Francesco Molinari hoists the Claret Jug after winning the 147th Open

Scotland - On a day when many of game's biggest names looked

poised to grab the Claret Jug and the title of "Champion Golfer

of the Year" at Carnoustie Golf Links, it was an often overlooked

Italian that continued his hot hand. Francesco Molinari, who just

a few weeks ago won Tiger's tournament (Quicken Loans, which

was his first career win on the PGA Tour), and back in May he out-

played Rory McIlroy to win Europe's biggest non-major, the BMW

PGA Championship at Wentworth, but somehow was still under the

radar at the 147th Open. Molinari was steady in rounds 1&2, but was

back in the pack - making the cut at EVEN par after rounds of 70-72.

On the weekend, the 35 year old Italian outlasted the field of "A Listers"

playing flawless links golf, going bogey free over the final 36 holes. On

Saturday when the conditions were calm Francesco posted 65. When the

conditions stiffened on Sunday, Carnoustie showed its teeth with winds

gusting well over 20 mph, but Molinari made clutch par saves all day on

the toughest course in the Open rota. He was rock steady, starting out

with 13 consecutive pars playing with Tiger Woods in the final round.

Woods was the story early on, taking the solo lead after 54 hole leaders

Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele faultered in the middle of the front

nine. Tiger stumbled at the eleventh and twelfth, and then Molinari birdied

the par 5 fourteenth and knocked it stiff on the 72nd hole to cap off the

win by two over Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Kevin

Kisner.

The 35 year-old Italian saw the players with the early tee times battling

the conditions and prepared himself, "I knew it was going to tough," said

Molinari. "I knew everyone was going to struggle a little bit and I could

use it to my advantage. That putt on the last, I'll never forget."

Jordan Spieth struggled shooting a final round 76, finishing tied for ninth

at -4.

Scores: https://www.theopen.com/Leaderboard#!/traditional

Kartrude Wins Greater Bangor Open

photo courtesy of ESPN 92.9

Michael Kartrude celebrates after winning the GBO

Laura Davies celebrates her victory at the Inaugural U.S Women's Senior Open

Wheaton, Illinois - Dame Laura Davies hadn't won in eight long years, and

after 54 holes she led by five-strokes over fellow World Golf Hall of Famer Julie

Inkster. By the end of Sunday's final round she doubled the margin - firing a

final round 5 under par 68 on C.B MacDonald's famed layout at Chicago Golf

Club. Davies won in dominating form with a score of 16 under par - 276.

"I think 10 was the turning point," said Davies. "I hit my first really rank shot

of the week, a horrible block out to the right, and left a ridiculous putt, and

somehow managed to two-putt. I'll be honest, it wasn't the greatest hole I've

ever played, but I think that was when I really started to think I might have

one hand on the trophy and just had to get the other one in there." At the

time, that enabled Davies to retain her six stroke advantage, which became

eight just three holes later when Inkster made a mess of the thirteenth (with

a double bogey).

Davies win marks just the 6th time in USGA history that a champion has won

by ten or more strokes. Davies was so dominant, that there were only 6 players

who finished within twenty strokes of her 276 total.

"My last win was in India in 2010, so there's the pressure you're playing under

when you're trying to prove to yourself you can still win," said the 54 year-old

Brit. "So this ranks highly up there. Obviously, because it's a USGA event, it's

hard to compare tournaments, but this is very high on my list of achievements,

I can assure you."

Laura Davies last LPGA victory came 17 years ago in 2001.

Scores:

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2018/u-s--senior-women-s-open.html#!scoring

Kim Routs at John Deere Classic

Michael Kim celebrates after winning the John Deere Classic

Silvis, Illinois - Michael Kim was on fire at TPC Deere Run all week, starting

off with rounds of 63-64-64 entering Sunday, it wasn't whether he would win,

it was by how many. Kim finished off the field with another stellar performance,

firing a final round 66 to win by eight shots. Kim's 27 under par total broke the

previous tournament record set by Steve Stricker in 2010.

With the victory, Michael Kim also punched his ticket to the Open Championship

at Carnoustie. Kim and his family (who arrived early Sunday morning from San

Diego), were on the charter flight to Scotland immediately after he fulfilled his

obligations of post round press conferences.

Kim admitted to being anxious Saturday night and getting very little sleep,

he opted to watch Wimbledon while struggling to deal with the uncertainty

of holding the 54 hole lead, "I ran through a million scenarios of how this day

was going to pan out," Kim said.

Looks as though it panned out about as well as he could have imagined . . .

Michael Kim moved up from 161st to 56th in the Fedex Cup standings.

Scores:

https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2018/john-deere-classic/leaderboard.html

Kevin Na celebrates after winning on the Old White Course at the Greenbrier.

White Sulfur Springs, WV - His first win on the PGA Tour took eight years,

and his long-awaited encore took another seven. For Kevin Na it has been

a long journey full of many disappointments, but Sunday on the Old White

Course at the Greenbrier - everything clicked.

Entering the final round one stroke behind 54 leaders Kelly Kraft and Harold

Varner III, Na went on a red number blitz that began at the fourth and

didn't conclude until the tenth (Na carded six birdies in seven holes), his

Sunday 64 was good enough for a total score of 19 under par  - and what

seemed to be an easy five-shot victory. "It's an amazing feeling," Na said.

"I've waited a long time for this. Lots of close calls, a lot of disappointments.

I wasn't sure if it was going to come again. I was hoping it would, sooner

rather than later, but my game was starting to feel really good this year. I

was thinking I was going to win one before the year was over and here it is."

Kevin Na went from 58th to 18th in the Fedex Cup standings after Sunday's

victory in White Sulfur Springs (his 2nd career PGA Tour win).

Kelly Kraft drained a 10 footer for birdie at the last for a final round 70 to

finish solo second at 14 under par. Russell Henley fired a final round 63 to

vault up the leaderboard (finishing in a tie for 10th at 11 under par) on a

day when the Old White course did not yield many low scores.

Scores:

https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2018/a-military-tribute-at-the-greenbrier/leaderboard.html