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Las Vegas • Two weeks into the new season, rookies are ruling the PGA Tour.
Smylie Kaufman became the second straight rookie to win Sunday when he closed with a 10-under 61 and then waited more than two hours to see if anyone could catch him in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
That felt tougher than any of the seven birdies and one eagle he made over the final 11 holes at the TPC Summerlin.
"I dodged a lot of bullets coming down the stretch with guys coming," Kaufman said after his one-shot victory. "So much more stressful than on the course. So much worse. I felt like I was watching an LSU football game."
Kevin Na played a role in both rookies winning.
Emiliano Grillo won the Frys.com Open last week, and Na made it easier on him in the second playoff hole at Silverado by taking bogey on the par-5 18th.
This time, Na caught Kaufman with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, only to flub a chip just short of the par-3 17th and make bogey. His 15-foot birdie putt to force a playoff caught part of the right lip and kept going.
Kaufman, a 23-year-old from LSU, played the last four holes in 4 under. That included his 3-wood to 15 feet for eagle on the par-4 15th, and a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole that turned out to be the winner. He started the final round seven shots behind and finished at 16-under 268.
"I was just hitting it so good the last few days and just wanted to give myself a chance and post a number, and that's what it came down to," Kaufman said.
Two other rookies, Brett Stegmaier (69) and Patton Kizzire (63), were part of a six-way tie for second.
Kaufman was on the range, on the phone, and in a tent watching nervously on TV over the final hour. Cameron Tringale (66) and Jason Bohn (66) each had birdie putts to force a playoff, with Bohn's 40-foot attempt narrowly missing.
The last chance belonged to Stegmaier, whose putt down the slope from the fringe stopped a few inches short.
LPGA Taiwan Championship
Taipei, Taiwan • Lydia Ko ran away with the LPGA Taiwan Championship to regain the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. The 18-year-old New Zealander holed a 30-yard pitch for eagle on the par-5 12th and finished with a 7-under 65 in sunny, breezy conditions at Miramar for a nine-stroke victory.
Ko took the top spot in the world from South Korea's Inbee Park with her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the season and the 10th of her career. Park skipped her title defense at Miramar to play in a Korea LPGA event, where she tied for second Sunday. —
Leaderboard
Shriners Hospitals for Children
At TPC Summerlin
Las Vegas
Purse • $6.4 million
Yardage • 7,255. Par • 71
Final
Smylie Kaufman (500), $1,152,000 67-72-68-61—268 -16
Patton Kizzire (154), $355,733 65-69-72-63—269 -15
Cameron Tringale (154), $355,733 68-65-70-66—269 -15
Jason Bohn (154), $355,733 68-66-69-66—269 -15
Alex Cejka (154), $355,733 67-70-66-66—269 -15
Kevin Na (154), $355,733 68-66-68-67—269 -15
Brett Stegmaier (154), $355,733 66-66-68-69—269 -15
Chad Campbell (83), $192,000 65-67-70-68—270 -14
William McGirt (83), $192,000 66-73-69-62—270 -14
Russell Henley (75), $172,800 68-69-68-66—271 -13
Morgan Hoffmann (68), $153,600 66-66-69-71—272 -12
Nick Watney (68), $153,600 67-66-72-67—272 -12
Patrick Rodgers (58), $123,733 65-71-71-66—273 -11
Brendon de Jonge (58), $123,733 67-66-73-67—273 -11
Jamie Lovemark (58), $123,733 70-69-66-68—273 -11
Tony Finau (51), $84,053 69-71-66-68—274 -10
Fabian Gomez (51), $84,053 69-68-70-67—274 -10
John Senden (51), $84,053 70-65-72-67—274 -10
Michael Kim (51), $84,053 70-67-69-68—274 -10
Ryan Palmer (51), $84,053 65-69-72-68—274 -10
Scott Stallings (51), $84,053 68-71-67-68—274 -10
Kevin Streelman (51), $84,053 68-67-71-68—274 -10
Daniel Summerhays (51), $84,053 68-65-72-69—274 -10
Camilo Villegas (51), $84,053 67-69-70-68—274 -10
Ricky Barnes (42), $44,832 65-71-72-67—275 -9
Rickie Fowler (42), $44,832 72-65-70-68—275 -9
David Hearn (42), $44,832 64-70-72-69—275 -9
Si Woo Kim (42), $44,832 69-66-71-69—275 -9
Kevin Kisner (42), $44,832 68-71-67-69—275 -9
Spencer Levin (42), $44,832 71-65-74-65—275 -9
Ben Martin (42), $44,832 70-68-67-70—275 -9
Scott Piercy (42), $44,832 72-67-68-68—275 -9
Rory Sabbatini (42), $44,832 66-72-71-66—275 -9
Nick Taylor (42), $44,832 66-70-67-72—275 -9
Mark Hubbard (35), $32,960 64-70-72-70—276 -8
D.H. Lee (35), $32,960 65-75-68-68—276 -8
Steve Marino (35), $32,960 66-71-71-68—276 -8
Russell Knox (32), $28,160 69-70-72-66—277 -7
Jason Kokrak (32), $28,160 69-70-70-68—277 -7
Ollie Schniederjans, $28,160 68-67-74-68—277 -7
Chris Stroud (32), $28,160 66-71-72-68—277 -7
J.J. Henry (29), $24,960 67-72-68-71—278 -6
Tyler Aldridge (25), $19,968 64-68-72-75—279 -5
Roberto Castro (25), $19,968 67-71-69-72—279 -5
Martin Laird (25), $19,968 71-68-70-70—279 -5
Ryan Moore (25), $19,968 69-71-68-71—279 -5
Greg Owen (25), $19,968 65-74-71-69—279 -5
Kyle Stanley (25), $19,968 67-70-73-69—279 -5
Jhonattan Vegas (25), $19,968 70-70-70-69—279 -5
Wes Roach (19), $15,317 66-72-72-70—280 -4
Michael Thompson (19), $15,317 64-73-73-70—280 -4
Shane Bertsch (19), $15,317 65-70-72-73—280 -4
Angel Cabrera (19), $15,317 68-71-70-71—280 -4
Ryo Ishikawa (19), $15,317 65-72-72-71—280 -4
Jimmy Walker (19), $15,317 66-67-69-78—280 -4
Stewart Cink (13), $14,272 71-68-72-70—281 -3
Brian Harman (13), $14,272 68-67-75-71—281 -3
Peter Malnati (13), $14,272 70-67-71-73—281 -3
Scott Pinckney (13), $14,272 70-68-70-73—281 -3
Webb Simpson (13), $14,272 71-69-71-70—281 -3
Tyrone Van Aswegen (13), $14,272 68-70-72-71—281 -3
Kevin Chappell (7), $13,568 69-71-70-72—282 -2
Chad Collins (7), $13,568 70-69-72-71—282 -2
Chesson Hadley (7), $13,568 68-71-72-71—282 -2
Martin Piller (7), $13,568 70-70-69-73—282 -2
Shawn Stefani (7), $13,568 69-70-71-72—282 -2
Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship
At Miramar Resort and Country Club
Taipei, Taiwan
Purse • $2 million
Yardage • 6,450 Par: 72
Final
Lydia Ko, $300,000 69-67-67-65—268 -20
So Yeon Ryu, $157,123 70-69-70-68—277 -11
Eun-Hee Ji, $157,123 66-69-72-70—277 -11
Charley Hull, $102,205 68-69-71-70—278 -10
Suzann Pettersen, $82,264 74-66-71-68—279 -9
Paula Creamer, $61,822 71-73-70-67—281 -7
Xi Yu Lin, $61,822 67-70-74-70—281 -7
Amy Yang, $49,359 69-73-72-69—283 -5
Brittany Lang, $44,373 77-71-66-70—284 -4
Lizette Salas, $36,345 69-71-77-68—285 -3
Minjee Lee, $36,345 72-73-70-70—285 -3
Anna Nordqvist, $36,345 70-70-71-74—285 -3
Catriona Matthew, $36,345 72-70-68-75—285 -3
Michelle Wie, $25,801 73-73-70-70—286 -2
Hyo Joo Kim, $25,801 74-70-72-70—286 -2
Mika Miyazato, $25,801 69-74-73-70—286 -2
Jessica Korda, $25,801 73-73-69-71—286 -2
Mirim Lee, $25,801 71-72-71-72—286 -2
Shanshan Feng, $25,801 70-76-67-73—286 -2
Karine Icher, $25,801 69-73-71-73—286 -2
Jenny Shin, $25,801 69-72-72-73—286 -2
Hee Young Park, $21,338 71-72-70-74—287 -1
Azahara Munoz, $18,713 74-72-73-69—288 E
Sei Young Kim, $18,713 78-69-71-70—288 E
Christina Kim, $18,713 73-71-72-72—288 E
I.K. Kim, $18,713 74-69-73-72—288 E
Haru Nomura, $18,713 69-73-74-72—288 E
Lee-Anne Pace, $18,713 75-70-70-73—288 E