Golf Canada’s Adopt a School Week will be taking place at the start of the school year from Sept. 18-22 in support of the Golf in Schools program. Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada, the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and all provincial partners have come together to encourage individuals and businesses to adopt a local school between now and the end of Adopt a School Week.

Offered at the Elementary, Intermediate and High School level, Golf in Schools features age-appropriate equipment as well as a teacher-friendly learning resource that was developed in conjunction with the PGA of Canada and Physical Health Education (PHE) Canada.

Wondering how to adopt a school in your community? Take a look at these simple steps below:

Sometimes in life and in sports, you just have to go with the flow – a motto which has been working for Brittany Marchand; and more importantly, it’s leading her in the right direction.

Since turning professional in 2015, the N.C. State University graduate and former national team  member from Orangeville, Ont., has seen steady advancements in her game.

“After she graduated, Brittany has had the time to really focus 100 percent on her game and we’re seeing her make improvements each year,” noted Team Canada women’s head coach, Tristan Mullally.

While she enjoyed a respectable first full season on the Symetra Tour in 2016 – making the cut in 19 out of 21 events while recording three top-10 finishes – the 2012 Ontario Women’s Amateur Champion has turned it up another notch this year.

In June, Marchand made her first cut at an LPGA event during the Manulife LPGA Classic in Cambridge, Ont.

In fact, she headed into the final round at the Whistle Bear Golf Club in a tie for ninth spot. But, after struggling on the Sunday, she had to settle for a 46th place finish.

After the Manulife tournament, Marchand would miss the cut in three out of her next four Symetra Tour events before a breakthrough performance at the PHC Classic.

The 25-year-old posted a combined three-day score of 13 under par to claim the victory in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Marchand’s victory at the PHC was her first on the Symetra Tour; and was made even sweeter by the fact that it also came with an exemption into the Evian Championship – the fifth and final LPGA major of the season.

The Orangeville, Ont., native continued her winning ways the week after when she captured the DATA PGA Women’s Championship by edging out her good friend, Augusta James, in a playoff at the Scarboro Golf & Country Club.

“After the Manulife, it’s been a little up and down since then… But these last couple of weeks, I’ve really been able to hone in on it,” noted the Wolfpack alumna, who holds a degree in chemical engineering.

Mullally says Marchand’s hard work and dedication is starting to pay off – in more ways than one.

“She’s just been working hard on all facets of her game and just chipping away and getting better every day; and now she’s getting the results,” he said.

“And along with that, she is gaining that belief and confidence in herself.”

Someone else who has taken notice of Marchand’s maturity and growing level of confidence is four-time LPGA TOUR champion, Lorie Kane.

“I played with Brittany last year in Calgary at the 2016 CP Women’s Open and she ended up missing the cut; and that should have never happened.  She played pretty solid right into the end and I think maybe she got a little bit nervous,” said Kane during this year’s CP Women’s Open.

“To see how far she has come and to have won on the Symetra Tour like she did; and then to do it again at the DATA championship, it’s safe to say she’s trending in the right direction,” continued the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member.

“She’s working hard and ultimately wants to get out here on the LPGA full time; and right now she’s doing all the right things.”

With the top 10 players on the Symetra Tour money list earning full status for the LPGA TOUR next year, Marchand currently finds herself on the outside looking in – but still very much within striking distance.

She points out that the prospect of finishing the 2017 Symetra Tour season inside the top 10 will be a bit more challenging given her exemption into the Evian Championship – which runs from Sept. 14 – 17 in Evian-les-Bains, France.

“Getting onto the Evian through winning the Symetra Tour event was a blessing and a curse as I’m going to miss a couple of Symetra Tour events.  I’m going to have to push in four events to try to get my card,” she pointed out.

However, Marchand says her performance at the CP Women’s Open is a confidence booster and a reminder that she has the game to hold her own against the LPGA’s best.

“To know that I can play out here gives me confidence when I go back to the Symetra Tour. Obviously, the competition there is tough as well, but it gives you that little boost,” says Marchand, who along with Brooke Henderson were the only two Canadians out of 14 to make the cut at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

While her goal – similar to that of any Symetra Tour pro – is to compete full time on the LPGA, she understands that golf is a mental game and there’s no need to over think things at this point.

Instead, Marchand prefers to simply go with the flow; and takes comfort in the notion that if she plays her game, the results will take care of itself.

“I don’t really want to put expectations on it.  I just want to go out and play the way that I’ve been playing,” said the talented 25-year-old Symetra Tour pro.

“It is what it is, so if I have to go back to Q-school, it’s fine – But I know that I have the game to be able to push into the top 10.”

On behalf of the almost 6 million golf enthusiasts from coast-to-coast, Golf Canada is absolutely thrilled to congratulate Adam Hadwin on earning his spot in the 2017 Presidents Cup, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1 at Liberty National Golf Club.

Adam showed tremendous consistency all season long and it is a testament to his commitment and hard work that he achieved this important goal in becoming only the third Canadian ever to compete in the biennial team event. 2017 has been a momentous year for this proud Canadian, from his historic 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge and first-ever PGA TOUR win at the Valspar Championship to his top-15 finish this past weekend to lock up his spot on the International Team. Adam has given golf fans nation-wide, a season’s worth of incredible performance and we look forward to supporting his continued strong play representing Canada at the Presidents Cup.

As well, our very best wishes go out to five-time Presidents Cup competitor Mike Weir in his role as an assistant captain on this year’s Presidents Cup International Team. Mike’s leadership and experience will no doubt be a positive influence to help drive the collective performance of the International Team.

Both Mike and Adam are tremendous ambassadors for Canadian golf and we wish them continued success representing Canada on one of the game of golf’s greatest stages.
– – –
Laurence Applebaum
CEO
Golf Canada

NORTON, Mass. – Kevin Chappell made his first Presidents Cup team by a fraction of a point, and he needed a lot more help that he realized.

“I made it a lot more exciting than it needed to be,” Chappell said.

Chappell, who won his first PGA Tour event earlier this year in San Antonio, earned enough FedEx Cup points from the Dell Technologies Championship to secure the 10th and final automatic spot on the U.S. team.

Rounded off, Chappell and Charley Hoffman finished with 4,369 points. Stretched out to include decimals, the PGA Tour said Chappell beat Hoffman by 0.073.

This was the final qualifying event for the Presidents Cup, which starts Sept. 28 at Liberty National.

Chappell will be one of at least four Americans making their debut in a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup. He spent the last month getting weary of talking about the possibilities, suggesting that he could live with however it turned out.

That changed when he shot a 69 on Sunday and was projected ahead of Hoffman, meaning he controlled his own fate.

“I didn’t know what it meant until I tried to go to sleep last night,” Chappell said Monday on his way to the airport to catch a flight home – in coach, no less – to Seattle.

Hoffman, who showed up at the TPC Boston at No. 10 and with a slim lead, closed with a 68 on Monday and tied for 40th. Chappell appeared to have it locked up until three bogeys over a four-hole stretch on the back nine.

It’s official!

Your 2017 @PresidentsCup U.S. Team and International Team.

Next stop: NYC.? pic.twitter.com/J5IhndBcCu

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 4, 2017

He answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th, but then his shot from a fairway bunker on the par-5 18th came to rest on a loose piece of dirt, and his wedge came up well short. Chappell pitched to 10 feet, missed his par putt and closed with a 71.

That’s when he needed some help, and Russell Henley unknowingly provided it.

Chappell was tied for 35th, and Henley also was in that group at 2-under 282. If Henley had made one more birdie, that would have taken points away from Chappell, and Hoffman would have moved past him.

Henley, however, made bogey on the 17th and failed to birdie the 18th to tie for 40th. That was all Chappell needed.

It was a familiar feeling for Chappell, and not a pleasant one. Five years ago in the final tournament of the year, Chappell finished at No. 125 on the money list to keep his card by $1,809, but only after two players made par on the tough par-4 18th at Disney. If either had made bogey, Chappell would have lost his card.

“That was to keep my job,” he said. “I’d much rather being doing this, relying on others to get me on a Presidents Cup team.”

The other U.S. qualifiers were Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed.

U.S. captain Steve Stricker will make two wild-card selections Wednesday afternoon, and Hoffman is a favourite to get one of them. With no one below Hoffman in the standings playing exceptionally well, the other pick could go to Phil Mickelson, who has never missed a team event since 1994.

Mickelson was in the mix early at the TPC Boston on Monday, and that could be enough to show Stricker that he’s worth a pick.

“We’ll see. I hope so,” Mickelson said after he closed with a 68 to tie for sixth, his best finish in stroke play since he was runner-up at the British Open last summer. “I think this is a big step for me as far as getting back to where I want – shooting the scores, playing, having energy, being able to practice, all these things.”

Mickelson said Stricker would do what’s best for the American team “and I totally support him either way.”

Emiliano Grillo of Argentina also came up with a good round at the right time. Grillo closed with a 66, enough to move him past Hideto Tanihara of Japan to No. 11 for the International team. Only the top 10 from the world ranking qualify, though Grillo would seem to be safe to be one of captain Nick Price’s picks.

“That’s not up to me,” Grillo said. “Today was up to me and I did my best. It worked out.”

The other International team qualifiers were Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Leishman, Branden Grace, Jhonattan Vegas, Si Woo Kim and AdamHadwin.

Vegas, Kim and Hadwin will be competing for the first time in the matches.

NORTON, Mass. – The victories keep piling up for Justin Thomas, and all that does is make him want more.

In a Labor Day finish that was harder than the final margin suggested, Thomas kept his patience when Jordan Spieth shot out to a brief lead and Marc Leishman built a two-shot lead at the turn. Keeping his mistakes to a minimum, Thomas outlasted them both by closing with a 5-under 66 for a three-shot victory in the Dell Technologies Championship.

He started the PGA Tour season at No. 34 in the world with all of one PGA Tour victory.

Thomas won for the fifth time Monday, including his first major three weeks ago at the PGA Championship. He is No. 4 in the world. And barring Spieth running the tables the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the 24-year-old Thomas would seem to be a lock to be voted PGA Tour player of the year.

“I have two events left. I have two more opportunities to win,” Thomas said. “And I’d love to make it six or seven wins.”

Thomas made only two bogeys all week, the last one putting him in a three-way tie with seven holes to play. He won on the back nine at TPC Boston with a sand wedge he gouged out of the rough to 6 feet on No. 13, a gap wedge to 4 feet on No. 15 for another birdie, and a 6-foot par save that kept him two shots clear.

Spieth wasted a start that riled up the New England crowd – birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie – by missing the 14th green with a 5-iron for bogey. Needing an eagle to stay in the game on the par-5 18th, Spieth pushed a 4-iron into a tough lie in the bunker, blasted over the green and made bogey for a 67.

Spieth was runner-up for the second straight week in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He lost a three-shot lead to Dustin Johnson on Long Island. There wasn’t much he could have done to stop Thomas, his best friend in golf since they were teenagers.

“Came out firing, like I said we had to do,” Spieth said. “Eight through 14 is the meat of the golf course. You want to get through even. I got through over par and didn’t get any coming in when I hit some good putts.”

Spieth still moved to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup with one more event before the $10 million prize is decided at the Tour Championship.

Leishman shot 30 on the front to build a two-shot lead, only for it to vanish quickly. He had to save bogey on No. 10 after an errant drive. He three-putted from long range for bogey on the 11th. He found a bunker on the 12th for a third straight bogey. And then he closed with two bogeys that only cost him money. Leishman shot 70.

Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world coming off his fourth victory of the season last week, started the final round three shots behind and was one of the few players who was never in contention. He took two to get out of a fairway bunker and made bogey on the par-5 second hole, and he closed with a 73 to finish 10 behind.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., were the low Canadians at 8 under and tied for 13th. Hughes shot up the leaderboard after a 67 while Hadwin, who started the day two shots back of the lead, struggled to a 73. Nick Taylor (72), also of Abbotsford, finished 2 over and Graham DeLaet (70) of Weyburn, Sask., was 7 over.

Spieth was simply dynamic at the start. He didn’t need to make a putt longer than 12 feet to go 5 under for the opening four holes and briefly take the lead. Leishman, who won at Bay Hill in March, kept stride with six birdies on the front nine to match Spieth’s 30 and move in front.

Thomas did his part to stay in the game.

He could hear the crowd celebrating Spieth’s short birdie on the fourth hole, and then Thomas belted a low slider of a drive that barely cleared the deep bunker, hit into the shaggy collar and hopped onto the fringe. He holed that 30-footer for an eagle, and the race was on.

Phil Mickelson birdied three of his opening four holes. He couldn’t keep pace. Neither could Jon Rahm or Paul Casey.

The final round was so tight that Thomas, Spieth and Leishman were tied for the lead with seven holes to play. But then it all changed when Spieth missed the green at No. 14, did well to hit a flop shot to 15 feet and narrowly missed his par putt.

Thomas steadied himself after his lone bogey on the par-3 11th. Equipped with a one-shot lead because of Spieth’s bogey, Thomas hit a sand wedge to 4 feet on the 15th for a birdie and a two-shot lead. Equally important was his pitch out of deep rough to the right of the 16th to a green that ran away from him. He managed to hit it 6 feet and twice clutched his fist when it dropped for par.

Spieth grazed the edge of the cup with a 10-foot birdie attempt on the 17th, and then lost all hope with his approach into the bunker.

It was the first time Spieth has finished runner-up to Thomas, his best friend in golf since they were teenagers.

Kevin Chappell bogeyed his last hole and still managed to nudge Charley Hoffman by a fraction of a point to earn the 10th and final automatic spot on the U.S. team for the Presidents Cup.

Stewart Cink closed with a 68 to finish 12th, more than enough for him to advance to the third FedEx Cup playoff event outside Chicago for the first time in seven years. Emiliano Grillo and Rafa Cabrera Bello also moved into the top 70 to advance to the BMW Championship in two weeks.

NORTON, Mass. – The best players are on top of their games for the second straight week of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Now there’s just a lot more of them.

Justin Thomas failed to birdie any of the par 5s on the TPC Boston and still turned in a tournament-best round of 8-under 63 on Sunday, giving him a share of the lead with Marc Leishman and setting up a Labor Day finish filled with some of the biggest names in golf at the Dell Technologies Championship.

One week after Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth produced a compelling duel on Long Island, they are part of a chasing pack at the TPC Boston.

So is Paul Casey, who now is 53-under par over his last 15 rounds of these playoff events. Jon Rahm couldn’t keep pace and lost his two-shot lead, though the 22-year-old from Spain remained just three shots behind.

Throw in Phil Mickelson, perhaps even Rickie Fowler, and a forecast that shifts from rain to sunshine, and it could be quite a show.

Thomas and Leishman were at 12-under 201, one shot ahead of Casey, two ahead of Spieth, three ahead of Johnson and Rahm.

“There is a heightened something to these playoff events that bring out certain champions for the most part,” Spieth said after finishing with two straight birdies to nudge closer to the lead. “It’s going to be a throw-down tomorrow.”

Canada’s Adam Hadwin is two shots back after a 3-under 68. The Abbotsford, B.C., native, who started the day in a tie for second, is 10 under for the tournament.

Mackenzie Hughes (71) of Dundas, Ont., is 4 under while Nick Taylor (70), also of Abbotsford, is 1 over. Graham DeLaet (80) of Weyburn, Sask., is 8 over.

Thomas had his third round this season at 63 or better – a list that includes his 59 at the Sony Open and a 63 at the U.S. Open – to turn a five-shot deficit into a share of the lead and a chance to win for the fifth time this year.

He birdied six of the first 10 holes, the longest at about 12 feet. He played down the 13th fairway on the redesigned 12th hole for the third time this week and holed a 50-foot birdie putt, and then added a pair of 25-foot birdie putts.

And he didn’t even birdie any of the par 5s.

“I just felt I had total control of my game,” Thomas said. “But it’s crazy to think I did that and parred all the par 5s. That’s a little bit of a bummer, if I could somehow have a downside to the day. But like I said, I’m extremely pleased and put myself in a great position to win the tournament.”

Casey played in the final group at the TPC Boston last year, but Rory McIlroy ran him down with a 65 to overcome a six-shot deficit. Casey also played the three par 5s without a birdie, missing a 12-footer on the final hole that would have given him a share of the lead.

“Even though I’m not leading, I feel a bit better about my game,” Casey said. “The cons are I’ve got way more talent around the leaderboard than there was last year. It just looks like depth up the top of that leaderboard right now.”

The forecast for Monday was mostly sunshine, and if the course remains softer from rain, this could be a typical shootout. Leishman figured the winning score would be in the 15- or 16-under range.

“That would be my plan, to just try and do what I’ve been doing – give myself as many chances as I can and try and make them,” he said.

Rahm had a two-shot lead and still had the lead until running into trouble on the back nine, making three bogeys until he ended his round with a birdie for a 71. .

The finish was especially critical for Johnson, who played the third round with Thomas and couldn’t buy a putt. Johnson, coming off a playoff victory last week in New York, sarcastically pumped his fist when he made a birdie on No. 14, and then he kept right on going. The only hole he didn’t birdie coming in was at No. 17, where he missed a birdie chance for 10 feet.

“I just wanted to get myself in position to be in range of the leaders,” Johnson said.

He was three behind Spieth going into the final round of The Northern Trust and ended up winning in a sudden-death playoff.

PGA Tour rookie Grayson Murray (67) and Adam Hadwin (68) were at 10-under 203 along with Spieth, who has made only two bogeys over his last 45 holes. Spieth shot a second straight 66 and was surprised that left him two shots behind, all because of Thomas and Leishman.

“I couldn’t have shot a whole lot better,” Spieth said. “I thought four back starting the day, if I could cut that in half, then that would be a tremendous goal. So goal achieved, maybe.”

Mickelson had a 69, making this the first time he has opened with three straight rounds in the 60s since the St. Jude Classic in June. Monday could go a long way in persuading U.S. captain Steve Stricker to pick him for the Presidents Cup.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Peter Uihlein won the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on Sunday to earn a PGA Tour card.

Uihlein closed with a 6-under 65 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course to beat former Buckeyes player Ryan Armour by a stroke.

Uihlein earned $180,000 to wrap up a PGA Tour card as a top-25 finisher in the four-event series. The 28-year-old former Oklahoma State player from Massachusetts has played four seasons on the European Tour, winning the 2013 Madeira Islands Open. He entered the week 12th in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.

“There’s so many good events now in Europe,” Uihlein said. “It’s really tough. I got to sit down and look at both schedules. I just don’t know. I don’t know next year’s schedule in Europe. I haven’t looked at the PGA Tour schedule. Right now, I don’t know where I’m going to be playing, but I’m going to try and do both and see what happens.”

Uihlein finished at 14-under 270.

“This is a proper test,” Uihlein said. “You got to drive the ball well. You got to hit your irons well. And it’s a shame that it rained because that first day was phenomenal for how fast the greens were, how difficult it was. It changed your mindset a little bit, you need to make some birdies. But it’s not a walk in the park.”

The series features the top 75 players from the Web.com regular-season money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings – Armour was 159th – along with Uihlein and other non-members with enough PGA Tour money to have placed in the top 200 in the FedEx Cup had they been eligible.

The top-25 finishers on the Web.com regular-season money list have earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for 25 cards based on series earnings.

Armour finished with a 70. He earned $108,000, more than enough to regain his PGA Tour card.

“Mission accomplished,” Armour said. “The job was to get back to the tour, and that’s what happened. I already have a start in Napa, So, that is something that you can take as a positive, and old Scarlet here, I mean she’s tough, and I finally got a little piece of her. But the old girl is a really hard golf course.”

Andrew Landry (68) and Tom Lovelady (70) tied for third at 11 under and each made $58,000. Landry already has a PGA Tour card through the Web.com money list, while Lovelady was 29th in the regular season.

Five-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane tied for sixth at 9 under after a 68. Six-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan also shot 68 to tie for 13th at 5 under. Crane, 147th in the FedEx Cup standings, made $34,750, and Mahan, 182nd in the FedEx Cup standings, earned $18,750.

Canadian Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished as the top Canadian at 5 under par to close with a share of 13th.

CALGARY – Scott McCarron didn’t waste any time after missing a long putt for birdie on the final hole Sunday.

In front of a large gallery of fans at the Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, McCarron walked right up and tapped in a short, but nerve-wracking putt, to win the 2017 Shaw Charity Classic title.

“It felt like 20 feet,” said McCarron, who held on for a one-shot victory over Miguel Angel Jimenez after shooting a 3-under 67 in the final round. “It was probably about three feet or so. It was kind of a right-centre putt. I didn’t take much time over it, because I saw it go right by and I knew exactly what I was going to do.

“I just missed a couple short ones before, so I didn’t want to even think about it too long. I set it up and made a good putt finally. It really felt good to get that done.”

McCarron had three birdies and two bogies on the front nine before draining a long putt from off the green at the par-5, 11th hole for eagle. It was the third eagle of the weekend for McCarron and the 17th of his season to lead the PGA Tour Champions circuit in that category.

McCarron then birdied the 15th hole before giving a shot back with a bogey on 16. He finished with two straight pars to end the three-day event at 16-under 194 to take home the winner’s share of $352,500 U.S.

It was the fourth PGA Tour Champions tournament victory of the season for the 52-year-old golfer from La Quinta, Calif., who earlier won titles at the Allanz Championship, the Constellation Senior Players Championship and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

“Winning does not get easier,” stressed McCarron. “These guys are the best players in the world at their time and they’re still playing some great golf. I truly believe we’ve got 25 guys that can still play on the PGA Tour and compete.”

Jimenez had a chance to eagle the final hole, but he just missed his long putt and had to settle for a birdie and a round of 66 to finish in second spot by himself.

“I knew I had to hole the putt if I have any chance,” said Jimenez, while adding he wasn’t able to sink enough putts in the final round. “Scott is playing very well and holed very important putts for him and that’s the key.”

Scott Dunlap and Todd Hamilton both had rounds of 67 on Sunday to finish in a tie with first-round leader Kevin Sutherland at 13 under.

Sutherland followed up a birdie on the third hole with an eagle on the fourth to move into a tie with McCarron at 14 under before falling out of contention.

“Momentum is only as good as the next shot,” Hamilton said. “I just didn’t string together the shots today. I wasn’t able to have a lot of good birdie opportunities and I had a lot of trying to save pars most of the day.”

Although he had respectable rounds of 67 and 68 in the first two rounds, 2014 Shaw Charity Classic winner Fred Couples withdrew from the tournament on Sunday before his tee time due to ongoing back issues.

Vancouver’s Stephen Ames finished as the top Canadian in a tie for 19th spot with Kirk Triplett at 7 under after shooting a final round 68.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball great for the first two days, so I kind of did well with what I had,” Ames said. “Considering the fact I was 7 under, I think I’ll take it. I’m quite happy with the result.”

Rod Spittle, of Niagara Falls, Ont., shot his second straight round of 69 to finish the tournament in a seven-way tie for 25th at 5 under.

Victoria resident Jim Rutledge made four birdies and an eagle to get to 6 under before recording two bogies in his final four holes to shoot 66. He finished the tournament in a tie for 40th place with nine other golfers at 3 under.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Stacy Lewis won for Houston.

Lewis ended a long winless streak Sunday at Cambia Portland Classic, with her $195,000 in winnings going to the relief efforts in her hometown area. Her two biggest sponsors also stepped up, with KPMG matching her donation and Marathon Oil kicking in $1 million.

“Probably was more pressure, to be honest,” Lewis said. “Honestly, I think that’s what helped me through the week, just knowing people wanted me to do well. People wanted me to win this for Houston. To do it when I added pressure to myself is a pretty good, pretty cool deal.”

The 32-year-old Lewis, from The Woodlands just north of Houston, won her 12th LPGA Tour title and first since June 2014, ending a frustrating stretch that included 12 runner-up finishes. She closed with a 3-under 69 to hold off In Gee Chun by a stroke at tree-lined Columbia Edgewater.

“Just kind of handed over control and said, ‘Take me. Take me to the finish line. Let me know what happens, God,”’ Lewis said. “It was just amazing how when you let go of the control like that how great you can play.”

Lewis embraced and kissed husband Gerrod Chadwell, the University of Houston women’s golf coach, on the 18th green. She didn’t know he had made the trip to Oregon until he appeared on the green – after hiding out in the Golf Channel tower during the round.

“I was fine until he showed up, and then I started crying,” Lewis said. “You go through all the emotions of finishing second when sometimes it’s your fault and sometimes it’s not, and things just don’t seem to ever go your way and you get really frustrated at times. He went through all of that with me, and it was probably as hard on him as it was on me. So just to have him here and get to share the win with him was pretty special.”

The couple lives at the Golf Club of Houston – the site of the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open – in Humble.

Lewis parred the final 11 holes. She got up-and-down from off the green on the par-4 17th and reached the green on the par-4 18th from a fairway bunker to set up her winning two-putt.

“I kind of resigned to the fact that whatever was going to happen was going to happen,” Lewis said. “I just needed to commit to my golf shots and hit them. I pulled off a great up-and-down on 17 and probably hit one of shots of my life on 18.”

Chun also parred the final two holes in a 66.

Lewis finished at 20-under 268 after opening with rounds of 70, 64 and 65 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. She also broke through in Portland after finishing second twice – two strokes behind Suzann Pettersen in 2013 and four shots behind Canadian Brooke Henderson last year.

On Sunday, she birdied four of the first seven holes, and made the turn four strokes ahead of Chun.

Chun cut the lead to two with birdies at the par-5 10th and 12th. Chun missed a short birdie putt at the par-4 14th, and pulled to within a stroke with a birdie at the par-3 16th.

Perhaps the biggest hole of the day for Lewis came at the difficult 17th when she hit her approach over the green and saved par after chipping 7 feet past the hole.

“I hit a really good chip,” Lewis said. “I knew I was going to have at least a 5-footer, and just hit one of the best putts I’ve hit on that back nine.”

Chun missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the hole.

“It was a great round today,” Chun said. “But Stacy’s play was good, too. I really enjoy playing with Stacy. I know Stacy have a little hard time before, so I want to give her a big congratulations.”

The South Korean player was bogey-free the final 53 holes.

Brittany Altomare (69) and Moriya Jutanugarn (72) tied for third at 14 under.

Ai Miyazato shot a 67 to tie for fifth at 13 under in the Japanese star’s final U.S. start. The 2010 Portland winner plans to retire after The Evian Championship in two weeks in France.

“It’s been a tremendous week for me,” Miyazato said. “On the last hole, I got really emotional … I have so many great memories of this tournament. This is my favourite city forever now.”

Henderson, trying to win for the third straight year, had a 70 to tie for 15th at 10 under. The 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., had an eagle and three birdies in a four-hole stretch, but finished with a triple bogey on 18.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (73) was 6 under while Maude-Aimee Leblanc (72) of Sherbrooke, Que., was 2 over.