PGA Tour:  John Deere Classic – Silvis, IL

There’s hot, there’s really hot, there’s Tiger Woods hot, and then there’s…Kenny Perry?   The 47-year-old Perry, who has authored a hot streak or two during his long career, won for the third time in five starts at the John Deere Classic, defeating 35-year-old rookie Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson on the first hole of sudden death after the three tied at 16-under-par 268 in regulation.  Perry arrived at the 72nd with a one-shot lead but failed to get up-and-down from just off the green, then looked on as Adamonis missed a 17-footer for birdie that would have given him his first PGA Tour victory.  The trio then replayed the 18th as the first playoff hole, where Perry won with a routine four after both Adamonis and Williamson found greenside water on their approaches.  Charlie Wi, Will MacKenzie and Eric Axley all tied for 4th at 269, just one stroke out of the playoff.  Though accomplished against one of the year’s leaner fields, Perry’s win jumps him from 4th to 2nd in PGA Tour earnings, and from 20th to 16th in the Official World Ranking.  Interestingly, Perry has chosen to honor an early commitment to next week’s U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee rather than travel to the British Open, where he is exempt – a decision originally made with an eye towards accumulating Ryder Cup points which, at this juncture, he no longer needs.

      FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Barclay’s Scottish Open – Glasgow, Scotland

A former U.S. Collegiate Player of the Year (at Alabama-Birmingham), Northern Ireland’s 28-year-old Graeme McDowell had enjoyed a somewhat successful professional career prior to 2008, winning twice on the European Tour and placing 6th in the Order of Merit in 2004.  The ensuing three years saw him place no better than 34th, however, but just as we might have begun wondering if the great talent might not be fully realized, McDowell, it seems, has turned the corner.  Having already claimed the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship in Korea back in March, McDowell this posted strong weekend rounds of 66-68 at Loch Lomond to win the Scottish Open, a strong-field event that served as a final tune-up for next week’s Open Championship.  Tied for the 54-hole lead with England’s Simon Khan, McDowell played steady early golf on Sunday, going out in two-under-par 34.  A bogey at the 10th briefly made things interesting before a run of three straight birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th essentially put things on ice.  South Africa’s James Kingston finished 2nd, two shots back, while Australia’s Richard Green and Spain’s ageless Miguel Angel Jimenez tied for 3rd, three shots off the pace.  The victory lifts McDowell from 59th to 29th in the World Ranking, and from 9th to 2nd in the E Tour Order of Merit, as well as moving him to 6th in the all-important Ryder Cup point derby.

    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic – Sylvania, OH

It sort of goes without saying that to begin a week by shooting lights out with an 11-under-par 60, then not winning the golf tournament, would be a major disappointment – and when one of your primary sponsors is the company hosting the event, so much the moreso.  Such was world number four Paula Creamer’s dilemma at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, a circumstance which became a bit nerve-wracking as her opening day fireworks and six-shot halfway lead appeared in jeopardy during a disappointing final-round 73.  But Chinese rookie Shanshan Feng, her primary Sunday challenger with five early birdies, fell back with a run of back-nine bogeys, and when Creamer made her lone birdie of the day at the 13th, the storm had successfully been weathered.  In the end, the margin of victory would be two strokes – and that was over Nicole Castrale, who closed with the day’s low round of 64.  The victory was Creamer’s third of 2008, keeps her in 3rd place in official LPGA earnings and, as the world’s top-ranked American player, 1st place in Solheim Cup points.

                           FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS
 
 
Elsewhere…

Though still winless in America in 2008, world number three Suzann Pettersen claimed her second LET victory of the year at the AIB Ladies Irish Open, carding a 205 total to beat fellow Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord by five………In Japan, Yuri Fudoh captured her 44th career JLPGA title at the Meiji Chocolate Cup, her 207 aggregate edging Chie Arimura, Saiki Fujita and Korea’s Hyun-Ju Shin by one………On the Futures Tour, Vicky Hurst won for he fourth time in 2008 at the CIGNA Golf Classic in Connecticut, her 54-hole total of 209 making her the only player in red numbers, and providing an eight-stroke margin of victory………Forty-year-old Rick Price won the richest tournament in Nationwide Tour history, the Player’s Cup, in sudden death over Chris Anderson after the pair deadlocked at 273.  The victory (and the $180,000 first prize) clichés Price a spot on the 2009 PGA Tour by guaranteeing him a place among this season’s top 25 Nationwide money winners………Behind a fine second-round 64, Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello won for the second time on the European Challenge Tour, his 267 total edging England’s Gary Lockerbie by two at the Credit Suisse Challenge in Luterbach, Switzerland………American John Ellis won the Canadian Tour’s TELUS Edmonton Open by three shots over Andrew Parr, carding no round worse than 68en route to a 266 total.