Grace wins under pressure at Heritage
Branden Grace shot a 5-under 66 to overtake Luke Donald and win the RBC Heritage Sunday for his first PGA Tour title and 11th worldwide victory.
Three shots behind Donald entering the day, Grace moved to the top with four birdies on his first six holes. The South African pulled three shots in front of Donald after birdies on the 12th and 13 holes.
Grace finished at 9-under 275, two shots ahead of Donald and Russell Knox. Donald shot a 71, and Knox had a 67.
Grace earned $1,062,000 and a PGA Tour exemption through the 2017-18 season. He also became the latest to rally past hard-luck leader Donald at Harbour Town Golf Links. The Englishman finished second four times and third twice in the past eight events here.
Brandt Snedeker shot a final-round 64 to catch Donald and win in a playoff in 2011. Matt Kuchar shot a 64 in 2014, overtaking Donald for the win with a chip-in from the bunker on the 72nd hole.
Bryson DeChambeau, the former SMU star who won the NCAA and U.S. Amateur last year, tied for fourth in his first event since turning pro, four shots behind Grace after a 68. Top-ranked Jason Day rebounded from a season-worst 79 on Saturday with a 68 to tie for 23rd at 1 under.
Locally, Steve Wheatcroft finished at 12 over par following an 81 in the final round.
Austin wins Champions title: Woody Austin tied the tournament record with an 8-under 64 and beat Wes Short Jr. with a par on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic.
Austin has two victories in the last three events on the 50-and-over tour, also winning in Tucson, Arizona, last month. He won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship at age 49 for the last of his four PGA Tour titles.
Johnston wins in Europe: England’s Andrew Johnston won the Spanish Open at Valderrama for his first European Tour title, closing with a 1-under 70 for a one-stroke victory.
Johnston finished at 1-over 285. The strong wind that had made conditions tough during the first three rounds subsided Sunday.
Sagstrom wins on Symetra Tour: Madelene Sagstrom won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial at Cypress Lake for her first Symetra Tour title, and Lorie Kane took the Legends Tour event. The 23-year-old Sagstrom, the Southeastern Conference player of the year last season at LSU, closed with a 3-over 75 in strong wind for a one-stroke victory.