Vincent Norrman gave Sweden a second straight winner on the European tour when he shot 7-under 65 to capture the Irish Open title on Sunday in Straffan, Ireland, as Rory McIlroy faltered in the final round by hitting into the water on three different holes.
A week after 23-year-old Ludvig Aberg produced a stunning finish to win the European Masters in Switzerland and help secure a spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team, the 25-year-old Norrman produced a similar late flourish at The K Club to earn his second victory in two months — after the Barbasol Championship in mid-July — and underscore the talent emerging from Sweden.
Play was delayed for about 90 minutes because of bad weather soon after the leading groups teed off, with McIlroy at that stage in a four-way share of the lead on 12-under par.
His bid for a second title at his home event, after 2016, tottered when he found water off wedge shots from the middle of the fairway at Nos. 7 and 11. By the time McIlroy went into the water twice at No. 16 in shooting triple-bogey 8, Norrman had already posted a target — 14 under — that none of his remaining title contenders such as Hurly Long of Germany (72) and Ryan Fox of New Zealand (70) could match.
Norrman won by one stroke from Long to give himself two titles in just 14 appearances on the European tour. He is set to more than halve his world ranking and potentially climb to No. 76.
Norrman’s bogey-free round caught fire when he made six birdies in eight holes from No. 7 that saw him power through the field, before he had to wait 90 minutes to discover if he’d done enough.
“I think I was a little lucky — it was a long wait but I am super happy,” said Norrman, who turned pro in 2021 after attending Georgia Southwestern before moving to Florida State University.
“If you are winning, you are doing something good. It’s a world-class event and honestly I can’t believe this happened.”
Shane Lowry (68) finished in a tie for third with Fox, Grant Forrest (70) and Thriston Lawrence (66) in a confidence-boosting performance ahead of the Ryder Cup, for which he also got a captain’s pick despite poor recent form, and his defense of the BMW PGA Championship next week.
McIlroy closed with a 74 and was tied for 16th.
Lee blows big lead, recovers to win in playoff
Minjee Lee lost a five-shot lead on the back nine Sunday and recovered at just the right time, hitting wedge to 2 feet for birdie to beat Charley Hull on the second playoff hole in the LPGA Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lee, a two-time major champion, won for the first time this year after closing with a 1-under 71. It was her second playoff victory on the LPGA Tour, and she never imagined it would get to that point.
The 27-year-old Australian seized control early and led Hull by five shots through 10 holes. Six holes later, they were tied.
Lee led by four on the par-5 12th, with Hull already having hit her second shot into the water. Lee decided to go for the green with a fairway metal, and she pulled it so far left that it went out of bounds, leading to a double bogey.
Hull dropped only one shot, cutting the deficit to three shots, and then she made three birdie putts in the 12- to 18-foot range on the 14th, 15th, and 16th holes to catch Lee.
“I had a few moments where I felt I was losing, but I wasn’t,” Lee said. “I was like, ‘Let’s play ‘til the end and see where it ends up.’ I didn’t give up. I played every shot the best I could and won the playoff, so it feels nice.”
Just getting into the playoff was hard work. They were tied going to the 18th in regulation at Kenwood Country Club and both found a fairway bunker. Lee hit pitching wedge to make sure she cleared the lip of the bunker. Hull attacked with a 9-iron and it rolled to just short of the green, allowing her to use putter.
Hull’s putt from 50 feet settled 2 feet away. Lee hit wedge to 7 feet and holed the par putt to join Hull at 16-under 272 and force a playoff.
On the 18th in the playoff, Hull caught a flyer from the rough and it bounded over the green near the grandstands. After a free drop, she used putter to go up the slope to the green, and the ball stopped one turn from dropping.
Playing the 18th again on the second overtime hole, Lee’s wedge landed well short of the green and it ran up the ridge and settled 2 feet from the hole. Hull’s 15-foot birdie putt to extend the playoff missed to the left.
“Minjee played well in the playoff,” Hull said. “At the end of the day, she was leading going into the final round and I done my best.”
No one else really had a chance on the back nine. Women’s PGA champion Ruoning Yin at least walked away with a consolation prize. She closed with a 67 to finish alone in third, and that should be enough for the 20-year-old from China to reach No. 1 in the world when the next ranking is official on Tuesday.
Yin joins Shanshan Feng as the only Chinese player to be No. 1. And to think she was just outside the top 100 going into the year.
“I got goosebumps,” said Yin, who goes by “Ronni” on the LPGA. “I think world No. 1 is the big step on the way to chasing Shanshan. I got brain blank right now. I don’t know what to say. Maybe I can’t say something until I finally see my name as world No. 1.”
Lee won for the ninth time in her career. She heads off for the LPGA Tour’s Asia swing before returning for the final domestic stretch in November.
Flesch uses record round to claim Ascension Charity title
Steve Flesch put all parts of his game together and matched his career-low on the PGA Tour Champions with a 9-under 62 that took him from a two-shot deficit to a three-shot victory in the Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis.
Flesch seized control early by playing the opening six holes at Norwood Hills in 6-under par, including an eagle on the par-5 second hole when his approach caught a slope at the back of the green and rolled back to tap-in range.
Flesch finished at 19-under 194, three shots ahead of Kevin Sutherland, who birdied his last two holes for a 67. Sutherland and Y.E. Yang began the final round with a share of the lead.
Making it better for Flesch was having his son, Griffin, as his caddie. His son was on the bag for Fred Couples when Couples won on the PGA Tour Champions.
Flesch won for the first time this year and the fourth time on the PGA Tour Champions.