Jaye Marie Green wins LPGA Tour Q-school

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jaye Marie Green completed a runaway victory in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament Sunday, finishing with a record 29-under 331 total for a 10-stroke margin.

The 19-year-old Green, from Boca Raton, closed with a 4-under 68 on LPGA International's Jones Course. She broke the event 90-hole mark of 18-under 342 set by Stacy Lewis in 2008.

''This is going to be a week that I'll always remember,'' Green said. ''I was the most nervous on that last green when I didn't have to be, but I really was. But when that putt fell I was just speechless and I think I was just seeing stars really. It was a cool feeling. I just felt really relieved.''

The top 20 earned Category 12 status, the next 26 players received membership in Category 17, and the other 22 players who made the 72-hole cut got Symetra Tour status.

South Korea's Mi Rim Lee was second after a 69. Tiffany Joh finished third at 15 under after a 71.

Amy Anderson, the 21-year-old former North Dakota State star who won a record 20 college titles, was fourth at 14 under after a 69.

''This is not what I expected at all,'' Anderson said. ''The week or so leading up I was actually struggling with my game quite a bit. So I was thinking I would sneak in by the skin of my teeth. To come out here and just play well all week was really exciting and took the stress out of it.''

Green bogeyed the par-3 third hole, ending a 59-hole run without a bogey. She rebounded with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 to make the turn at 1 under. She birdied Nos. 10 and 11, dropped a stroke on the par-3 14th and closed with birdies on the final two holes.

''It's been a dream come true really,'' Green said. ''Since I was a little girl it's what I've always wanted to do. Having my dad beside me, couldn't have been a better feeling really. Having all my family here is just awesome. I'm so overwhelmed right now, I don't how to react.''

Green, who lost to Lydia Ko in the final of the 2012 U.S. Women's Amateur, played on the Symetra Tour this year. She had three top-10 finishes and finished the season 29th on the money list.

''It really is the stepping stone to getting into the LPGA Tour,'' Green said. ''Just the things that I've learned, like the key elements that you need to be out there was a huge help. For that to happen so fast, like me being here today after my first season, I wasn't expecting it to come that fast.''

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Dane Bjorn wins Nedbank Golf Challenge

SUN CITY, South Africa - Denmark's Thomas Bjorn pulled away from his challengers to win the $1.25-million first prize at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday with a 20-under-par total of 268.

Bjorn sunk eagles at the 10th and 14th holes to set up a two stroke victory and shrug off a spirited challenge from Spaniard Sergio Garcia and overnight leader Jamie Donaldson of Wales.

Donaldson and Garcia were joint second with 18-under-par totals of 270.

Both Bjorn and Garcia went seven under for the day in storming fourth round displays at the Gary Player Country Club.

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Zach Johnson tops Tiger Woods in dramatic World Challenge playoff

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Zach Johnson put together the storybook finish at Sherwood on Sunday that for the longest time belonged to Tiger Woods. Johnson rallied from four shots behind with eight holes to play, holed out from a drop area for par on the last hole to force a playoff, and beat the No. 1 player in golf at the World Challenge when Woods missed a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole. ''Pretty impressive what he did,'' Woods said. ''He got me.''

It was an extraordinary sendoff at Sherwood, which hosted the World Challenge for the 14th and final time before it moves to Florida next year. The big surprise was the winner in so many ways. ''I feel very fortunate, and a bit lucky,'' said Johnson, who moved into the top 10 in the world ranking for the first time in his career.

For Woods, it was only the fourth time in his career that he lost a lead of at least two shots going into the final round, the second time at Sherwood. Graeme McDowell overcame a four-shot deficit in 2010 and beat Woods in a playoff.

This was far more dramatic. They were tied after Johnson hit his tee shot to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th hole. Playing from the left rough, Woods came up just short and watched his approach tumble down the elevated green and into the bunker. Johnson followed with his worst shot of the week, an 8-iron so weak that it came up well short and into the hazard.

Johnson knew Woods had a difficult bunker shot, and if he figured if he could stick his wedge close from 58 yards away in the drop zone, a bogey might be enough to get into a playoff. The ball bounced three times and then spun back a few inches into the cup for an unlikely par and a 4-under 68. ''A little too dramatic for me,'' Johnson said.

Woods' hit a superb bunker shot to 2 feet and matched his par for a 70. They finished on 13-under 275. Woods was between clubs from the 18th fairway in the playoff and tried a smooth 7-iron that he lost enough to the right that it again found the bunker. He hit an exquisite sand shot, this one sliding 5 feet by the hole, and the par putt spun out of the left side.

Johnson won $1 million and should go to No. 9 in the world. Woods ended what he called a ''damn good year'' – five wins, the most of anyone in the world – with a shocking loss to Johnson. Two years ago, Woods ended the longest drought of his career when he went birdie-birdie at Sherwood to beat Johnson by one shot.

Matt Kuchar (67) and Bubba Watson (70) tied for third at 9-under 279. The attendance Sunday was 24,922, a record for any round in 14 years at Sherwood. Traffic outside the tiny club in the Santa Monica foothills looked like an LA freeway in what could be the last chance in the near future to see Woods in Southern California.

Woods appeared to have his sixth title at Sherwood sewed up when Johnson missed a short par putt on the 10th hole to fall four shots behind with eight holes to play. Woods had said on Saturday that Johnson wasn't the kind of player who went away easily, and he was right.

Johnson picked up birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, and then got back in the game on the 14th when Woods three-putted from long range on the 14th, and Johnson saved his par with an 8-foot putt to get within one shot.

The rest of the way looked like the final rounds of a heavyweight fight, even if only one of them looked the part.

Johnson laid up on the par-5 16 and nearly holed a sand wedge from 88 yards, setting up a tap-in birdie. Woods, with a tough chip left of the green, rehearsed the shot over and over and it came out perfectly for a matching birdie. Johnson finally caught him with a tee shot to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th, leading to the big finish.

Johnson looked almost apologetic when Woods missed his par putt in the playoff, and it was shocking to see. No one from his generation has made more clutch putts than Woods, who spoke about the topic earlier in the week.

But not this time. It was not the way he wanted to leave Sherwood, where Woods has five wins and now five runner-up finishes. The only consolation was $400,000 for finishing second, bringing to just over $14 million the earnings he has donated to his foundation from the three tournaments (AT&T National, Deutsche Bank, World Challenge) that support his education programs.

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Bjorn rallies with 2 eagles for 65, wins Sun City

SUN CITY, South Africa -- Thomas Bjorn had two eagles in his last nine holes, one brilliant and one a bit lucky, to finish with a 7-under 65 and win the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday.

Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson of Wales lost his three-shot advantage in a final-round 70 and tied for second with Sergio Garcia (65).

Bjorn's victory was hailed by fans in the galleries on No. 18, waving streams of South African flags in late afternoon sunshine on a day dedicated in the country to prayer and reflection following the death of former President Nelson Mandela.

Bjorn's 5-iron into No. 10 set up the first eagle to move past Donaldson. The Dane had his second on No. 14 after his approach hit a bunker and rolled up onto the green.

''They were two big moments,'' Bjorn said. ''Obviously, having two eagles on the back nine on a Sunday doesn't happen very often. The shot into 14 was a bit fortunate, but that's what happens when you win golf tournaments, I guess.''

The $1.25 million winner's check at Sun City marks the 42-year-old Bjorn's biggest prize and his 15th European Tour title.

Tournament members stood for a rendition of the South African anthem at the end of the event.

''I think to the whole world, he was just an inspiration to human beings. He was a great man,'' Bjorn said of Mandela at the trophy presentation. ''To see what one man can do, it's an inspiration to all of us. If we all just did a bit more, this world would be a better place.''

Donaldson was attempting to become the first debut winner at Sun City since Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty in 1986. But he bogeyed No. 9 and couldn't make any more birdies until No. 17.

Garcia dropped a shot on No. 16 after a run of four straight birdies at the end of his front nine, allowing Bjorn to bogey the last at Gary Player Country Club and still win.

FedEx Cup and European money list winner Henrik Stenson was fourth after his 67 in the No. 3-ranked Swede's first tournament back since ending last season as the world's best player.

Brendon de Jonge (66) was fifth and Charl Schwartzel (66) finished sixth, the highest placed South African. Ryan Moore of the United States, another Sun City rookie, was in contention through three rounds before a 73 on Sunday led to a tie for seventh with U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.

Home favorite and three-time champion Ernie Els had to deal with news of Mandela's passing on Thursday and the death of his former psychological coach on Saturday. He finished with a second straight 77 and second from last in the expanded 30-man field.

This is the first year the Nedbank has been part of the European Tour's schedule.

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The Shots of the Week from the World Challenge were as impressive as the finish

On Sunday at Sherwood Country Club, golf fans who have been hibernating from the game the last six weeks were entertained by some incredible golf by some of the biggest names in the world.

Tiger Woods, the host of the event, looked like he would cruise to another victory, but it was Zach Johnson who caught him thanks to a hole-out on the 72nd hole and then a short miss by Tiger in the playoff.

The wedge from Johnson was obviously the shot of the week, but it wasn't the only hole-out that took place at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.

Watch Matt Kuchar nearly make a double eagle, Bubba Watson use that impressive short game that won him the Masters, and Tiger nearly answer Johnson's pitch on the final hole with his own from a short-sided bunker.

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Johnson steals Tiger's thunder with Sherwood win

THOUSAND OAKS, California - Tournament host Tiger Woods was denied a sixth win of the year in sensational fashion when he lost the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in a playoff with Zach Johnson at Sherwood Country Club on Sunday.

Johnson, who had twice finished second to fellow American Woods at this elite limited-field event, sealed victory with a rock-solid par at the 18th, the first extra hole, where Woods lipped out with a five-footer to bogey.

The duo had finished regulation amid high drama and sharp swings of fortune on 13-under 275, Woods parring the last for a two-under 70 and Johnson, who came from four strokes behind with four birdies in the last eight holes, closing with a 68.

"It was a bit too much drama at the end there," a beaming Johnson told reporters after earning the winner's cheque for $1 million. "I feel very fortunate and somewhat lucky to be sitting here as a champion."

Tied for the lead at 13 under, Johnson appeared to have the title firmly in his grasp in regulation when five-times champion Woods, from the left rough at the 18th, dumped his approach into a greenside bunker.

However Johnson, perfectly positioned in the fairway, stunningly found water with his second, took a penalty drop and then holed out from 58 yards in the fairway for a par four as the galleries erupted in deafening celebration.

"It was just a bad swing and I got caught up in the moment," Johnson said of his poor approach from the 18th fairway. "That was the worst shot I hit all day ... probably the worst I hit all week.

"Certainly the next shot was a little too dramatic for me, but I was very lucky to hit that one in."

Woods did well to get up and down from the bunker to take the tournament into a playoff, but was unable to repeat the feat from a similar position in the same bunker on the first extra hole.

"I hit another really good bunker shot and didn't have as good a lie the second time around," world number one Woods said of the first extra hole. "It came out great.

"The putt (for par), I've been blocking them all day, and then with that little left-to-righter, I didn't block that one.

"Pretty impressive what he did," Woods said of Johnson's form down the stretch. "Excluding that last shot on 18 in regulation, he really hit it well coming in with three good approach shots."

Bubba Watson, the 2012 Masters champion, closed with a 70 to share third place at nine under with fellow American Matt Kuchar, who piled up eight birdies, a bogey and a double in a 67.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, who also triumphed here in 2010, signed off with a 69 to finish alone in sixth at five under.

STRETCHED LEAD

Two ahead of the chasing pack overnight after grinding out a 72 in difficult scoring conditions on Saturday, Woods appeared to be in cruise control as he stretched his lead to three with a two-putt birdie at the par-five second.

He also birdied the par-five fifth, after reaching the green in two, but remained three ahead as his playing partner Johnson also birdied the hole.

As the afternoon sunshine brightened, Woods then missed makeable birdie putts from six feet at the sixth and from 10 feet at the ninth to reach the turn in two-under 34 with a three-stroke cushion.

Woods was briefly handed a four-shot advantage when Johnson bogeyed the 10th after his approach landed on the green before spinning back down the hill.

However, Johnson immediately recovered with birdies at the par-five 11th and, from long range, at the par-three 12th to cut the lead to just two shots.

Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, missed a birdie attempt from eight feet at the 13th but one hole later the tension heightened as he trailed by only one after Woods recorded a three-putt bogey.

Both players birdied the par-five 16th, Johnson after very nearly spinning back a wedge approach into the hole and Woods with a delicate flop shot from greenside rough to two feet before the tournament concluded in unexpectedly dramatic style.

There was a record tournament attendance of 24,922 on Sunday at Sherwood Country Club where the event ended a run of 14 successive years. It will shift to Florida next December.

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World Challenge winners

Winners of the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge since it was first held in 1999. Zach Johnson won this year's tournament in a playoff with fellow American Tiger Woods at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks

California on Sunday (U.S. unless stated):

2013	Zach Johnson
2012	Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland)
2011	Tiger Woods
2010	McDowell
2009	Jim Furyk
2008	Vijay Singh (Fiji)
2007	Woods
2006	Woods
2005	Luke Donald (England)
2004	Woods
2003	Davis Love III
2002	Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
2001	Woods
2000	Love
1999	Tom Lehman*
	*at the Grayhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona

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Tiger Woods blows four-shot lead with eight holes to go to Zach Johnson at his own tournament

It was an ending like no other on Sunday at Sherwood Country Club, with Zach Johnson taking down Tiger Woods at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in the most unusual of outcomes.

Tiger Woods missing a short putt to lose a tournament? It happened. Zach Johnson hitting an 8-iron from the middle of the fairway to a very accessible pin location only to shank it in the hazard on the final hole of regulation? Yep, that also was part of the bizarre finish in chilly California.

Woods had a four-shot lead over Johnson with eight holes to go on Sunday at his own event, and just when it looked like it was over Johnson birdied the 11th, 12th, 16th and 17th, and then came to the last tied with Woods, and had the advantage after finding the fairway as Woods missed well left.

Tiger had to hit a heroic second shot after missing the fairway to even get the ball on the green, but short-sided himself in the bunker and it was Johnson's tournament to win.

Johnson, a man known to be deadly with a wedge, had knocked down the last two flags to set up Tiger-catching birdies, and with a green light flag like the 18th on Sunday at Sherwood, it seemed that a birdie was much more likely than a bogey.

Johnson shanked his 8-iron into a hazard that basically doesn't come into play for professionals, and it looked like one of the biggest chokes ever in this event before he hit his fourth shot from the drop zone.

The ball spun back in the hole for the par, Tiger could only smirk, and then had to get up and down from a really tough position just to make a playoff.

It was there that we were reminded that this Tiger is not the man who once never seemed to miss a shot or a putt when it mattered. Woods' approach shot weakly drifted right into that same bunker, a really poor golf swing considering the man and the moment, and after another great shot from the bunker, his par putt went begging and it was Johnson's title to keep.

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PGA Tour rookie gets stuck in traffic, decides to practice on the side of the freeway

You might remember John Peterson from Olympic Club back in 2012, when the unknown LSU fan with the great golf swing and putter cover in his back pocket nearly won that U.S. Open before Webb Simpson took home the trophy.

Peterson finished T-4 that week, and after a solid season this past year on the Web.com Tour, it's on to the PGA Tour for the 24-year-old Texan.

And apparently, Peterson really, really loves the game. So much that when he was stuck in a traffic jam on I-20 in Texas, he got out of his car, grabbed a couple of clubs and went to work on his golf game.

Peterson videotaped the whole experience which you can watch below, but I would say this probably isn't the best idea to past the time when you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic unless you're really accurate with your irons. I don't think "FORE!" works when people are sitting in their cars with the windows rolled up and the music on.

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Lydia Ko wins first title as professional

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Lydia Ko rallied to win her first title as a professional.

The 16-year-old from New Zealand won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters on Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over South Korea's So Yeon Ryu.

Ko had an 11-under 205 total at Linkou Miramar and earned $150,000 in the event sanctioned by the Taiwan and Korean tours. Ryu finished with a 73. Top-ranked Inbee Park was third at 7 under after a 70.

Ko tied for 21st last month in the LPGA Titleholders in her only other start as a professional. She won four pro events as an amateur, taking the Canadian Women's Open the last two years.

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The disappearing act of Rory McIlroy

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Rory's McIlroy's year began with a coronation. He was the star attraction at what felt like a rock concert, with music blaring and lasers flashing in a room at Abu Dhabi to celebrate the No. 1 player in golf joining Nike's stable.

It ended Sunday with a bogey on the ninth hole at Sherwood with hardly anyone watching.

An offseason never looked more appealing to him.

''It's been a long season, a long stretch,'' McIlroy said after signing for a 70 to finish 11th in an 18-man field at the World Challenge. ''I'm excited to put the clubs down for a little bit, have a few weeks' rest and get after it at the start of the new year.''

He won't have to worry about getting used to new equipment. He spent the better part of nine months doing that.

Expectations are sure to be lower.

A year ago, McIlroy was the clear No. 1 in golf. He was coming off another record win in a major - an eight-shot victory in the PGA Championship - and threw his game into overdrive with two FedEx Cup playoff wins and money titles on both sides of the Atlantic by closing his season with a win in Dubai.

It looked as if he would stay there for many years.

That lasted three months.

There were equipment issues, a product of changing everything at once instead of slowly working the swoosh into his bag, as Tiger Woods did a decade earlier. He changed management companies, which ordinarily is a seamless transition unless the split is ugly.

McIlroy is scheduled to be in a courtroom in Ireland not long after the Ryder Cup next year. So yes, this is ugly. According to reports in Irish newspapers, he split with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki at least twice, maybe three times. Except it wasn't true. The tennis star was at Sherwood all week, an ever-present smile as she followed him along, even going across the parking lot to hit balls (tennis, not golf) at Sherwood's stadium court.

All that became as tough an obstacle as anything on the golf course.

McIlroy, for all his brilliance inside the ropes, is refreshingly honest when it comes to his golf and often self-deprecating. He was talking earlier in the week about playing casual rounds with friends, noting that he had more of those days than in previous years.

''Had more weekends (off),'' he said.

It wasn't that bad, though his golf certainly was by his standards. He failed to make the cut five times, which is high for a player of his caliber. One was at the British Open. Another was at the Honda Classic, where he walked off the course after 26 holes out of frustration, blaming it on his wisdom tooth.

He didn't win a tournament until his 24th start, two weeks ago at the Australian Open. He ends the year at No. 6 in the world, miles away from Woods at the top.

''It's been the first year I've had to put up with scrutiny and criticism,'' McIlroy said. ''You just have to believe in what you're doing and not let it get to you too much. I let it get to me a few times.''

The toothache was one example of that. McIlroy conceded a week later at Doral that all the hype translated into more pressure he put on himself to perform, and he snapped. An honest answer. He said he would never do it again. So far, so good.

More than the golf was the inspection outside the ropes.

''All the other stuff,'' he said. ''I don't care what people say about my golf. It's when people start digging into my personal life, that's where it starts to annoy you. Whether it's Caroline, the management, all that should that should be no consequence to how I play my golf.''

That's a part of celebrity he still hasn't mastered.

When you're 24 and already have two majors (setting records in each), when you're dating a former No. 1 tennis player, when you're looked upon as the next great player in golf, there will be prying. He has to learn how to protect what he wants to keep private and ignore the rest.

As for the golf, McIlroy can only hope this year was an aberration.

Woods went through his first ''slump'' - everything is relative when it comes to Woods - at age 22 in his second full year as a pro. He won only two tournaments. He lost to Nick Price in a playoff at Sun City. He lost to Mark O'Meara in a 36-hole final at the World Match Play Championship. About the only off-course issue he faced was the GQ article that quoted him telling racial jokes.

''As far as battling a slump, that's just part of playing golf,'' Woods said. ''You play golf long enough, you're going to go through it.''

The great ones emerge. And the great ones don't stay in slumps for long.

McIlroy headed to his Florida home to start his vacation. He'll eventually wind up in Melbourne to watch Wozniacki in the Australian Open, and then go to Dubai to start preparing for a new season that will begin in Abu Dhabi.

Even at age 24, this is shaping up as important season.

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