PGA Tour:  Travelers Championship – Cromwell, CT

With six top-10 finishes (including two 2nds  and two 3rds) thus far in 2008, Stewart Cink was likely the hottest golfer yet to record a victory on the 2008 PGA Tour, but that relative drought ended in Hartford where his 18-under-par total of 262 proved just enough to edge defending champion Hunter Mahan and 48-year-old Tommy Armour III by one.  Cink, who recorded his first PGA Tour victory some 11 years ago at this same event, birdied the final two holes on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round.  But after making an early bogey at the par-four 4th, Cink  carded four birdies between the sixth and 15th to nose out in front, then hung on with three finishing pars.  Mahan and Armour both closed with five-under-par 65s, Mahan birdieing the final two holes to make it close, while Armour could only finish birdie-par when two birdies were needed..  With the long-awaited win (his first since his two-victory Ryder Cup season of 2004), Cink jumps to 3rd in PGA Tour earnings, and from 12th to 6th in the Official World Ranking.

     FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
European PGA Tour:  BMW International Open – Munich, Germany

Twenty-three-old rising star Martin Kaymer claimed his second E Tour victory of 2008 at the BMW International, becoming the first German to win this event on his home soil and doing so in dramatic fashion.  With rounds of 68-63-67, Kaymer had launched himself to a commanding six-shot lead through 54 holes before stumbling badly on Sunday.  After going out in 38, he then suffered a watery triple-bogey at the par-five 11th to fall two strokes behind a surging Anders Hansen.  But demonstrating uncommon resilience, Kaymer righted the ship with a birdie at the 13th before ultimately tying Hansen at 273 with a birdie at the par-five finisher.  The pair then returned to the 18th for sudden death where Kaymer quickly clinched the title by crushing driver-6 iron to within seven feet, and safely two-putting for birdie.  With the victory, Kaymer climbs to 7th in the E Tour Order of Merit and sixth in Ryder Cup points, while also jumping from 41st to 30th in the World Ranking, where he remains the only under-25 player among the top 50.

     FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
Japan Tour:  Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic – Yomiuri, Japan

It took 42-year-old Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand seven years to land his first Japan Tour victory (early June’s Mitsubishi Diamond Cup) and now Marksaeng has made it two in row, birdieing five of his final seven holes at the Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic to post a 269 total, enough to edge Azuma Yano by one.  Marksaeng actually birdied holes 12-15 to push himself into contention, then, after a bogey at the par-three 17th, birdied the par-four closer for the win.  In addition to moving into 1st place in the Japan Order of Merit, and climbing from 81st to 70th in the World Ranking, Marksaeng (who finished 3rd in the Asia Tour’s Bangkok Airways Open three weeks ago) also gains a spot in the upcoming Open Championship, the R&A having chosen to exempt the top four finishers here.

                      FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          J TOUR STATS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Wegman’s LPGA – Rochester, NY

Twenty-two-year-old Korean Eun-Hee Ji broke through for her first LPGA Tour victory in Rochester, NY, posting a 16-under-par 272 to beat world number three Suzann Pettersen by two strokes.  For Ji, in her second year on the American circuit, the victory evened the score with Pettersen,who edged her in the Kolon Championship (played in Korea) last October – and, more importantly, also cemented her U.S. playing status for the foreseeable future.  In point of fact, the event was largely Pettersen’s to lose…and she did, surrendering a three-stroke lead behind three final-nine bogeys en route to a closing 72, and a continuation of her winless (in America) 2008.  Meanwhile, Ji, who rocketed into contention with a third-round 64, logged four back-nine birdies in the midst of her Sunday 67, finally pulling ahead with a birdie at the par-three 15th, then locking it away with a four at the par-five 17th.  The win moves her up to 10th on the LPGA money list, and certainly establishes her as yet another young international star to watch in women’s golf.

                      FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA TOUR STATS
 
 
Champions Tour:  Bank of America Championship – Concord, MA

Making birdie on three of his final four holes, Jeff Sluman won his first Champions Tour title since turning 50 last September, posting a 199 54-hole total to best Loren Roberts by two.  Sluman both started and finished strongly during his closing 64, adding birdies at four of the first five holes to his finishing rush, and ultimately holing a 35-footer birdie putt at the last to close things out in style.  New Englander Dana Quigley and Zimbabwan-turned-Irishman Mark McNulty tied for 3rd, six shots back.

                      FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS
 
 
Elsewhere…

England’s Rebecca Hudson birdied the third hole of sudden death to defeat Anne-Lise Caudal at the LET’s Tenerife Ladies Open after the pair deadlocked on 278 in regulation, denying Caudal her second straight LET victory………Yuko Mitsuka claimed her second career JLPGA title in epic fashion, carding a 16-under-par 200 to win the Nichirei Ladies by 10 shots over Shiho Oyama……..Stephanie Otteson’s 204 total was enough to edge Jessica Shepley by one at the Futures Tour’s Duramed Championship………Australian Jerrod Lyle defeated Chris Kirk on the first hole of sudden death at the Nationwide Tour’s Knoxvile Open after the two deadlocked at 269………England’s David Horsey won for the first time on the European Challenge Tour, his 269 aggregate being just good enough to win the Telenet Trophy (in Houthalen, Belgium) by a single shot………On the Euro Seniors Tour, Spain’s Juan Quiros birdied the last for a 212 total, narrowly beating homestanding Des Smyth by one at the Irish Senior Open………Canadian Adam Speirs cardd a 275 total to edge countryman Wes Heffernan and American Byron Smith at the Canadian Tour’s Greater Vancouver Charity Classic.