title on the Champions and PGA tours. Hoch (71) had a chance to force a playoff, but his short par putt on 18 lipped out. Watson’s 7-iron approach on the 456-yard 18th missed the green to the right and trickled into the water. After dropping, he pitched with a sand wedge to 5 feet, made the bogey putt, then waited inside the scorer’s trailer well behind the stands surrounding the green as Hoch played the final hole. Haas shot a 64.
China Open
BEIJING — Ireland’s Damien McGrane won his first European tour title, shooting a 1-over 73 in heavy rain for a nine-stroke victory. No player broke par in the final round. McGrane finished at 10-under 278. England’s Simon Griffiths (74) and Oliver Wilson (79) and France’s Michael Lorenzo-Sera (79) tied for second on the Beijing CBD International course.
Associated Press