Donald earns 2nd PGA Tour victory
Luke Donald won his first PGA Tour event while sitting in a locker room, after that week’s final round was canceled by two days of rain.
As cheers rained down upon him late Sunday afternoon, victory No. 2 seemed a whole lot sweeter.
Donald used back-to-back birdies midway through his back nine to take the outright lead at 11 under, made a great scrambling par on the difficult 16th to preserve the margin and beat Geoff Ogilvy by two shots in the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
A 3-under 69 was good enough for the Englishman, who bought a house in Palm Beach Gardens last year and pocketed a winner’s check of $990,000. A perfect approach to 4 feet on the 18th set up his final birdie, sealing the triumph.
“This is a big step,” Donald said. “I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Anytime you can win, especially out here on the PGA Tour, it’s a huge boost of confidence. Hopefully this will just keep the momentum going.”
Donald’s only other tour win was at the 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, when he held a one-shot lead after 54 holes and never took another swing. The final round was washed out by 4 inches of rain, and the 1999 NCAA champion from Northwestern had no true winning moment to stash in his memory bank.
He entered the day tied for the lead with Billy Mayfair, and birdied the opening hole to take sole possession of the top spot. A 20-foot birdie putt at the fourth hole sent him to 11 under, before bogeys on Nos. 7 and 10 knocked him from atop the leaderboard.
LPGA Tour
Annika Sorenstam opened her season with a successful title defense at the MasterCard Classic in Huixquilucan, Mexico, closing with a 2-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over Helen Alfredsson and Seon Hwa Lee.
Sorenstam, even par and tied for the lead after nine holes, reeled off three birdies in four holes to take the tournament with an 8-under 208 total.
Sorenstam has 67 career LPGA Tour victories – 21 short of Kathy Whitworth’s record.
Champions Tour
Tom Kite took home his first title since 2004, closing with a 2-under-par 70 for a five-stroke victory over Gil Morgan at the AT&T Classic in Santa Clarita, Calif.
The 56-year-old Kite finished with a 12-under 204 total and earned $240,000 for his eighth tour victory.
Morgan shot a 68 to finish at 7 under.