Tour: First career victory for Megan Khang

It took 73 holes at Shaunghessy Golf and Country Club, but in the end it was a sight to be had – American Megan Khang became the season’s ninth Rolex First-Time Winner at the CPKC Women’s Open, defeating former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko in a play-off.

Heading into Sunday with a three-stroke lead, Khang recorded two bogeys on the front nine on three and six to bring the rest of the field like Ko and Sei Young Kim back into contention. A third bogey after the turn was quickly erased with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12, showing Khang wasn’t going down without a fight. But her fourth and fifth bogeys of the day on13 and 17 came into play allowing Ko to take the solo lead as Khang approached the 18th green.

“You know, it was tough today,” Khang said about her play on the first 17 holes. “I knew in my head I had a three-shot lead. You don't really think about results, but of course you want to get the win at the end of the day. It took a little longer than regulation to get it done, but Sei Young was kind of pushing me the whole day and I was trying not to think about what she was doing. I couldn't help it.

"I think at one point we were only one shot apart. On 16 I looked at the leaderboard and I saw I was tied with Jin Young and I was like, oh, yeah, got a couple people to worry about. At the end of the day, Jack was kind of reassuring me, hey, let's go do our own thing. We can't control what they're doing.”

Watch final round highlights from the CPKC Women's Open

Ko went into the scoring tent in the penultimate group and signed for a three-under-par 69 to get to -9, thanks to four birdies and a lone bogey on the 11th, and proceeded to the clubhouse to await her fate. Khang approached the green on 18 staring down a four-foot putt for birdie, which would tie Ko at 9-under and force a play-off. With all of Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club holding their breath, Khang sunk the birdie putt and the two went back to the 18^th tee.

An errant drive off the tee for Ko all but sealed the win for Khang, who striped her drive down the fairway. Ko took an unplayable and then sent it into the green-side bunker before hitting on and two-putting for bogey, effectively giving Khang her first LPGA Tour win in her 191st start.

“There were definitely nerves. I was shaking signing my scorecard. I triple checked that scorecard to make sure everything was correct and we did sign,” Khang said about heading into the play-off.

“You know, I was very thankful to have some friends out there who were right there telling me I got this and that they're there for me. It's always nice when you have that kind of friendship out here on tour. That play-off I tried to stay in my own little world. I didn't know where Jin Young had hit her tee shot. I was just trying to keep my head down and stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself.”

Ko’s runner-up performance was her first top-10 finish since her win at the Cognizant Founders Cup in May. KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Ruoning Yin shot the lowest score of the day, a bogey-free 66 with six birdies, to propel her into a third-place finish, her second third-place finish in her last three events.

Hannah Green and Sei Young Kim, who joined Khang in the final grouping, finished in a tie for fourth at -6. Green shot a three-under-par 69 while Kim struggled under the pressure, notching five bogeys to only three birdies to finish with a Sunday 74. Lauren Coughlin and Linn Grant tied for sixth at -5, and In Geen Chun, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Yuka Saso rounded out the top 10 in a tie for eighth at -3. Brooke Henderson finished as the low Canadian in a tie for 13th at -2 overall after a final round 68.

The LPGA now moves to Portland and the Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Amateur Avani Prashanth becomes the first Indian to win on LET Access Series

Indian amateur Avani Prashanth took home the win at the Ahlsell Final at Elisefarm by one shot.

Prashanth, the first Indian to win on the LET Access Series, had an impressive final round to finish the tournament on six-under-par.

It was a shaky start for the 16-year-old who carded two bogeys in the first four holes before firing up the flat-stick two card two more birdies in the front nine.

At the turn, Prashanth gained momentum to get two consecutive birdies on holes 12 and 13 followed by an eagle on the 14^th to put herself in the lead.

A further birdie on the 17^th was where the top Indian amateur clinched the win.

Speaking about the round, Prashanth said:

“It’s surreal winning this week, after my rocky start to finish five-under-par is great and this is my first professional win on international soil.

“The wind completely switched on us today which really made the first four holes super long and tough to play. Whilst the first four played long a good number played shorter.

 “So, after nine I came back to par and then saw the wind was down in the back nine and then I really took advantage from there on.”

Prashanth won the Queen Sirikit Cup in Manila early in the year and now has her eyes set on being the youngest golfer ever to represent India at the Asian Games in Hangzhou next month.

“In terms of European competition, the Big Green Egg Open in Amsterdam on the Ladies European Tour is the next one. I’m planning on playing at Q-School in December.

“How will I celebrate?, well everyone back home is asking for a party, so I’ve got to take care of them first and then I’ll make plans as soon as I’m back.”

Two Swedish amateurs, Matilda Bjorkman and Isabell Elkstrom tied for second on five-under-par.

Whilst Switzerland’s Elena Moosmann and Sweden’s amateur Hanna Nilsson tied fourth on four-under-par.

Swiss amateur Caroline Sturdza came in solo sixth on three-under-par after a fabulous round of 68 whilst another Swiss amateur Natalie Armbruester tied seventh alongside Germany’s Sarina Schmidt and England’s Emily Price.

LETAS now has a week break before the hotly anticipated Rose Ladies Open starts on September (7-9).

Yue Ren dominates final round for play-off win in Idaho

The final day of the Epson Tour's Circling Raven Championship saw low scores all around. Two players shot impressive eight-under-par 64s, while three others signed for seven-under-par 65s. One of those two 64s came from Yue Ren, who forced a two-hole play-off with first- and second-round leader, Chanettee Wannasaen, ultimately walking away victorious at 13-under-par. Ren picked up her first Epson Tour victory and a $33,750 winner’s check on Sunday in Idaho.

“I feel so excited and a little tired,” laughed Ren. “I’m so happy. The last few weeks, I wasn’t feeling good with my game, and I made little improvements on my swing. My chipping and putting was good, and my irons and driver were much better. My putting was really good; I love my putter. Today I was feeling really good about my game. On all of my shots, I just did my best.”

Ren posted an impressive round before the play-off, going bogey-free for the first time since the first round of the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes in May, where she also shot an eight-under-par 64. The People’s Republic of China native avoided bogey in the two play-off holes as well, going par-par to defeat Wannasaen.

Wannsaen also picked up her best Epson Tour finish this season. The Thailand native carded five birdies and a lone bogey on the day, signing for a final-round 68. Consistency was key to Wannasaen’s top-three finish as she carded rounds of 67-68-68 across all three days of tournament play. The LPGA and Epson Tour rookie now sits at No. 48 on the Epson Tour official money list with five events left in the 2023 season.

Just one shot shy of the play-off, in a share of third, are Israel’s Laetitia Beck and the Republic of Korea’s Minji Kang. Beck was the other player who fired an eight-under-par 64 during the final round. Kang was also under par, signing for her third consecutive four-under-par, 68 on Sunday.

Rounding out the top five, are Ashley Lau, Hira Naveed, Laura Wearn and Robyn Choi, who all finished the tournament 10-under-par to sit in a tie for fifth. All four had under-par final rounds, with Lau carding the low round of the group (-7). Naveed made a hole-in-one on four with an 8-iron from 146 yards, signing for the second-lowest round of the group (-6).

This week it's the 2023 LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying Tournament Stage I at Mission Hills Country Club.

Viktor Hovland ends PGA Tour season on a high

Viktor Hovland made it back-to-back victories and secured the biggest win of his career at the FedExCup by holding off Xander Schauffele to claim victory at the PGA Tour season-ending Tour Championship. The title also came with a $18 million pay day!

Hovland came into the week off the back of winning the BMW Championship, where a final round course record of 61 was enough to give him a two shot victory over Scottie Scheffler.

At the start of the week, Hovland started two shots back from Scheffler at eight-under-par but by Sunday's final round the Norwegian had taken a lead of six shots.

Whilst Schauffele tried his best to challenge the 25-year-old with a final round 62, Hovland remained steady with a bogey-free 63 to end the week on 27-under-par to win by five shots, becoming the third-youngest champion in FexExcup history.

Commenting on his 2022/23 PGA Tour season which included three victories, he said:

"It's been a great year. I feel like I've taken a lot of steps this season, contending in more major championships, I finally won in the U.S., I won a big tournament, Jack's event, and honestly, after that I felt like I've gotten so much better and it was very pleasing to see.

"Then obviously the last couple of weeks have just superseded that. It's been pretty surreal. Obviously you dream about it, but these things happen when you don't really expect them to, so it's just awesome to be sitting here."

Next up on the PGA Tour is the Fortinet Championship taking place in Napa, California on September 14-17.

Todd Clements secures maiden DP World Tour title

Todd Clements won the D+D Real Czech Masters after going on birdie spree on the final round at Albatross Golf Resort to shoot a bogey free 63 and overturn a three shot deficit at the start of the day into a one shot victory at 22-under-par.

Clements, the boyfriend of LET and LPGA star Olivia Cowan, held off big name players such as Matt Wallace and Robert MacIntyre, to claim an early birthday present:

"Given the circumstances that's got to be the best round of my life. I'm over the moon. I've dreamt about winning for a long time and with my birthday coming up on Tuesday I couldn't be happier.

"Three shots to make up is a tough ask but I knew I was playing well enough to get in amongst it. I feel like I did my job on every shot and obviously the luck was with me today because I holed a few long ones."

The DP World Tour now moves to Switzerland and the Omega European Masters, where the final automatic qualifying spots will be decided for the Ryder Cup.

Scotland's MacIntyre is one of six players who are looking join Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy in qualifying via the European Points List, with Yannik Paul, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Rasmus Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui still able to take his spot with at least a top-three finish this week.

Team Europe's Captain Luke Donald will reveal his Captain's picks live on Sky Sports at 2pm (BST) on Monday September 4.