By By The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brian Gay played his way into the U.S. Open in his last possible chance, completing a wire-to-wire victory in the St. Jude Classic.
Gay earned his berth at Bethpage Black with his second win in his last five events and third of his career. He beat David Toms and Bryce Molder by five strokes to grab the Open exemption as a multiple winner in the last calendar year.
He grabbed the $1,008,000 winner's check at TPC Southwind in runaway style, too.
Gay led by only a stroke after each of the first three rounds, then shot a third straight 4-under 66 to pull away. He birdied three of the first six holes to take all the suspense out of the final round, and birdied the 18th to finish at 18-under 262.
Toms finished with a 65, and Molder had a 70. John Senden (64), Paul Goydos (68) and Robert Allenby (69) tied for fourth at 12 under.
Phil Mickelson, in his first event since announcing wife Amy has breast cancer, and John Daly, returning from a six-month PGA Tour suspension, tied for 59th at 1 over. Mickelson closed with a 75, and Daly shot a 70.
Nordqvist wins LPGA Championship
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — Anna Nordqvist completed a long day and a memorable week in splendid fashion, shooting a 4-under 68 on Sunday to become the second straight rookie to win the LPGA Championship.
Nordqvist finished at 15-under 273, four shots ahead of Lindsey Wright in the tournament's final stand at Bulle Rock Golf Course. The LPGA Championship will get a new sponsor and a new home in 2010.
After letting a five-shot lead dwindle to one, Nordqvist sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 14 and essentially clinched her first career victory with a 35-foot putt for a birdie on No. 15. When the shot dropped into the cup, the 22-year-old Swede pumped her fist with delight.
Nordqvist completed the final four holes of the suspended third round at 7:30 in the morning, then teed off as part of the final twosome shortly after 2:30 p.m. She took a two-shot lead into the fourth round, quickly increased the margin and held on to earn the $300,000 top prize.
Knoxville Open
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kevin Johnson tied the Nationwide Tour career victory record and moved within a win of an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour, beating Bradley Iles with a birdie on the second playoff hole in the Knoxville Open.
The 42-year-old Johnson, also a playoff winner two weeks ago in the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., has six Nationwide Tour victories, matching the record shared by Sean Murphy, Matt Gogel and Jason Gore. With two victories this season, Johnson is a win away from earning an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour.
Johnson closed with a 4-under 68 to match Iles at 20-under 268 on the Fox Den Country Club course. Isles tied the course record with a 63.
Johnson earned $94,500 to jump from third to second on the money list with $253,445, with the final top 25 earning 2010 PGA Tour cards.
St. Jude Classic Par Scores
The Associated Press
Brian Gay (500), $1,008,000 64-66-66-66—262 -18
David Toms (245), $492,800 67-66-69-65—267 -13
Bryce Molder (245), $492,800 69-63-65-70—267 -13
John Senden (115), $231,467 69-66-69-64—268 -12
Paul Goydos (115), $231,467 72-64-64-68—268 -12
Robert Allenby (115), $231,467 67-64-68-69—268 -12
Graeme McDowell (0), $180,600 66-71-69-63—269 -11
Jason Dufner (88), $180,600 68-67-69-65—269 -11
Woody Austin (80), $162,400 67-66-68-69—270 -10
Jeff Overton (73), $145,600 68-67-70-66—271 -9
Heath Slocum (73), $145,600 71-63-67-70—271 -9
Brendon Todd (63), $123,200 73-65-68-66—272 -8
Kevin Stadler (63), $123,200 69-66-70-67—272 -8
Harrison Frazar (55), $95,200 69-65-73-66—273 -7
Nathan Green (55), $95,200 70-66-70-67—273 -7
Aron Price (55), $95,200 73-66-66-68—273 -7
Ben Crane (55), $95,200 69-68-66-70—273 -7
Rich Beem (55), $95,200 66-68-69-70—273 -7
Lee Janzen (51), $70,280 68-71-68-67—274 -6
Roland Thatcher (51), $70,280 70-70-66-68—274 -6
Jason Bohn (51), $70,280 69-67-69-69—274 -6
Matt Weibring (51), $70,280 70-66-68-70—274 -6
Jason Day (46), $48,440 70-65-71-69—275 -5
Brad Adamonis (46), $48,440 68-72-67-68—275 -5
Michael Letzig (46), $48,440 70-67-69-69—275 -5
David Mathis (46), $48,440 68-69-69-69—275 -5
Guy Boros (46), $48,440 67-66-70-72—275 -5
Bob Estes (46), $48,440 69-67-66-73—275 -5
Brett Quigley (38), $32,648 69-66-72-69—276 -4
Ronnie Black (38), $32,648 72-68-67-69—276 -4
Retief Goosen (38), $32,648 68-67-71-70—276 -4
Tim Clark (38), $32,648 70-67-69-70—276 -4
Chris Riley (38), $32,648 72-68-68-68—276 -4
Marc Leishman (38), $32,648 69-68-69-70—276 -4
Tag Ridings (38), $32,648 68-69-68-71—276 -4
Camilo Villegas (38), $32,648 68-67-75-66—276 -4
Cameron Beckman (38), $32,648 68-71-71-66—276 -4
Vaughn Taylor (38), $32,648 67-65-69-75—276 -4
Michael Bradley (31), $24,080 70-67-69-71—277 -3
Brian Vranesh (31), $24,080 73-66-72-66—277 -3
Fredrik Jacobson (31), $24,080 67-69-67-74—277 -3
Loren Roberts (27), $19,600 67-67-73-71—278 -2
Vance Veazey (0), $19,600 67-68-71-72—278 -2
Patrick Sheehan (27), $19,600 68-69-71-70—278 -2
Bill Lunde (27), $19,600 71-66-69-72—278 -2
Robert Garrigus (27), $19,600 69-70-70-69—278 -2
Ricky Barnes (24), $15,792 67-69-73-70—279 -1
Chris Stroud (24), $15,792 66-70-69-74—279 -1
Jerry Kelly (18), $13,294 67-68-72-73—280 E
James Nitties (18), $13,294 70-67-71-72—280 E
Glen Day (18), $13,294 69-69-70-72—280 E
Bob Heintz (18), $13,294 70-65-73-72—280 E
Cliff Kresge (18), $13,294 71-69-69-71—280 E
Jose Maria Olazabal (18), $13,294 66-70-74-70—280 E
Omar Uresti (18), $13,294 70-70-70-70—280 E
Marc Turnesa (18), $13,294 70-69-72-69—280 E
Nick O'Hern (18), $13,294 72-68-72-68—280 E
Wil Collins (18), $13,294 73-67-72-68—280 E
Chris DiMarco (9), $12,096 69-68-71-73—281 +1
Scott Verplank (9), $12,096 68-69-71-73—281 +1
Phil Mickelson (9), $12,096 68-70-68-75—281 +1
Paul Stankowski (9), $12,096 71-68-69-73—281 +1
Jason Gore (9), $12,096 72-65-72-72—281 +1
Peter Lonard (9), $12,096 71-68-70-72—281 +1
John Daly (9), $12,096 72-68-71-70—281 +1
J.J. Henry (5), $11,648 70-70-68-74—282 +2
Derek Fathauer (4), $11,480 68-71-72-72—283 +3
David Gossett (4), $11,480 70-70-75-68—283 +3
Mathias Gronberg (1), $11,144 66-70-72-76—284 +4
Jarrod Lyle (1), $11,144 68-69-73-74—284 +4
Greg Chalmers (1), $11,144 68-69-76-71—284 +4
Tim Herron (1), $11,144 68-71-78-67—284 +4
John Merrick (1), $10,808 72-66-76-73—287 +7
Jimmy Walker (1), $10,808 65-72-82-68—287 +7
Jay Delsing (1), $10,640 70-70-71-77—288 +8
Dicky Pride (1), $10,528 69-69-79-72—289 +9