ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — I.K. Kim banished the haunting memory of missing a 14-inch putt to win a major and replaced it with the sweetest sensation.
Finally, she can call herself a major champion.
Staked to a six-shot lead in the Women’s British Open, Kim never led anyone get closer than two shots at Kingsbarns Links and sealed victory with a bold hybrid over the burn to the 17th green. She made nine pars on the back nine and closed with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory.
“I cannot describe my feelings,” Kim said. “I just tried to have some fun, but it wasn’t fun on the back nine.”
Jodi Ewart Shadoff made her work for it by charging home with a 64 to put pressure on the 29-year-old South Korean. Kim didn’t falter over an increasingly soggy course, however. She finished at 18-under 270 to capture the $487,500 prize.
Michelle Wie went out in 30 to give Kim something to think about, but the 27-year-old from Hawaii stalled and closed with a 66 to tie for third with Caroline Masson (67) and Georgia Hall (70).
Kim now has won three times, the most by anyone on the LPGA Tour this year, all in the last two months. But this was the biggest.
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS: Hideki Matsuyama has won the Bridgestone Invitational with the lowest final round in four decades at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Matsuyama birdied his last three holes for a 9-under 61 to erase a two-shot deficit and claim his second World Golf Championships title. Matsuyama also won the HSBC Champions last fall in Shanghai.
He tied the course record held by Jose Maria Olazabal, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia.
Matsuyama stays at No. 3 in the world, though the 25-year-old from Japan takes plenty of momentum – and pressure – into the PGA Championship this week.
He took the lead with his 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, and no one could keep up with him.
PGA: Chris Stroud made an eagle on his final hole to get to get into a three-man playoff and won with a two-putt birdie on the second extra hole in the Barracuda Championship at Reno, Nevada, his first PGA Tour victory in his 289th start.
Stroud played the final six holes at Montreaux Golf and Country Club with three birdies and an eagle to earn 20 points in the modified Stableford format. That got him into a playoff with Greg Owen and Richy Werenski, who each birdied the par-5 18th.
Owen was eliminated with a par on the 18th hole. Returning to the 18th hole, Stroud drilled his approach to 12 feet, while Werenski went over the green, chipped to 25 feet and missed the birdie putt.
The victory sent Stroud to the PGA Championship next week for his first major in three years, along with a two-year exemption.
CHAMPIONS: Paul Goydos birdied the first playoff hole to win the 3M ChampiCHonship over Gene Sauers in Blaine, Minnesota.
It is the first PGA Tour Champions win of the season for Goydos and fifth of his career.
Both Goydos and Sauers shot 66 in regulation to get to 20-under 196 at the TPC Twin Cities.
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