PGA Tour: Stuard guts out hist 1st win in New Orleans

Brian Stuard led the Zurich Classic for most of the event, which was shortened to 54 holes and finished at 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday, as well as when it mattered most. But after a third-round 69, he finished 15-under, which didn’t seem good enough to win.

Jamie Lovemark was also seeking his first PGA Tour win, and looked to have it in the bag after he hit No. 18, a par-5, in two shots. He was 15-under, and faced a long eagle putt of 94 feet. Two putts would win, but Lovemark left his first putt 8-feet short of the hole. He left his birdie putt barely short of the hole as well, dead in the middle. That led to a three-man playoff with Stuard, Byeong-Hun An and Lovemark.

An bogeyed No. 18, the first playoff hole, while Stuard and Lovemark made pars to advance. The duo replayed No. 18, with Stuard laying up and hitting a wedge to just a few feet below the hole. Lovemark tried for the green with a 3-wood, but missed long and left and failed to get up-and-down to tie.

Related: See the clubs Stuard used to win

Europen Tour: Hao-Tong Li fires 64 to win Volvo China Open

For the entire, drizzly week of the European Tour’s Volvo China Open, Felipe Aguilar of Chile was the man who couldn’t miss. His swing was fluid and controlled, his drives and approaches were true, and his putts dropped when needed. Hao-Tong Li, in contrast, certainly felt the weight of his country’s expectations on his shoulders, throughout his national championship. Never once were his emotions in doubt, as he wore them visibly on his face and in his movements. He looked like Arnold Palmer in his prime, twisting right, leaning left, bending forward, each lurch intended to compel his shots in the direction of his target. Given their two personalities, the edge certainly had to go to the Chilean.

Li and Aguilar battled throughout the final round, separated by one group and rarely more than one shot. As the stretch run began, Li converted a birdie putt on No. 15 to forge a tie for the lead. Moments later, a 5-foot birdie putt on the same green cruelly lipped out for Aguilar, prohibiting him from taking back the lead. Standing on the next tee, Aguilar fatted a 6-iron into the par-3’s fronting pond, leading to double bogey. At that same instant, Li stung a 4-iron up the final hill of the long, par-four 17th to within a yard. Pars on the remaining holes for both golfers ensured that China would again see a home-grown professional hoist the victor’s trophy. For Aguilar, the close call provided impetus in a season that will certainly see him represent Chile in the Rio Olympic Games.

LPGA Tour: Shin Shines for first LPGA win at Volunteers of America Texas Shootout

It seems impossible that Gerina Piller will not win one day on the LPGA Tour. She had her chance in Irving, Texas, but closed with a 2-over round to drop from the overnight lead into a second-place tie with Amy Yang and M.J. Hur. Piller had three birdies on the day, but couldn’t overcome her numerous mistakes.

Poised to take advantage was first-time winner Jenny Shin, one of the many strong, South Korean golfers on the LPGA Tour. Shin brought herself into the mix on Saturday with a 65, then sealed her maiden victory with a Sunday 67. Both Amy Yang and Hur had room to take advantage of Piller’s misfortunes, but neither one could go as deep as Shin. Both posted even-par rounds of 71 to match Piller, two strokes behind the champion.

Web.com Tour: Power survives to win United Leasing and Finance Championship

Seamus Power had struggle to finish the challenging Victoria National course on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the Irishman by way of East Tennessee State played the closing triumvirate in 1-under to finish 12-under, capping off a final-day 67 for a 1-stroke win over a trio of challengers in Indiana.

Each of the runners-up had his own ship scuttled by a particular hole. After birdies on three of four holes through the middle of the back nine, Jonathan Randolph bogeyed the 16th to finish one back. Local boy Adam Schenk stood at 13-under, but then doubled the par-five 15th, falling to 11-under and a place at the table of almost. Cody Gribble, a college teammate of Jordan Spieth, also reached the 13-under plateau with two holes to play. Gribble agonizingly bogeyed each of the closing pair to …you guessed it, drop to runner-up alley.

More than any other non-winner this week, Roger Sloan of Canada can take a bit of consolation, after a double double-bogey finish in the fortune of Soomin Lee. After making two double bogeys over the final three holes in last month’s Maybank Championship Malaysia, Lee came back last week to win the Shenzhen International on the European Tour. Sloan fired a 65 on Saturday and was two holes away from completing a second-consecutive seven-under round. Over the 920 yards of the closing duo, Sloan took two penalty strokes, made his own pair of doubles, and dropped all the way to solo fifth.