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EDISON, N.J. — The way Dustin Johnson began the final round of The Barclays, he figured the only thing that could keep him from winning was the rain.

Needing a good start, he opened with back-to-back birdies. In a bunker for the first time all week, he holed the 85-foot shot for eagle on No. 4 to take the lead. Even a wild tee shot on the par-5 fifth landed in trampled grass with a clear shot at the green.

And then it started raining.

Evans: Fast And Furious
Dustin Johnson’s 2-shot victory at the Barclays ratchets up the debate about who’s the best young American in the game, writes ESPN.com’s Farrell Evans. Column

Hard.

The Barclays, already reduced to 54 holes because of Hurricane Irene, would have reverted to a 36-hole tournament if the rain arrived early and kept the third round Saturday from finishing, making Matt Kuchar the winner.

“The way I got started, I was hoping that we were going to keep on playing,” Johnson said.

The rain stopped. Johnson kept right on going.

He shot 29 on the front nine for the second straight day — he played the front in 17-under par for the week — to close with a 6-under 65 and win the opening FedEx Cup playoff event by two shots over Kuchar.

Johnson didn’t take the lead for good until Kuchar, who won The Barclays a year ago on a different course, three-putted from long range just off the green on consecutive holes on the back nine to make bogeys. He closed with a 68.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6901422/dustin-johnson-beats-rain-holds-victory-barclays

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Webb Simpson grew up in North Carolina, and his favorite memory of the Wyndham Championship was caddying for Neal Lancaster as a teenager during a pro-am.

That might change now that he’s won the tournament.

Simpson claimed his first PGA Tour title Sunday, shooting a 3-under 67 to win by three strokes.

The 26-year-old Raleigh native finished at 18-under 262 and collected $936,000 in the tournament about a 30-mile drive from the Wake Forest campus where he was a college star.

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AP Photo/Chuck Burton
Webb Simpson picked up his first PGA Tour victory with a win in his home state of North Carolina.
“I really couldn’t think of a better place to win than here in Greensboro,” Simpson said.

George McNeill (64) was at 15 under, with Tommy Gainey (69) another stroke back in the final event before the PGA Tour playoffs.

Carl Pettersson (69), Vijay Singh (65), Jerry Kelly (65), Kyung-tae Kim (66) and Charles Howell III (67) finished at 13 under at Sedgefield Country Club.

Simpson said his first visit to the Greensboro-based tournament came when he was 16. His father brought him to the event’s former home across town at Forest Oaks Country Club to caddie for Lancaster during the Wednesday pro-am.

“That was probably the most fun 18 holes I’ve ever been a part of,” Simpson said.

His final 18 of this tournament were marked by steady, bogey-free play and a strong finish marked by consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

After taking the lead during Round 3 with a late five-hole stretch of four birdies and an eagle, Simpson opened his final round with eight straight pars before moving to 16 under with a birdie on the par-4 ninth.

He stayed there until late in the day. Birdies on the par-5 15th and the par-3 16th gave him a three-shot lead with two holes to go.

“When I made the putt on 15, I asked my caddie for the first time all day, ‘Where do we stand?’ and he said, ‘We’re two ahead right now,’ ” Simpson said. “I knew I needed to play solid golf on the last three holes, and to birdie 16 was so huge. … I knew I had a three-shot lead on 18, and as soon as I hit the ball in play, I knew it was probably over.”

McNeill made a late charge, with the former Florida State player moving to 15 under with a birdie on No. 17, his sixth birdie of the round. But all he could do after that was hope for a few late bogeys from Simpson.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot lower,” McNeill said of the winning score. “I can only control myself. I can’t control what everybody else does. I’m very happy with the way I hit it, the way I played, the way I putted.”

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6882166/webb-simpson-wins-wyndham-championship-first-pga-tour-victory

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) — A rally that ranks among the best. A collapse hardly anyone saw coming. There was even a guy in a red shirt Sunday, pumping his fists with each clutch putt in the final, frenzied hour of the PGA Championship.

In a major filled with unfamiliar names, Keegan Bradley delivered an unforgettable finish.

Bradley was five shots behind with only three holes to play after his chip shot raced across the 15th green and into the water, leading to a triple bogey. That’s when he reminded himself that no lead was safe on the final four holes at Atlanta Athletic Club.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t let that hole define this whole tournament,’” Bradley said.

Instead, it led to one of the most stunning turnarounds in a major. Bradley made back-to-back birdies, including a 35-footer with a belly putter that rattled into the cup on the 17th.

Then came a monumental meltdown by Jason Dufner. Unflappable all afternoon, he hit his tee shot in the water on the 15th for the first of three straight bogeys that led to a three-hole playoff.

Bradley birdied the 16th hole in the playoff — his first outright lead of the day — and went on to win by one shot.

The son of a PGA Professional in Vermont, wearing red for his alma mater — St. John’s — Bradley became only the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.

The Wanamaker Trophy at his side, Bradley took out his cell phone and took a picture of the oversized trophy. It wasn’t long before he posted it on Twitter with three hash tags — “pgachampion. triplebogies. happiness.”

“It feels unbelievable,” he said. “It seems like a dream and I’m afraid I’m going to wake up here in the next five minutes and it’s not going to be real.”

http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/news/gamer-081411.cfm

Aug. 7, 2011
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AKRON, Ohio — Adam Scott is a big tennis fan. He loves to play, and he particularly enjoys watching Rafael Nadal, the fiery Spanish clay court master, whenever he can, in person or on TV.

So on Sunday when Scott had a chance to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, the Aussie played with the same kind of passion the 13-time Grand Slam champion displays as he pulled away to a four-stroke victory.

Scott was nothing short of phenomenal on the back nine at Firestone Country Club as he broke open a tight battle with four birdies and a clutch 10-foot par save on the 15th hole on the way to a flawless 65. The 31-year-old finished at 17 under as he won for the eighth time on the PGA TOUR and 19th time around the globe.

“I played at a very high level today given the circumstances,” Scott acknowledged. “Not everything was perfect. I hit a few loose shots, but it was pretty sharp. And it was like we’re used to seeing Tiger close out tournaments. He gets in front and just won’t let anyone in. I think the putt on 15, that is certainly a putt that he makes when he’s in that position.

“I feel like you’ve got to play like a bulldog to win a golf tournament these days. … You can’t let up on one shot, and that’s how you win golf tournaments, because everyone is so good these days.”

Scott, who climbed to 15th in the FedExCup standings with the win, was just that much better, beating the No. 1 player in the world, Luke Donald, and Rickie Fowler, one of the game’s most promising youngsters, by four. Jason Day, the 23-year-old who has twice been runner-up in majors this year, and Ryo Ishikawa, the 19-year-old Japanese phenom, were another stroke back in a tie for fourth.

“I walked on the range this morning, and he looked confident,” Day said. “I knew he was going to be tough to beat today.”

So did Steve Williams, who was caddying in his fourth event for Scott. He had previously worked for Tiger Woods, and the two won seven tournaments at Firestone alone, as well as teammed for 13 of Woods’ 14 majors.

“I sort of believe in destiny sometimes,” Williams said. “I had no doubt in my mind this morning on the range. Adam hit it so good … I knew it was our day.”

The emotional Williams called Sunday’s title the “most satisfying win I’ve ever had. There’s no two ways about it.” Williams has clearly been good for Scott, whom he considers a long-time friend. The Kiwi, who has caddied 33 years for the likes of Greg Norman and Raymond Floyd as well as Woods, says he wouldn’t have gone to work for Scott if he didn’t think the Aussie had major game.

“These tournaments here are very high quality tournaments,” Williams said. “This is a very difficult golf course, a very good golf course and it’s not that different from a major championship. If you can win on a course like this, there’s nothing to say you can’t win a major. The challenge is what makes this job great.”

http://www.pgatour.com/2011/tournaments/r476/08/07/bridgestone-scott-ross/index.html

Associated Press
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Scott Stallings made a birdie on the final hole to qualify for a three-way playoff, then sprinted in excitement toward the 18th tee and showed he could repeat the feat on the first extra hole.

The PGA Tour rookie sank a 7-footer for birdie on the 168-yard hole to win the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday, beating Bob Estes and Bill Haas.

After watching Estes and Haas miss longer birdie attempts on the first extra hole, Stallings curled in his putt for his first tour victory. He flipped his putter, then hugged and high-fived his caddie.

Greenbrier Classic Leaderboard
1. Stallings (-10)*
T-2. Haas (-10)
T-2. Estes (-10)
T-4. Walker (-9)
T-4. de Jonge (-9)
T-4. Woodland (-9)
T-4. Tringale (-9)
T-4. Romero (-9)
*- Won on first hole of 3-way playoff • Complete scores

“To be a champion in such a great event is a huge blessing,” Stallings said.

The 26-year-old Stallings is the 10th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and the sixth rookie to do it.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was a little kid,” Stallings said. “I was that little boy running around chasing autographs and yelling at guys because they wouldn’t stop and sign my golf balls.”

Stallings overcame a tough start and made six birdies on the back nine to gain the playoff, where he earned a winner’s check worth $1.08 million and a spot in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Stallings said he was more excited about moving from 88th to 26th on the FedEx Cup points list.

A native of Worchester, Mass., and die-hard Red Sox fan, he’ll likely realize one of his biggest goals to play in the Deutsch Bank Championship, the second stop in the FedEx Cup playoffs outside of Boston. The top 100 in the points standings after the Barclays, the first playoff stop, will qualify.

It marked the second straight week that a tournament was won in sudden death. Sean O’Hair beat Kris Blanks on the first playoff hole a week ago at the Canadian Open.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6821942/rookie-scott-stallings-wins-greenbrier-classic-birdie-playoff