McIlroy hits them straight at Crooked Stick

Associated Press

CARMEL, IND.

Rory McIlroy beat the strongest leaderboard in golf this year Sunday in the BMW Championship and joined some elite company.

McIlroy made back-to-back birdies around the turn to emerge from a four-way tie and seize control at Crooked Stick. He closed with a 5-under 67, making his only bogey on the final hole when it no longer mattered, for a two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood.

Everyone knew Boy Wonder was a special player when he won the U.S. Open last summer with a record score. The last month has established him as the dominant player in golf, with three wins in four tournaments loaded with the best players — the PGA Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events.

McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour, and with his sixth career win, joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win at least six times at age 23.

KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.

Paula Creamer and Jiyai Shin had to wait until Monday to break their deadlock in the Kingsmill Championship.

After they each parred the par-4 18th hole eight times in a playoff Sunday, darkness forced the suspension of play for the day. They will resume play Monday morning on the par-4 16th hole.

Creamer took a one-stroke lead into the final hole of regulation, but three-putted — missing a 5-footer for par — for a bogey to fall into the playoff. Creamer finished with an even-par 71, and Shin shot a 69, leaving them tied at 16 under on Kingsmill’s River Course.

KLM OPEN

HILVERSUM, Netherlands

Sweden’s Peter Hanson won the KLM Open for his fifth European Tour title, holing a 35-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a two-stroke victory.

Hanson finished at 14-under 266 on the Hilversumsche course. Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal tied for second. Ramsay closed with a 67, and Larrazabal shot a 70.