Els receives U.S. Open special exemption

JACKSON, Miss. — Mackenzie Hughes made birdie on his third time playing the 18th hole on Sunday, and it gave him a playoff victory over Sepp Straka in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Hughes twice had to made tough par saves on the closing hole at the Country Club of Jackson, in regulation from 100 feet behind the green for a 3-under 69 to force a playoff and from a tough spot in a bunker to keep going. Straka narrowly missed his birdie putt on the second playoff hole from 18 feet on the fringe. Hughes hit his approach to 8 feet and made the winning putt. The victory comes one week after the Presidents Cup, and Hughes was disappointed not to be included on the International Team at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lives. He wanted to use that as motivation, and it sure worked out that way. Hughes won for the second time on the PGA TOUR, both in a playoff. His victory at Sea Island in 2016 didn’t finish until Monday morning, and this looked like it might be headed there with fading sunlight on the last hole they played. Garrick Higgo of South Africa had a 68 and finished third. Straka finished two groups ahead of Hughes and missed birdie chances of 20 feet and 18 feet on the last two holes for a 67 to finish at 17-under 271. Hughes twice came up clutch with his putter down the stretch, even if the putts were for par. He was out of position on the par-5 14th, his wedge over a tree back toward the fairway came up short in a bunker, he had to lay up again and escaped with a 15-foot par putt. On the closing hole, he was well left off the tee and punched under a tree and over the green against the grandstand. After free relief, he used putter from 100 feet away off the green with perfect pace for par. On the first playoff hole at the 18th, Hughes came up short in a bunker with only about 15 feet from the edge of the bunker to the pin. He blasted out to 5 feet and made par. That sent them back to the 18th for a third time, and Hughes closed him out. Mark Hubbard, who went into the final round with a one-shot lead, managed only two birdies in his round of 74 and tied for fifth. The final round featured five players who had at least a share of the lead at some point. That included Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, whose round came undone on the par-5 14th when he took a triple bogey without a penalty shot. Higgo never was part of the lead, though he lingered the entire day and missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th that ultimately kept him out of the playoff.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Viktor Hovland of Norway holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday for a 6-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, his second PGA TOUR victory this year. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Viktor Hovland It was the first time since the Mayakoba Classic began in 2007 that it was won with a birdie putt on the final hole. For the 23-year-old Hovland, it’s old hat. He made a 30-foot birdie putt on the last hole to win the Puerto Rico Open in February. Aaron Wise closed with a 63 and did everything right over the last two holes except make the birdie putts. Tied for the lead, he missed birdie putts from 12 feet on each of the last two holes at El Camaleon Golf Club. Hovland had four birdies in the opening six holes and built a two-shot lead going into the back nine on a course softened by rain that caused a two-hour delay in the morning. But he made bogey on the 12th hole, and that seemed to create chances for a half-dozen players separated by one shot along the back nine. Hovland responded with birdies on the next two holes, and he appeared to be in control with a tee shot to 4 feet on the par-3 15th. But he hit a tentative putt to remain tied with Wise, and Hovland thought he was in big trouble when his long iron on the 515-yard 16th hole sailed hard to the right toward the mangrove trees. It came down in the waste area a few feet from the hazard, and he hit a splendid sand shot to 4 feet to save par. Hovland, starting his second season on the PGA TOUR after a stellar college career at Oklahoma State, finished at 20-under 264 and moved to No. 15 in the world. That makes three players in the top 15 who were still in college a year ago in May. The others are PGA champion Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff, a teammate of Hovland’s at Oklahoma State. Adam Long (67) and Tom Hoge (69) tied for third at 17-under 267. Hoge holed a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 15th hole to get within one shot, but he three-putted from some 70 feet on the tough 16th to fall back. Long lost hope when he sent his tee shot into the vegetation on the 17th hole and took bogey. Emiliano Grillo, who led after the second and third rounds, closed with a 72 and tied for eighth, five shots behind. Justin Thomas got back to the fringe of contention with a 62 on Saturday but followed that with a 69, making double bogey on No. 10 to end his chances. This was the final official PGA TOUR event of the year, one last chance for players to either qualify for the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua or lock up a spot in the Masters next year. Neither was an issue for Hovland, who qualified for Maui with his win in Puerto Rico and was set for Augusta National by reaching the TOUR Championship his rookie season. Austin Eckroat of Oklahoma State had a 67-65 weekend and tied for 12th.

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Tyrrell Hatton earned his first PGA TOUR victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Here’s a look inside his bag. RELATED: Final leaderboard Driver: Ping G410 Plus (9 degrees set at 8.4) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana RF 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 70 TX Fairway wood: Ping G410 (20.5 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 80 TX Irons: Ping i210 (4-PW) Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X Wedges: Ping Glide Forged (50 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (54, 60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Putter: Ping Vault Oslo Grips: Golf Pride New Decade MCC Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

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