NAPLES, Fla. – Today, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy announced that the Race to the CME Globe is evolving in 2019 to bring an even bigger payout and purse to the Tour’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Starting in 2019, all points will disappear during the LPGA’s final tournament and the event purse will double, from $2.5 million to $5 million. An elite field of just 60 players at the CME Group Tour Championship will all have an opportunity to take home the largest first-place prize in all of women’s golf – $1.5 million.

“CME Group has made a huge impact on the LPGA Tour during our nine years together, and today’s news is an absolute game-changer for the LPGA and its members,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “With the Race to the CME Globe, we already had a grand finish to the LPGA Tour season. With these changes, it’s now bigger money, smaller field, and ANY player in the Tour Championship can win – game on!”

With so much on the line at the CME Group Tour Championship, the Race to the CME Globe will become even more compelling as the focus initially turns to which players will earn a place in the elite field. As in previous years, players will accumulate points at each official LPGA Tour event throughout the 2019 season leading up to the CME Group Tour Championship. The top 60 points earners and ties will earn a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship; previously the top 72 points earners qualified.

“We are proud of our long-standing relationship with the LPGA and its players and are extremely pleased to further elevate our support of women’s golf,” said Duffy. “This new format consists of a year-long competition that ensures the world’s top 60 women golfers, based on CME Globe points, have the opportunity to compete for the biggest payout in the history of the LPGA. When they get to Naples, it’s anyone’s game and everyone will have an equal shot at winning the $5 million purse. We believe these significant changes will create even more energy, excitement and anticipation for both the players who are competing as well as the fans who are watching the dramatic finish of the LPGA season at the CME Group Tour Championship.”

Learn more about the new and improved @CMEGroupLPGA and the #RaceToCMEGlobe

Watch >> pic.twitter.com/u3YmxTGgqp

— #RaceToCMEGlobe (@LPGA) November 14, 2018

As the Race evolves in 2019, so too will its season-long charity program, which will become the CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. CME Group will donate $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2019, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Proceeds from the program will help assure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

“Along with these changes to the CME Group Tour Championship, we will be evolving our CME Group Cares Challenge by introducing a new Score 1 for St. Jude program to support the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital mission of finding cures and saving lives,” said Duffy. “During the season, every time an LPGA player scores a hole-in-one, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude to help them continue paying for treatment, travel, food and housing for its patients and families.”

As in previous seasons, players will accumulate points at each official LPGA Tour event. All tournaments will have the same point values in the Race to the CME Globe, except for the five major championships, which will be worth 25 percent more. The winners of all official LPGA Tour events leading up to the CME Group Tour Championship will earn 500 points and the winner of each major championship will earn 625 points. Only LPGA Tour members are eligible to earn points in the Race.

For all LPGA Tour events with a cut, points will be awarded to LPGA members who make the cut. For all events without a cut, points will be awarded to members who finish among the top 40 and ties. Two tournaments will award points differently – the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and the DOW Great Lakes Bay Invitational. For the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, points will be awarded to members who finish among the top 20 and ties. For the DOW Great Lakes Bay Invitational, points will be awarded to members who make the cut in the following manner: 1st place team will split the total of 1st and 2nd place points, 2nd place team will split the total of 3rd and 4th place points, etc. In the case of decimal points, split points will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

The USGA and The R&A will administer a global ranking for golfers with disabilities, which will help to grow participation and competition around the world and to promote inclusivity within the sport.

The World Ranking for Golfers with Disability will launch on Jan. 1, 2019 and will be administered in tandem with the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) for both men and women via www.WAGR.com.

The USGA and The R&A will assume responsibility for the ranking following agreement with EDGA, which created the comprehensive and independent Ranking for Golfers with Disability in 2014.

Further information for golfers and tournament organizers wishing to register their details with the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability will be made available later this year.

“One of golf’s best benefits is that it can be played by everyone, and it can be played for a lifetime,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director of Championships.

“We are pleased to administer this ranking in partnership with The R&A, as it elevates an important population of the golf community that clearly loves the game and enables a variety of competitive opportunities around the world. Together with the modifications to the Rules of Golf for golfers with disabilities and the USGA’s work to make golf courses more accessible, we are working to create meaningful and lasting change to make golf more welcoming.”

Duncan Weir, Executive Director – Golf Development and Amateur Events at The R&A, said, “There is an accelerating growth in the number of events around the world for golfers with disabilities to compete in so it makes absolute sense that there is a global ranking to provide a robust measurement of an individual’s skill and ability.
“It is another important step towards ensuring that golf is more inclusive of people of all ages and abilities. Along with our colleagues at the USGA we will continue to support EDGA’s drive to grow participation and competition in the sport among all disability groups.”

Tony Bennett, President of EDGA and Director of Education for the PGAs of Europe, said, “This is a crucial step forward for the growth and development of the sport for golfers with disabilities and we believe it will act as a catalyst for encouraging more people into playing golf, both competitively and recreationally, around the world.”

The announcement of the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability coincides with the playing of the Australian All Abilities Championship, which is being organized by Golf Australia and will see 12 golfers compete at The Lakes in Sydney this week alongside the professionals at the Emirates Australian Open.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy is set to give up European Tour membership in 2019 to focus on the U.S. PGA Tour.

Just for the year, for now.

McIlroy said on Tuesday at the World Tour Championship he intends to play only two full-field European Tour events in the first half of 2019 because of changes in the tournament schedule.

The three-time Race to Dubai champion said he’ll be spending most of his time in the U.S. because the Players’ Championship and the U.S. PGA Championship have been brought forward to March and May respectively. That has pushed the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, to September.

“It is the result of the changes,” he said. “I don’t have to commit to anything until May, so I will not have played a European Tour event … I will play the WGCs and majors and events like that, but the true European Tour season does not start until July.

“The way the schedule has worked for next year, it is going to be different for a lot of guys. Everything is going to be so condensed between March and August, and that is why I am taking a big off-season to get myself ready … then go at it hard from March all the way through to basically the end of the season.”

McIlroy said relinquishing his membership was made easier by the fact that 2019 was a non-Ryder Cup year.

“I am starting my year off in the States (Tournament of Champions in January) and that will be the big focus of mine up until the end of August, and then we will assess it from there.”

The former world No. 1 is ranked seventh. He’s won only once since the 2016 Tour Championship.

“I guess my thing is that I want to play against the strongest fields week in and week out, and for the most part of the season that is in America,” he said. “If I want to continue to contend in the majors and to continue my journey back towards the top of the game, then that’s what I want to do.

“If it were to be that I don’t fulfil my membership next year, it’s not a Ryder Cup year so it’s not the end of the world. I am always going to want to play the Ryder Cup and I will try and make the team the year later.”

McIlroy heads into the World Tour Championship ranked sixth in the Race to Dubai. The Northern Irishman has no chance of winning the Order of Merit crown for the fourth time. Only Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood can win the race.

Brooke Henderson isn’t going to cut back on her ambitious golf schedule, even if it makes her climb to the top spot in the LPGA rankings more difficult.

The star golfer from Smiths Falls, Ont., has her sights set on No. 1 after winning two LPGA Tour titles in each of the last three seasons, including a career-defining CP Women’s Open this August in Regina.

Henderson is a bit of a victim of how much she plays, as the world rankings are calculated using a divisor based on tournaments played. Yet she said she won’t cull her schedule next year in order to move up the world rankings.

“Some of the players who don’t play as often as I do move up a little bit more,” she told The Canadian Press by phone from Florida. “But I’m happy to be back in the top-10, I feel like that’s where I belong.”

The 21-year-old tees it up this week at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., the final event of this LPGA Tour season. She has a home in Naples, and said it’s a nice reward after a long season to be able to sleep in her own bed this week.

Henderson comes into the tournament after a tough four-tournament swing through Asia. She said she got sick at the halfway point of the trip and never recovered.

Still, Henderson has 12 top-15 finishes in 2018 and has earned more than US$1.4 million. She sits ninth in the world and third in the season-long Race to the CME Globe, which culminates this week. A good final tournament will give Henderson a shot at the race’s $1-million bonus.

“The results may not show it exactly, but I feel like my game has been the best it’s been over my time on Tour,” Henderson said.

“When I was on this year my game was really good. I did have some off weeks but generally my game is good and it’s getting better which is cool to think about.”

Henderson said level of competition on the LPGA Tour has gotten tougher since she turned professional at 18. For example, Ariya Jutanugarn, currently the world No. 1, has finished in the top-10 in more than half the tournaments she’s played this year.

“You can’t really take a breather,” said Henderson. “If you want to play well and get a high finish, you have to bring your ‘A’ game every week, which is pretty exciting for the women’s game. It’s definitely more challenging.”

Looking ahead to next year, Henderson confirmed her team would stay the same. Her sister Brittany will remain her caddie, and she’ll continue to use clubs from her longtime sponsor Ping, but part of her plan in the off-season is to test some of the brand’s new equipment.

Once the season wraps up, Henderson will stay in Florida to practice until Christmas, when she’ll return home to Smiths Falls to see her family and friends and take some “real” time off.

Henderson said the highlight of 2018 was winning on home soil in August. With her CP Women’s Open victory, she now has seven LPGA Tour titles, just one back of the all-time mark for Canadian professional golfers, held jointly by Sandra Post, Mike Weir, and George Knudson.

“This year was really busy and there was a lot of things going on, but I’m in a really good place both mentally and physically which is a really nice feeling,” she said. “I think the off-season will be a well-deserved break, but I hope I can go in strong this week and put on a final good show for 2018.”

NOTE: This article was published in 2018. Program details are subject to change and specific amounts and details included in this article may no longer be accurate.

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No matter how many times we talk about the benefits and amenities included with a Golf Canada membership (most recently, here), it doesn’t strike home until, well, it strikes home.

A little while ago, I saw a tweet from a member at a local golf club.

“Somebody stole my putter out of my bag while I was at the range right before my match. My red TaylorMade Spider…,” he lamented, adding a few expletives directed at the thief.

At last check, that putter retails for close to $400. He thought he was out of pocket for a replacement.

The club responded immediately.

“So sorry this happened,” messaged the director of golf. “But glad you are a member of @golfcanada which includes reimbursement for these situations.”

He was unaware of that. And, most likely, so are you.

Golf Canada’s Incident Protection provides up to $2,500 reimbursement for damaged, lost or stolen equipment, among several other advantages you may not be aware of.

Like the fellow mentioned previously, you may think it will never happen to you. But it can. And will.

Like the guy at my club who placed his clubs and bag behind his car and then backed over them.

And if you’re travelling this winter or any time for that matter, your Golf Canada membership protects you.

For example, airlines may or may not reimburse you for accidental or intentional incidents but that’s small consolation.

Team Canada member Maddie Szeryk was on her way to her first tournament of the year at Texas A&M when her clubs came down the airport carousel. The heads of her driver, 3-wood and 5-wood were snapped off.

Golf and travel writer Ted McIntyre has a similar story. “As a frequent traveler, I am a master club packer but had the head fall off my driver when I opened my travel case. Can’t imagine how far they must have fallen upside down for that to occur.”

There are myriad examples. Prior to the Ryder Cup, Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen lost not one but two sets of clubs in 10 days. This summer, Graeme McDowell’s clubs disappeared during a flight and he was forced to withdraw from final qualifying for the Open Championship. Another PGA TOUR pro’s clubs went missing thanks to the airline and were discovered for sale at a used sporting goods store.

Do you play a course with adjacent homes? Do you occasionally miss a tee shot? (Rhetorical question.) If you break a window, you’re covered up to $1,000 for the damage you caused.

Golf carts are convenient but as motorized vehicles, they come with risks. If you have an incident while driving one, a Gold-level membership covers you for damages up to $2,500.

As a Gold-level member, you also receive a set of identification labels to affix to your clubs in the event that you misplace one.  Anyone finding it can report it through an online notification system. You will receive an email immediately and be reunited with your club.

Along with providing an official Handicap Factor, these are the main benefits of your Golf Canada membership.

To learn more about Golf Canada membership, click here.

Think it can’t happen to you?

Most likely, these folks didn’t either but when it did, they were relieved to find that their Golf Canada Gold-level membership was there to protect them.

So far this year, according to stats provided by Golf Canada, there were 189 claims for which almost $115,000 was paid out in restitution. Of those claims, 119 were for clubs and other equipment, 39 for window damage and the remainder for various other deductible incidents.

Some examples from claimants:

“Driving cart and strap that holds bag onto cart broke and bag fell off. My driver was in two pieces.”

“Cart containing wallet, car keys, cell phone and golf equipment rolled into lake. Range finder and box of balls lost.”

“The remote-control caddie went into a pond. Retrieved right away but has not worked since.”

“Hit a drive and the ball hit a cart path and went through a residential window.”

“Push cart with clubs rolled down a steep slope and ended upside down in a water hazard.”

PHOENIX – Bernhard Langer celebrated his fifth Charles Schwab Cup with his wife and friends, a glass of red wine in his hand.

He might consider sending the best bottle to Vijay Singh.

Both walked away winners Sunday when Singh produced the best round of his PGA Tour Champions career, a 10-under 61 that turned a six-shot deficit into a four-shot victory in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and allowed Langer to claim another $1 million bonus for the season title.

“At age 61 to do it is quite an achievement,” Langer said, holding a glass of red wine on the balcony at Phoenix Country Club. “Maybe there’s another in me.”

It was the fourth time in the last five years that Langer won the Schwab Cup.

This one was out of his hands when he could only manage a tie for 13th in the tournament. That paved the way for Scott McCarron, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round and needed to win the tournament to capture his first Schwab Cup. McCarron faltered from the start, however, opening with a three-putt par and hitting a tee shot out-of-bounds for double bogey two holes later.

Singh blew by McCarron and everyone else at Phoenix Country Club, winning by four shots over Tim Petrovic.

Needing a big finish to try to catch the surprising leader, McCarron hit over the green into a corporate grandstand behind the 17th hole and made another double bogey. He closed with a 72 and tied for third.

“There’s not really much to say today about the round. It wasn’t very good,” McCarron said. “I couldn’t quite get it going, but I was still hanging in there. I had a good opportunity at 10, just missed it. And I hit a poor tee shot on 11, which cost me a bogey. By then, I looked up and Vijay’s at 21 or whatever he was at that point and it was like almost over.”

Singh holed putts from everywhere and lost track of his score until it was time to sign his card. His 61 was his lowest score by two shots on the 50-and-older circuit.

“I really didn’t think I had any chance,” Singh said.

Singh said he saw a leaderboard around the 13th hole that showed him tied for the lead, and he poured it on. He punched a wedge under the trees to 30 feet and holed the birdie putt on the 16th, rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th and was on his way.

Singh finished at 22-under 262 to win by four shots over Petrovic, who started the final round one shot behind McCarron and closed with a 70.

The 55-year-old Fijian won for the third time this year and finished at No. 4 in the Schwab Cup.

“The way they were scoring all week, I thought if I got to 20 (under), I might finish top 5,” Singh said. “I birdied the first two, hit it close at 4. I just kept going. I didn’t think about much. I didn’t even know what we were shooting.”

Singh missed only one green in regulation.

Langer capped off another remarkable year for a 61-year-old German with an ageless game. He only won twice, his fewest since 2015, but was runner-up six times.

“It doesn’t get old,” he said.

Langer was among only six players who had a mathematical chance to win the Schwab Cup. McCarron was the only one who had a chance to win Sunday, and he wound up second in the Schwab Cup, worth a $500,000 bonus.

Wes Short had a 69 and tied for third with McCarron.

“To look at the start of the year, if you would have said, ‘Hey, with nine holes to go, you had a chance to win the Schwab Cup,’ I’d say, let’s go, let’s take it,” McCarron said. “Unfortunately, I’m a little disappointed in the way I performed today.”

After setting the course record on Saturday with a 61, Canadian Stephen Ames slipped three spots into a tie for 5th with a final-round 72 (+1).

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Matt Kuchar had gone four years, six months and three weeks since his last PGA Tour victory.

The last few holes Sunday at the Mayakoba Golf Classic must have felt just as long.

Kuchar started the final round with a four-shot lead and made only two bogeys in the first 67 holes he played at El Camaleon Golf Club. And then he made back-to-back bogeys, Danny Lee holed a birdie putt from off the 16th green, and Kuchar had no margin for error.

He finished with three pars, making nervy 3-footers on the last two holes, to close with a 2-under 69 for a one-shot victory and a big sigh of relief.

“I didn’t want a 3-footer on the last hole,” Kuchar said. “I was hoping to have a three or four-shot lead for some wiggle room. But man, that felt awfully good.”

Lee, the only player to sustain a serious threat against Kuchar, finished with two pars for a 65.

Kuchar still wasn’t entirely in the clear. His 15-foot birdie attempt on the 17th rolled about 3 1/2 feet by the hole, and he had to make that for par to stay in the lead. And on the final hole, he left his 30-foot birdie putt about 3 feet short and had to roll that in for the victory.

“That was some of the best ball-striking I’ve had, and through 60 some holes, awfully good putting,” Kuchar said. “And then the putter kind of went a little bit on the fritz there coming in. Thrilled to be the champion here. It’s been a long time for me. It feels extra sweet right now.”

The 40-year-old Kuchar had gone 115 starts on the PGA Tour since his last victory in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head in April 2014. It comes at the end of what had been a disappointing year in which Kuchar finished out of the top 70 on the PGA Tour money list for the first time since 2007, and he failed to make the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years.

“My 2018 wasn’t what I wanted,” Kuchar said. “This is a high note. It’s amazing thing to get a win. I go from ‘Hola’ to ‘Aloha.’ I’m pretty excited about that.”

Kuchar qualifies for the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start next year at Kapalua.

He finished at 22-under 262, breaking by one the 72-hole record at Mayakoba previously held by Harris English.

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ had a 12-foot eagle attempt on the 13th hole that would have brought him within two shots, but he missed the putt and sent his next tee shot into the mangroves, making double bogey. He had another double bogey on the 17th hole and had to settle for a 69 to tie for 10th.

J.J. Spaun (66) and Richy Werenski (67) tied for third.

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk closed with a 67 and was among those who tied for sixth.

Adam Hadwin (68) of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 10th at 16 under.

Kuchar won for the eighth time on the PGA Tour in a career marked more by consistency than trophies. This year, he had neither. He had only four top 10s – his best finish was a tie for fifth in Phoenix – and was coming off a tie for 57th in Las Vegas.

He added Mayakoba at the last minute, and with his regular caddie having previous plans, Kuchar hired a local caddie from El Camaleon. He referred to the week as a “working vacation” because of the beaches and amenities at Mayakoba, though it felt like work at the end.

“Golf is such a funny game,” Kuchar said. “It’s hard to predict when it’s going to come around.”

PHOENIX – Scott McCarron moved into position to win the PGA Tour Champions’ season points race, birdieing the final two holes Saturday for a one-stroke lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

McCarron shot a 5-under 66 on another warm and sunny day at Phoenix Country Club. To win the Charles Schwab Cup and a $1 million annuity, McCarron needs to the tournament Sunday and have Bernhard Langer – tied for 19th at 7 under – tie for fourth or worse.

“All I’m trying to do is put myself in position to win this golf tournament,” McCarron said. “Whatever happens with the Schwab Cup, I really can’t control that. That’s up to some other guys.”

The 53-year-old McCarron, fifth in the points standings entering the finale, has eight victories on the 50-and-over tour, winning twice this year. He won three times on the PGA Tour.

“The one thing I’m doing a really good job is I’m not letting the bad shots bother me too much at all this week, which is great,” McCarron said. “Sometimes I’ll let them bother me a little bit.”

Langer had a 66 after shooting two 70s.

“Obviously, I’m out of the running for winning,” Langer said. “So, I’m just trying to sneak up as far as I can and then it’s all up to the other guys, how they finish.”

McCarron had an 18-under 195 total.

Stephen Ames and Tim Petrovic were tied for second.

?COURSE RECORD ?@StephenAmesPGA ??? pic.twitter.com/fuO7wuOHkI

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 10, 2018

Ames had a 61. He birdied four of the first five holes and closed birdie-par-birdie-eagle.

“I did it with the putter, which is nice because I had a struggle with it this year,” Ames said. “But overall it was fun. I had to look at my score, my scorecard, to actually realize that I needed eagle on the last hole to go to 10 under. So standing over the putt on the 18th, it was a lot more pressure.”

With an eagle on 18, Canada’s @StephenAmesPGA finishes with a 61 to set the course record and take the lead at @SchwabCupFinale ?? pic.twitter.com/jKQha4NE58

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 10, 2018

Petrovic shot 66.

Second-round leader Paul Goydos had a 69 to drop two strokes back.

“Today was kind of that round as to why I’m not in the running to win the Schwab Cup,” Goydos said.

Season title contender David Toms (65) was at 12 under with Vijay Singh (67), Wes Short Jr. (65), Glen Day (65) and Marco Dawson (67).

Langer and No. 2 Scott Parel (tied for 21st at 6 under after a 68) would take the Cup with a tournament victory, while McCarron, Toms, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly need a win and help from other players. Kelly (68) was tied for 11th at 10 under, and Jimenez (69) was 32nd in the 35-man field at even par.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – For three days, Matt Kuchar has felt in total control of his game at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

It shows in his score.

For the second straight day, Kuchar had enough birdies to atone for one rough hole, and it carried him to a 6-under 65 to set the 54-hole tournament record and build a four-shot lead as he tries to end more than four years without a PGA Tour victory.

Kuchar was at 20-under 193, breaking by three shots his personal best on the tour, and by one shot is 54-hole score to par.

“I felt really, really good for three days,” Kuchar said. “I mean, 20 under is my best 54-hole total. I felt in control of my ball striking. I felt in control of driving, the iron play, the putting. It’s been a great three days.”

Kuchar saved par from just off the green at the 18th to keep his four-shot margin over Whee Kim, who had a 66.

The last time Kuchar had a four-shot lead going into the final round was the 2014 Houston Open, and he wound up losing in a playoff when Matt Jones made a 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole and then chipped in from 40 yards in a playoff.

The other two times Kuchar had the 54-hole lead, he won the Memorial in 2013 one week after losing a one-shot lead at Colonial.

“You know the deal, though. You have to go play good golf,” Kuchar said. “I can’t go out there and think a whole bunch of pars are going to get me in the winner’s circle. I’ve still got to make a good number of birdies, and with that, somewhat have the pedal down.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. shot a 68 and was seven shots back at 13-under 200.

Richy Werenski and Danny Lee each shot 67 and were five shots back, followed by a group that included PGA Tour rookie of the year Aaron Wise (63) and Cameron Champ (69). Champ, who played in the final group with Kuchar and Lee, already won this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Kuchar has been piling up birdies at El Camaleon Golf Club, and he began to pull away with four birdies on the front nine. Just like Friday, however, one hole gave him stress. It was the 12th hole in the second round, when he had to make a 35-foot bogey putt. On Saturday, it was a tee shot on the 14th. Kuchar took a penalty from the hazard, and dropped in a good lie a few inches next to the cart path.

Instead of taking relief into deeper rough, he hit with his feet on the path and picked it clean so his fairway metal wouldn’t smack into the cement. It came up just short of the green, and he chipped to 5 feet and made the bogey putt.

Kuchar responded with a tee shot to 4 feet on the par-3 15th to restore his margin to four shots, and he caught a break on the last hole when he pulled his approach, but it struck a tree and came down in light rough to set up a simple up-and-down.

Champ was trying to get into the final group for Sunday with a par on the last hole, but his wedge came out hot from the rough and rolled through the green, his chip came out heavy and he three-putted for double bogey.

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk had a 66 and was at 13-under 200. Also seven shots behind was Anirban Lahiri of India, who was tied with Kuchar early on the front line and still in the mix until a double bogey on the 14th hole and a bogey on the 16th. He had to settle for a 69.

Kuchar’s last PGA Tour victory was at Hilton Head in 2014. He won the Fiji International with his dad caddying for him late in 2015, but struggled to contend this year and failed to reach the third FedEx Cup playoff event for the first time in nearly a decade. He also did not make the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years.

“So 2018 has not been my best year, has not been a highlight for me, been a disappointing year,” Kuchar said. “But it’s got signs now of righting the ship and turning into a great start to … maybe it’s a great finish to ’18, great start to ’18-19, however you want to classify the calendar.”

HAINAN ISLAND, China – Gaby Lopez won her first LPGA Tour event with a 1-over 73 to finish one shot ahead of Ariya Jutanugarn in the Blue Bay tournament in China.

Lopez had bogeys on the last two holes at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club on Saturday and almost let the title slip away. She finished at 8-under 280.

Playing in a group with Lopez, No. 1-ranked Jutanugarn had a birdie on the final hole to also finish on 73.

Celine Boutier shot a 66 and finished two shots off the lead.

Lopez is the first winner from Mexico since Lorena Ochoa, a driving force for the game in that Latin American country.

“I mean, she’s been my inspiration my entire life,” Lopez said of Ochoa. “That’s why I’m actually a professional golfer.”

Ochoa was the LPGA’s top-ranked golfer for several years until she retired in 2010. She won 27 LPGA Tour events.

Lopez said she was also thinking of her grandfather, Jose Lopez, who died recently.

“I always told him that I was going to give him my first trophy,” Lopez said. “Sadly I didn’t, but he was with me all week long and I couldn’t be more lucky, more fortunate to have him still alive in me.”

Jutanugarn played the last two rounds with Lopez and was happy for her – even in defeat.

“She did a great job last two days,” Jutanugarn said, knowing Lopez was “nervous sometimes.”

Lopez turned 25 on Friday and had a hole-in-one in the third round, which turned out to be the difference.

Alena Sharp (75) of Hamilton tied for 33rd place while Brittany Marchand (78) of Orangeville, Ont., was 61st.

The tournament wrapped up five straight weeks of play for the LPGA in Asia.