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Sunday golf: Atthaya Thitikul, Ruoning Yin win Dow Championship

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Sunday golf: Atthaya Thitikul, Ruoning Yin win Dow Championship

Midland — Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand made a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole as she and Ruoning Yin of China won the Dow Championship by closing with an 8-under 62 in the fourballs format.

Thitikul and and Yin, good friends who each briefly were No. 1 in the women’s world ranking, led by two on the back nine over Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho until Ewing rallied to tie. Ewing birdied the 14th and 15th holes and hit a tough chip to save par on the 16th to stay tied.

Thitikul and Ruoning played in the group ahead, and Thitikul hit a tee shot on the par-3 18th over water to 12 feet behind the cup. Her birdie putt was true all the way, and they were all smiles as they headed to the clubhouse to see if it would hold up.

Ewing missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff. She and Kupcho shot a 64.

European Tour

Vercia, Italy — Marcel Siem made a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force a playoff, and he beat Tom McKibbin on the first extra hole to win the Italian Open.

It was Siem’s sixth victory on the European tour, winning in the German’s fourth tournament back after hip surgery in February.

Both Siem and McKibbin finished at 10-under par.

Siem was three strokes ahead of clubhouse leader McKibbin eight holes into his final round. Then four bogeys put him one stroke back going to the 18th. But Siem holed a 20-foot putt to finish with an even-par 71 and force the playoff.

McKibbin posted a bogey-free 65 in his final round at Adriatic Golf Club Cervia. He had the consolation prize of earning a spot in the British Open along with American Sean Crocker, who shot 68 to finish one stroke behind the leaders.

USGA and PGA Tour Champions

Newport, R.I. — Hiroyuki Fujita held a three-stroke lead with eight holes to play in the final round of the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday when the tournament was suspended because of severe weather at Newport Country Club.

Fujita was 2 under for the day when the horn sounded at 3 p.m. because of storms. The USGA announced at 4:55 p.m. that the tournament would resume Monday.

Richard Bland birdied the first three holes to move into second place. The Senior PGA champion was 13 under for the tournament with eight holes left. Richard Green was 1 under for the day and at minus-12 for the tournament. Steve Stricker, the U.S. Senior Open runner-up each of the last two years, was 2 over for the fourth round to fall six shots off the lead.

Tournament organizers tried to squeeze the golf in between the morning fog, which enshrouded the towers of the nearby Newport Bridge and blocked the view of the greens from the tees, and the severe weather forecast for the afternoon.

Korn Ferry Tour

Springfield, Ill. — Max McGreevy birdied the 18th hole for a 2-under 71 and a one-shot victory in the Memorial Health Championship, moving him to No. 2 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and assuring a full PGA Tour card next year.

McGreevy was tied with Steven Fisk, who had already posted a 67, when he made birdie to avoid a playoff at Panther Creek.

Fisk, with his runner-up finish, moved to the top of the points list. Jackson Suber shot 66 and finished third.

McGreevy posted his sixth top 10 of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour, including a runner-up finish last month in North Carolina.

Other tours

Florida State alum Fredrik Kjettrup of Denmark won his second straight PGA Tour Americas event when he shot 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the ATB Classic in Canada. … Kathleen Scavo won the Dream First Bank Charity Classic in a six-hole playoff over Daniela Iacobelli on the Epson Tour. Scavo played the 18th hole at Buffalo Dunes seven times in 1-over par — a bogey in regulation to cause the playoff and then six pars until Iacobelli finally made bogey. … Joel Moscatel of Spain birdied the last hole for a 2-under 70 and then beat Benjamin Hebert of France with a par on the first playoff hole to win Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France for his second Challenge Tour win this year. … Alice Hewson of England closed with a 6-under 65 and won a playoff over Tvesa Malik of India to capture the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour. … Shiho Kuwaki won her first Japan LPGA title when she closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Kotone Hori in the Shiseido Ladies Open. … Hyunkyung Park closed with a 3-under 69 and birdied the first playoff hole to beat Yerim Choi in the McCol-Mona Park Yongpyong Open on the Korea LPGA.

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