World Golf News - 26 August 2011

On the US PGA Tour, the Wyndham Championship was won by the young American golfer Webb Simpson. In the final round that saw Simpson claim his first-ever PGA title, the talented player from North Carolina held his nerve in the face of heavy competition for first place.

Second place went to George McNeil, who rapidly ascended the leader board on the final day to pose a potential threat to Simpson’s victory during the fourth round. However, the young champion held on to his overnight lead and remained focussed throughout the back nine. He carded an 18-under-par tournament score that was helped along by a bogey-free final round that featured two birdies. The American Tommy Gainey took third place, with a variety of players including Veejay Singh and Jim Furyk in the top five.

On the European Tour, another maiden victory was scored when Oliver Fisher of the United Kingdom won the Czech Open on Sunday. It was a tense final round for both players and fans as the number one spot changed hands halfway through the day. Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg had lead the competition early in the final round and was almost on the path to certain victory when Fisher thundered past him, carding an impressive final round score of 69 to clinch the trophy. The chase persisted until the 16th hole where Fisher made a birdie that would see him through to the clubhouse. The young Briton won the tournament by a margin of two strokes.

On the LPGA, a showdown at the first playoff hole saw victory at the LPGA Safeway Classic go to Norway’s Suzann Petterson. In a spellbinding final round performance, the Norwegian player came up from the back to make up a nine-stroke deficit that forced a playoff with South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi. When Choi’s approach shot found water at the first playoff hole, a par was all Petterson needed to lift the trophy.

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