Castro chasing elusive PGA win
Roberto Castro finished just six holes Sunday at a soggy Sanderson Farms Championship.
The way things were going, that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Castro clung to a one-stroke lead at the Country Club of Jackson after playing the first six holes in the suspended third round in 2-over par.
He’ll have to navigate 30 holes Monday to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in more than 100 career starts. He’ll have about a 30-foot putt for birdie on No. 7 when play resumes.
Play was suspended Sunday because of darkness and will resume Monday morning with the final round following immediately. Castro said he was prepared for the grind.
“Just grab your lunch at the turn and keep going,” the 30-year-old Castro said. “If you get on a good run, just ride it as long as you can.”
It’s been a soggy, stop-and-start tournament that has required plenty of patience. Several players had their second rounds stretch over three days from Friday to Sunday as rain swept through the area.
Castro was at 13 under. He started play Sunday with a four-stroke lead, but quickly fell back toward the pack with bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4. They were his first two bogeys of the tournament.
“I just hit two poor shots and paid for both of them,” Castro said.
Former tournament champion D.J. Trahan and Michael Thompson were a shot back. Boo Weekley, Patrick Rodgers and Jhonattan Vegas were among seven players two shots back.
The 42-year-old Weekley, a three-time winner on tour, said he wasn’t concerned about the long Monday ahead.
Knox wins HSBC title: Russell Knox made an unexpected trip to Shanghai and left with a most surprising victory Sunday in the HSBC Champions.
Knox became the first player to win a World Golf Championship in his debut when the 30-year-old Scot was flawless on the back nine of Sheshan International and closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory over Kevin Kisner.
Knox only found out a week ago Friday that he was in the HSBC Champions as an alternate when J.B. Holmes withdrew.
Ahn captured first LPGA event: Sun-Ju Ahn won the Toto Japan Classic for her first LPGA Tour victory and 20th Japan LPGA title, beating fellow South Korean player Ji-Hee Lee and American Angela Stanford with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
The 28-year-old Ahn closed with a 5-under 67 at Kintetsu Kashikojima to match Stanford and Lee at 16-under 200.
Stanford also shot 67, and Lee had a 66.
Ahn also won the Japanese tour’s Century 21 Ladies in July.
The 37-year-old Stanford won the last of her five LPGA Tour titles in 2012. She dropped to 1-4 in playoffs, including a loss in the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open.