ASH, England – Mikko Ilonen defeated top-seeded Henrik Stenson 3 and 1 in the final Sunday to win the World Match Play Championship.

Ilonen fought back from being 1 down after four holes against the fifth-ranked Swede on the London Club course at Ash in Kent. It was the 34-year-old Finn’s fifth European Tour victory and his second this season after winning the Irish Open.

Earlier Sunday, Ilonen ended Joost Luiten’s unbeaten run by beating the Dutchman 2 and 1 in the semifinals, while Stenson won 1 up at the last hole against George Coetzee of South Africa.

“While I didn’t play so well this morning, I didn’t make any mistakes this afternoon against Henrik,” said Ilonen. “(I) felt like I had a good chance to beat him and I did.”

Three years ago Ilonen’s career was in chaos, having sustained an ankle injury that required surgery and kept him out of the second half of the 2011 season.

However, after falling to 334th in the world rankings early in 2012, Ilonen has continued to improve. He finished 23rd on the money list last year.

Stenson seized the early initiative, winning the fourth with a birdie. But Ilonen took the next hole with a par and went 1 up with a birdie at the eighth. He increased his lead to 3 up by the 12th.

Stenson won the 13th with a birdie but Ilonen hit back immediately to stay 3 up at the 14th.

However, Stenson then birdied the par-five 15th to get back to 2 down before both players parred the 16th and Ilonen won with a birdie at the 17th.

“I was quite low on energy this afternoon and I also feel like I have been battling my swing in these windy conditions,” Stenson said.

Victory earned Ilonen his highest tour prize of 650,000 euros ($830,000)

In the third-place playoff, Luiten defeated Coetzee at the first extra hole.

CONOVER, N.C. – Jay Haas became the 18th player to win a Champions Tour at 60 or older, closing with a 5-under 66 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory in the Greater Hickory Kia Classic.

The 60-year-old former Wake Forest player has 17 victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning nine times on the PGA Tour. He also won the event in 2005 and 2009.

Haas extended his streak of under-par rounds to 23 and finished at 17-under 196 on Rock Barn Golf and Spa’s Champions Course. He ended a 27-month, 49-event winless streak since June 2012.

Players 60 and older have won 22 events on the tour, with Hale Irwin accomplishing the feat three times and Tom Watson and Jimmy Powell doing it twice each. Mike Fetchick is the oldest winner at 63 years in the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational.

Joe Durant and Kirk Triplett tied for second. Durant and Triplett, the winner last week in Cary, shot 66.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames tied for 6th after a final round 65 left him at 11-under 202 for the championship.

Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ont. finished tied for 26th at 6-under 207.

Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C. tied for 55th at even-par 213.

HONG KONG – Scott Hend beat Angelo Que of the Philippines in a playoff to win the Hong Kong Open on Sunday and become the first Australian to win the event since Greg Norman in 1983.

Que and Hend both ended the final round tied on 13-under 267 to force a playoff on the par-four 18th hole of the Fanling Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

Hend held his nerve to win on the first playoff hole with a par putt from five feet having watched Que bogey after failing to reach the green with his approach shot.

“I felt quite calm on that playoff. We were wondering how to play that hole because the pin was placed in a tricky position and you can easily make a bogey. It would have been nice to win with a birdie and on a positive note but I will take it,” said Hend.

It was the biggest win of the 41-year-old Hend’s career that includes five victories on the Asian Tour. With the tournament being co-sanctioned by the European Tour, it will allow the Florida-based Australian to play next season on the more lucrative tour.

“This victory is to be treasured,” said the delighted Hend as he kissed the trophy won previously by several accomplished players including Tom Watson, Norman, Jose Maria Olzabal, Bernhard Langer, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Rory McIlroy.

Hend had begun the day one shot behind sole leader Marcus Fraser of Australia who was on 11 under. With the chasing pack never far behind, neither was able to build much of a lead.

Fraser lost his lead immediately when he double-bogeyed the first hole allowing England’s Mark Foster, who had started on nine-under, to grab the lead with two birdies from his first two holes.

The lead then changed hands again with Que, who had also started the final round on nine-under, rolling in three birdies on the 12, 13th and 14th to jump to a one shot advantage on 12 under.

Hend regained the lead at 13-under before Que pulled off a magnificent approach shot to within a foot of the pin from the edge of the woods lining the 18th fairway that allowed him to birdie the last hole and also go to 13 under.

“That was the shot of my career. My goal today was to just go under par but this is even better,” said Que after carding a 66.

He then waited as Hend in the final group came in. The Australian didn’t blink and finished his regulation round also on the same score forcing the play-off.

Ireland’s Kevin Phelan finished third on 11 under while Foster was fourth on 10 under.

Four-time major winner Ernie Els, struggling with a sore right hip, could only manage two birdies in his final round to end his first appearance at the Hong Kong Open on a disappointing note, tied fifth, after carding a one-under 69 to finish on nine-under 271.

“It is very disappointing, I didn’t play well at all this weekend,” said Els who had led by two shots at the halfway mark. “I’m having trouble with my hip and the lower I go down, the more a nerve or something catches. If I can sort my hip out I have got a game good enough to win a tournament before the end of this year.”

Els is on a month-long Asian swing and will play at the Macau Open next week before heading to China and Malaysia.

“My hip has been bothering me for a while and it will not keep me out of playing in the rest of the tournaments. I will bite the bullet and hope an elbow can improve my condition. Maybe I might even do some Chinese acupuncture,” Els said.

ASH, England – Mikko Ilonen of Finland ended Joost Luiten’s unbeaten run to set up a final later Sunday against top-seeded Henrik Stenson of Sweden at the World Match Play Championship.

Ilonen defeated his Dutch rival 2 and 1, while Stenson won 1 up at the last hole against South African George Coetzee, in the semifinal matches at the London Club course at Ash in Kent outside London.

Irish Open winner Ilonen was 2 up over Luiten after seven holes before Luiten, who won all three of his group games, went 1 up after winning Nos. 8, 11 and 13.

The Finn rebounded by winning the 14th and holing a long putt at the 15th, before claiming victory with a birdie on the 17th.

“It was an unbelievable match as it could have gone any way as we both didn’t play our best and with the early tee-time today we were still both asleep,” said Ilonen. “But somehow I managed to make two long putts near the end.”

Stenson wasn’t in front until the last when he holed a long par putt to beat Coetzee, a player ranked 84 places lower than the Swede.

Stenson is looking for his first World Match Play Championship title.

“I had to dig deep to win my match as I was never in front till I holed that putt at the last,” Stenson said. “While it wasn’t the most well-played match this week, I still got the result.”

INCHEON, South Korea – Kyu Jung Baek of South Korea won a three-way playoff Sunday to claim the LPGA’s KEB-HanaBank Championship.

Baek, making the first LPGA start of her career, shot a final-round 67 to finish tied at 10-under 278 with Brittany Lincicome of the United States and compatriot In Gee Chun, then birdied the first playoff hole on the Ocean Course at the Sky72 Golf Club to take the title.

In the playoff, Lincicome and Baek hit third shots to four feet on the par-5 18th. Lincicome missed her birdie putt while Baek calmly made hers for the win. Chun’s hopes for the title were dashed when her approach shot went into the greenside water.

“Even before the playoff, I was in a similar situation for a similar shot with a similar break . When I played the KLPGA Championship,” Baek said. “I focused and was aggressive.”

The 19-year old Baek has three victories this year on the Korean tour. She became the fourth teenager to win on the LPGA Tour this season joining Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko and Hyo Joo Kim.

Baek started the day with a share of the lead but fell back after playing the first 10 holes even-par. She rattled off five-consecutive birdies on Nos. 11-15 to get her back in the share of the lead.

“So going into the final nine, my goal was to come into the top 5 and so I really concentrated on every hole and I started making birdies,” said Baek. “It all started to kind of work for me from then on.”

No. 2-ranked Inbee Park of South Korea shot a 67 to finish one stroke behind the leaders.

U.S. Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie finished two strokes back after a 67 that included three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 No. 5. Wie was playing in her first tournament since withdrawing during the first round of the Evian Championship in September after reinjuring a stress fracture in her right hand.

Suzanne Pettersen of Norway, who was bidding for a third title here after winning the tournament in 2007 and 2012, shot a 71 to finish tied for 12th at 5-under 283. Defending champion Amy Yang of South Korea struggled with a 76 that left her tied for 46th place.

LAS VEGAS – Ben Martin birdied five straight holes on the back nine Saturday and finished with a 9-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Winless in 55 career starts on the PGA Tour, the 27-year-old former Clemson player matched his best score on the tour – set last year in the Zurich Classic – to get to 17-under 196 at TPC Summerlin.

He has the 54-hole lead for the first time on the PGA Tour.

“Just go out tomorrow with the same mindset, head down, and try to keep making birdies,” Martin said.

Martin had four birdies and bogey on the front nine, birdied No. 10 and took the lead with his birdie run on Nos. 13-17.

“I felt it from the first hole (when) I made a 20-footer for birdie,” Martin said. “So I felt confident with my putter and I was getting a lot of looks. I’ve played that stretch of holes well all week, 15 and 16, and that’s really the part of the course that most guys are making their birdies.”

Scotland’s Russell Knox, tied for the second-round lead with Andrew Putnam, was second after a 66.

“Bogey-free on a Saturday is exactly what I wanted,” Knox said. “I knew I was going to make birdies and I’m seeing the lines on the greens really well. I knew if I just limited my mistakes, I was going to be right up there.”

Jimmy Walker also had a 62 to move into a tie for third with Andrew Svoboda at 13 under. Walker won three times last season and played in the Ryder Cup.

“Well, I think I hit a lot of greens and I had a lot of really good looks,” Walker said. “I remember there was a lot of putts that didn’t go in, too, but I hit a lot of close shots and I made some really good putts. It was fun. Hit it good and putted good.”

Svoboda had a 67.

Defending champion Webb Simpson also had a 67 to join Kevin Streelman (63), Brooks Koepka (64) and Scott Piercy (67) at 12 under.

Streelman birdied eight his last 11 holes. Koepka eaged the par-5 ninth and 290-yard, par-4 15th.

Piercy, a former RBC Canadian Open champion, is playing on a major medical extension this season. He had surgery on his right arm in February.

Putnam shot a 73 to drop into a tie for 24th at 8 under. He had six bogeys, four in a six-hole stretch on the back nine.

David Hearn leads the Canadian charge into Sunday’s finale. The Brantford, Ont. native is tied for 9th at 11-under 202, after a third round 66 (70-66-66) that included a hole-out birdie from 99-yards on the par-5 16th hole.

The other two Canadians in the field this week are Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor.

Hadwin is tied for 53rd (67-72-69) and Taylor tied for 61st (71-65-73).

Jarrod Lyle was tied for 42nd at 6 under after a 70. The Australian is making his second PGA Tour start since a recurrence of leukemia some 18 months ago.

CONOVER, N.C. – Jay Haas shot a 4-under-par 67 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Greater Hickory Kia Classic.

Haas, the 60-year-old Wake Forest player who won the event in 2005 and 2009, had a 12-under 130 on Rock Barn Golf and Spa’s Champions Course. He extended his streak of under-par rounds to 22, making five birdies and a lone bogey on No. 17.

“I played well again today – maybe not quite as well as yesterday, but I had some chances today and didn’t capitalize,” Haas said. “It was a little tougher today. The wind was stronger in places, and the course played differently. But I’m pleased. Obviously I did some good things out there.

“I’m glad to be in the lead. But in looking at that leaderboard, there were two 63s yesterday and a couple of 65s today. There are scores like that that can be shot out there. I’m just going to have to be aggressive, and capitalize when I have the good shots.”

A 16-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, Haas has gone 27 months without a tournament win. His last title came in June 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa – also the last time that Haas has had sole possession of the lead entering a tournament’s final round.

“I haven’t had the lead going into Sunday, but I’ve had four or five really good chances to win and haven’t done it,” Haas said. “It has been a while since I’ve won, but I’ve played as consistently this year as I ever have. I feel like I’m going to go out and play a pretty good round tomorrow. Whether it’ll be good enough, well, we’ll see.”

Joe Durant, tied for the first-round lead with Haas at 63, had a 69 to drop into a tie for second with Kirk Triplett and South Africa’s David Frost. Triplett, the winner last week, had a 66, and Frost shot 65.

Frost, a five-time Champions Tour winner, had seven birdies and a bogey to make the best round of the day with Skip Kendall and Kenny Perry.

“There are a lot of birdies out there,” Frost said. “All in all, I played well. I feel like right now I’m playing unconscious golf, having played so much golf the past three months. I’m just going with the flow.”

Triplett had six birdies and a bogey, while Durant birdied the final three holes to finish with six birdies and four bogeys.

“If you’re striking the ball solid, you’re going to have some birdie chances,” Triplett said. “You can’t be thinking you’ve going to shoot 2 under and move up or hold your place. You’ve got to be aggressive, and try to make a half-dozen birdies.”

Stephen Ames is sitting at 5-under 137 (69-68) to lead the Canadian charge into the final round. He’s tied for 17th.

Jim Rutledge carded another 71 to remain at even par 142, falling three leaderboard spots into a tie for 52nd.

Rod Spittle shot a 4-over 75 Saturday to slip 37 spots down the leaderboard into a tie for 62nd. He’s sitting at 2-over 144.

ASH, England – Joost Luiten extended his unbeaten run at the World Match Play Championship by easily defeating Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal 6 and 5 Saturday to move into the semifinals.

The Dutchman demoralized Larrazabal with seven birdies in overcast and wet conditions on the London Club course at Ash in Kent outside London, setting up a semifinal against Finland’s Mikko Ilonen.

In the other semifinal on Sunday, Henrik Stenson will take on George Coetzee of South Africa.

Stenson defeated Swedish compatriot Jonas Blixt by 2 holes with a birdie at the last, Coetzee eliminated American Patrick Reed 2 and 1.

Luiten won all three round-robin matches and was handed the first hole when Larrazabal found water guarding the green. He went on to win the second, fifth, sixth, seventh and the 11th before claiming victory with a par on the 13th.

“I had a great start with three birdies to be 2 up, so that was a really nice start and after that I just tried to keep going and tried to keep the momentum going,” Luiten said. “While I am unbeaten every match is a new game, and you can lose at any time. To have a 100 percent record doesn’t say anything in this format. So I just have to go out again tomorrow and try to do the same, and make birdies and try and beat your opponent.”

Ilonen defeated European Ryder Cup-winning rookie Victor Dubuisson 2 up in a see-saw match, with the Finn producing a bogey-free display while his French opponent three-putted on three of the four par-3s for bogey.

“It was a match that could have gone any way today but I was pretty confident I would come out in the end,” Illonen said. “But one of the keys for me this week is that I have not felt nervous compared to other occasions when I have competed in big tournaments.”

Coetzee, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 89, was never behind in his match against Reed.

“I was playing well coming into this week and the name of the game in match-play is not give away any holes and I managed to do that,” Coetzee said. “But you’re playing man-on-man and it’s the closest you get to contact sport in golf.”

HONG KONG – Marcus Fraser of Australia shot a 5-under 65 Saturday to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the Hong Kong Open, his first tournament after returning from an eight-month injury layoff.

Fraser had four birdies on his last six holes to move to 11-under 199 and sit one shot ahead of fellow Australian Scott Hend.

Fraser has not played since February after needing surgery on his left hand, and said he only started practicing again six weeks ago.

“No one is more surprised than I am,” Fraser said about being the leader. “It hasn’t been the best of eight months but when you go out and play like this, it makes it worth it, that’s for sure.”

Overnight leader Ernie Els struggled to find his touch with the putter as he made a 71, including a double-bogey and three bogeys to fall three shots behind the leader.

Els, who turned 45 on Friday, would have been in real trouble if not for an eagle on the par-five 13th hole which helped salvage his round somewhat.

“It was disappointing, an up-and-down day,” Els said. “But I still feel I’m in with a chance.”

Hend shot a 67 to sit one stroke ahead of a trio of players – South Africa’s Jbe Kruger, Angelo Que of the Philippines and England’s Mark Foster.

Foster made five birdies in a row from the 10th hole and added two more on Nos. 16 and 17, but then had a bogey on the last for a 66.

“That five-in-a-row was amazing and I just tried to keep the mentality going. I never thought for one moment that I was going to make so many,” Foster said.

INCHEON, South Korea – South Korean duo Hee Kyung Bae and Kyu Jung Baek both shot a 4-under 68 to take a share of the lead after the third round of the LPGA’s KEB-HanaBank Championship on Saturday.

Bae birdied five holes after the turn on the Ocean Course at the Sky72 Golf Club, while Baek had six birdies to go with two bogeys.

“After making the first birdie on the back nine, I really picked up momentum,” Bae said. “My putting was stronger and my shots were stronger.”

Both were at 5-under 211 overall, one stroke ahead of a large group that includes No. 2-ranked Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen of Norway and overnight leader Karine Icher of France, who only managed a 73.

Pettersen is bidding to win the tournament for a third time.

“I’m trying to just stick to the game plan,” Pettersen said. “I mean, I still feel like I have a low round on this course in me. Hopefully we can knock it out tomorrow.”

Park (68) could supplant Stacy Lewis at No. 1 if she wins the tournament. Lewis is not playing this week.

U.S. Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie is just two strokes off the pace after sinking four birdies on the last five holes for a 67.

Wie is making her first start since withdrawing during the first round of the Evian Championship in September after reinjuring a stress fracture in her right hand.

Defending champion Amy Yang of South Korea shot a 67 and is four strokes off the lead. Women’s British Open winner Mo Martin struggled with a 75 that left her tied for 54th place.

Brittany Lincicome of the United States and Beatriz Recari of Spain both shot even-par 72 to join the group of 10 players who are one stroke back.