What would it take to help you make the decision to remain an amateur golfer or turn pro?

For one Hall of Famer, it took a plane crash.

On a miserable December night 60 years ago, a young Marlene Stewart was returning to Toronto from college in Florida. The pilot undershot the runway and the plane careered into a field, shearing off a wing. A terrified Marlene and a friend escaped through the hole created when the wing was torn off. As they ran from the wreck, it burst into flames and exploded. Miraculously, no one was killed although there were some injuries.

“It is true what they say. My life flashed in front of my eyes,” Marlene told me recently. “I had been approached to play on the LPGA and I had played in a couple of events as an amateur. I realized I didn’t want some of the aspects of the LPGA lifestyle. I wanted a real life. I knew I wanted to marry Doug [Streit] and have a family. I got to do that and play all the golf I wanted.”

And, without a doubt, more golf than her opponents wanted her to play. Marlene Stewart Streit always played to win, and usually succeeded.

“Among her many accomplishments are 11 Canadian Ladies’ Open Amateur Championships, nine Canadian Ladies’ Close Amateurs, three Canadian Ladies’ Seniors and three USGA Senior Women’s Championships,” says her Canadian Golf Hall of Fame bio. She was also twice named Canada’s outstanding athlete and is this country’s only member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. (A book about Marlene’s exploits written with Lorne Rubenstein is scheduled for publication next spring.)

The Canadian Hall of Fame and Museum website and those of every provincial golf association list the bios of many outstanding career amateurs. Their accomplishments are extraordinary, but is their kind a dying breed? Are the perceived glamour and wealth of the pro tours luring all our best young golfers to the detriment of the amateur game? Is the grass on that side of the fence (ropes?) truly greener?

“Everyone says, ‘Look at Mike Weir. He made it big on the PGA Tour,’ but what they forget is that he worked harder than anyone, rebuilt his swing, and it still took him half a dozen tries to get through qualifying school,” points out Warren Sye, who counts two Canadian Amateurs and five Ontario Amateurs among his more than 120 tournament wins worldwide. Sye, a member of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame, admits he was briefly tempted to turn pro after graduating from the University of Houston alongside teammates—and future Tour stars—Fred Couples and Blaine McCallister.

“But I wanted a real life, with a family and a career. When I won the 1988 Ontario Amateur, Gary Cowan took me aside and said, ‘Now you will really start to enjoy this.’ He was talking about playing on international teams and travelling around the world playing for Canada. And he was right. Playing on those teams was fabulous. It was what we all gunned for back then.” In all, Sye would represent Ontario and Canada 11 times internationally, most notably as a member of the victorious World Amateur team in 1986.

Gary Cowan (Canadian Golf Hall of Fame archives)

Cowan, who still shoots his age or better at age 74, says his advice to Sye came naturally. His Hall of Fame resume is breathtaking, to the point where he was named Canada’s Male Amateur of the 20^th Century. The only Canadian to win two U.S. Amateurs, he started his on-course onslaught by winning the Canadian Junior title in 1956. He went on to win the 1961 Canadian Amateur, was low amateur at both the Canadian Open and the Masters (he played in eight Masters in total), and was the medallist at the 1962 World Amateur Team Championship. In international play, he was a fierce competitor, representing Canada 19 times in tournaments from Brazil to Japan.

With a resume like that, wasn’t he ever tempted to turn pro? “It was a different time. There was a temptation to go pro but there just wasn’t the money until Arnie [Arnold Palmer] and TV came along. I had no qualms about having a career and a family. I didn’t want to live out of a suitcase. I have no regrets. I travelled all over the world on international teams. I raised four great children, had a good career in business, and played a lot of golf. “

(Note: Later in life, both Sye and Cowan would give the Senior PGA Tour—now the Champions Tour—a try without much success. Both were reinstated as amateurs.)

Harking back to Sye’s comment about Mike Weir, Stu Hamilton says, “For every one that makes it to the pros, there are maybe a thousand who don’t make it and you never hear of again. They end up giving lessons on a range somewhere or selling golf balls or simply burn out and get out of golf altogether.” That was not the life for Hamilton and it turned out to be a wise decision.

In 1963, he won the Ontario Junior but it wasn’t until 1986, at the age of 41, when he captured his next significant title, the Ontario Amateur. Oh, he came close many times, including six runner-up finishes in the Canadian Amateur, but that wasn’t enough to entice him to go pro.

“I had people early in my career who encouraged me to turn pro but I told myself that if I couldn’t win the Ontario Amateur, the [now defunct] Ontario Open and the Canadian Amateur all in the same year, then I just wasn’t good enough to compete against the pros. Whenever I played in the Canadian Open as an amateur and saw the pros in action, I was in absolute awe. It is a big step up. Aside from there not being a lot of security or money on Tour back then, living out of a suitcase away from my family didn’t appeal to me. I wanted to keep golf as a major part of my life, not my whole life. I wanted balance.”

The “suitcase” reference was a constant with every Hall of Fame amateur I spoke with, as was “balance” and “security.”

“I loved being an amateur and have done that for six decades,” says Gayle (Hitchens) Borthwick. “There is a longevity in amateur golf that doesn’t exist in the pros.” Her well-deserved induction into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame came thanks to a resume bulging with three U.S. Senior Amateur titles, wins in the Canadian Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur, and a lengthy list of international teams. Her life-golf balance was enhanced by the fact that she was a schoolteacher, leaving her summers open for competitive golf.

“There is a huge difference between amateur golf and pro golf,” says Borthwick, who is the daughter and wife of club pros. “You don’t want to waste a lot of years if things don’t work out. It is a job and the pressure is tremendous. It is so grueling, physically and mentally. You have to be committed to that and exclude everything else. Big money means big competition.”

Doug Roxburgh (Golf Canada)

Fellow Hall of Famer Doug Roxburgh understands. At 62, he has just returned from the U.S. Senior Amateur after winning the Canadian Senior Amateur. The four-time Canadian Amateur champ left his accountant’s career in 1999 to join Golf Canada as an advisor on elite player development before retiring in 2011. Understandably, over the years, he frequently has been asked two major questions: Why didn’t you turn pro? Should I stay amateur like you or turn pro?

“I never did seriously consider turning pro back in the early to mid 1970s. And I have no regrets at all. I got to travel just about every year with international teams [including seven World Amateur teams], meet friends, see the world. The pro life isn’t as glamourous as it may look unless you are among the top players. Now it might be a different story. There are many more tours all over and a lot more money. I might give it a try.

“I don’t discourage young players who want to give it a shot but, realistically, they have to hit certain benchmarks. You have to be successful at every level and test yourself against the best in major amateur events, not just at home, but elsewhere.”

Graham Cooke gets asked the same question, to the point where he has worked out what he calls “tags” to determine whether a golfer has the wherewithal to be successful on tour.

“First, you must be able to play to an honest plus-4 handicap or better across the board. Second, you must be able to have bogey-free rounds. You must have consistently low rounds, and you must be able to perform and dedicate yourself 9 to 5 to your game. If you don’t have those tags, then go to college and work on your game against top competition. Then if at some point you think your game is where it should be, maybe that’s the time to try turning pro.”

Graham Cooke (Golf Canada)

Despite being named an honourable mention All-American during his time at Michigan State, Cooke says his game never really rounded into form until later in life when he would win seven Canadian Mid-Amateur titles and then four Canadian Senior crowns. As one of Canada’s most notable golf course architects, he says his decision was the right one. His expertise at playing the game not only impresses clients but allows him to understand the strategy and subtleties of good course design.

Typically, Streit, for whom winning was everything (although she says, “My greatest joy was representing Canada”), is more blunt.

“Now, every good young player wants to turn pro. I always say, ‘Get an education. They can never take that away from you.’ I also say, ‘Don’t get caught up in just having fun. Get a real life!’ Too many players these days are prepared just to make the cut. So you go into Saturday in 60^th spot. What do you expect to finish? 40^th? That’s not acceptable. Your expectation should always be to win. Let your clubs do the talking. If you are good enough, the rest will follow.”

Would, assuming real and lasting professional success, “the rest” she mentions include a place in a Hall of Fame? Possibly. But resumes filled with mediocre finishes on satellite tours aren’t likely to impress voters. They are, more likely, to mean sharing two-star motel rooms with relative strangers when you’re on tour and living with your parents at age 35 when you aren’t. But that doesn’t have to mean a life sentence. Reinstatement as an amateur is always a possibility. And, sometimes, good things are worth the wait.

Like Cooke, Hamilton rediscovered his golf groove in middle age when he would win, among other titles, five Canadian Mid-Amateurs. His emphasis on education (he was a longtime banker) and life-golf balance proved right for him.

“Being a career amateur should always be an option. But turning pro seems to be every good young player’s dream these days. But get your education. Then, if you want, follow your dream and if it doesn’t work out, you have that to fall back on.”

“Here’s the thing,” concludes Sye. “Live your dream if you want but if you can’t beat the amateurs in Canada, how are you going to beat Tour pros?”

David Hearn is focused.

At an intimate event put on by Hearn’s clothing sponsor, Dunning Golf, at Thornhill Golf & Country Club, Hearn admitted to a small group that since they’ve announced golf is returning to the Olympics in 2016, it’s been his number one goal.

The 35-year-old Canadian even marks his ball with Olympic-edition toonies on occasion.

Although Hearn earned over $1 million on the PGA Tour this year – the third year in a row that he’s reached that plateau – he knows there is much still to accomplish.

But Hearn, ever the psychology major, is trying not to get too far ahead of himself as he gets ready for the 2015 season.

“Billy Horschel just showed the world what it means to get on a hot streak and get a little confidence,” Hearn explains. “You never know when that game is going to happen, but you want it to come out in you. I feel like I’m very close to playing that kind of golf more often.”

Hearn admits that he played a lot of good golf in 2014, but not a lot of great golf.

“My game was on the edge all year,” he says.

Hearn struggled out of the gate on the West Coast, making just one out of four cuts. But, he played well on the Florida Swing, including a tie for sixth at the Players Championship, which kick-started his summer. A highlight for Hearn was making it to the Open Championship. He was first alternate and jumped on a plane for his maiden voyage to Europe, in hopes of making the field.

He did so when former RBC Canadian Open champion Mark Calcavecchia withdrew at the last minute. Hearn made the cut, and finished T32.

Hearn admits he didn’t play that well during the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he did have a strong final round at the Deutsche Bank Championship, shooting a 6-under-par 65.

“It was fun. To have a round like that, I’ll have a lot of confidence moving into next year,” Hearn says.

Despite what the calendar reads, the 2015 season begins anew in just a few weeks at the Frys.com Open, and Hearn will be in the field. Since finishing his season at the Deutsche Bank, Hearn has been spending time at his Branford, Ont. home.

“I’ve been taking a few days off, then working pretty hard, then taking a few days off,” he says. “The last round of the playoffs motivated me more than anything. My game is really close, and I want to keep that going.”

Hearn was welcomed at Thornhill – the host course of the 2014 Canadian Junior Girls Championship – by representatives of Dunning Golf, one of Hearn’s new sponsors from 2014.

Dunning, a premium line of clothes engineered for golfers who are serious about the game, fits with Hearn’s professional persona.

“It’s the right choice for what my image should be,” explains Hearn.

That image is one of a man who admits he wouldn’t wear anything from Rickie Fowler’s closet, a man who is determined to be the best golfer he can be, and, of a family man.

There will be a new distraction in Hearn’s life in a couple of weeks, as his wife, Heather, is due with their second child at the end of October.

“Being a parent is so much fun. It’s so fun to teach our kids and see their minds take in the world around you,” Hearn says. “It makes you realize how lucky we are to play golf and travel the world.”

For Hearn, he hopes that world travelling continues over the next two years. Especially with the Presidents Cup taking place in South Korea in 2015, and of course, the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.

Hearn says that although he didn’t think too much about the Presidents Cup in 2013, once Graham DeLaet got on the team, he realized it wasn’t out of reach.

“I thought, ‘holy jeez, I wasn’t too far off that myself,’ and it was something that would be a big goal of mine,” he says.

Five other Canadians – Mike Weir, Graham DeLaet, Roger Sloan, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin – will join Hearn on the PGA Tour in 2015, and Hearn says the future of Canadian golf is bright.

“We have younger guys coming on Tour. Adam (Hadwin) has been playing great golf and I think he’s going to come on Tour and continue to play great. There’s going to be lots of Canadians on Tour for a while,” says Hearn. “We all want to see the next Canadian win, and the next Canadian at the Presidents Cup.”

Hearn’s goals are lofty, but not unattainable. He wants to get to the Tour Championship, and hopefully make the Presidents Cup team too. He’s putting in the work now to get there.

And this is why David Hearn is focused.

“Next year is a big year,” Hearn admits. “We have a lot to play for.”

David Hearn at Thornhill G&CC (Adam Stanley)

KAPOLEI, Hawaii -Paul Goydos won the Hawaii Championship on Sunday for his first Champions Tour title, breaking out of a tight pack with four straight birdies.

Making his fifth start of the 50-and-over tour since turning 50 in June, Goydos closed with a 4-under 68 at Kapolei Golf Club for a tournament-record 19-under 197 total. He opened with rounds of 66 and 63 for a share of the second-round lead with Fred Funk.

“I think I used what I’ve learned today,” Goydos said. “I’m making progress, which I’m pleased with. I didn’t play well on the PGA Tour this year. Happy held it together. Handled adversity well.”

Funk finished with a 69 to tie for second with Scott Dunlap. The 58-year-old Funk had a hole-in-one on No. 16, using a 4-hybrid on the 200-yard hole.

“It was good and bad,” Funk said. “Disappointing. Had a lot of chances. … I’m doing everything I can to stay competitive.”

Dunlap shot a 65.

“Today was the toughest day wind-wise,” said Dunlap, the Boeing Classic winner last month and also second two weeks ago in the Quebec Championship. “I’m playing the best golf that I’ve played in a long, long time.”

After birdieing Nos. 14-17 to take a two-stroke lead, Goydos scrambled for bogey on the par-4 18th after flying his approach well above the green and through trees to the left of the grandstand.

“You’re a little nervy up there,” Goydos said.

He started the birdie run with a 6-footer on the par-5 14th, hit a 140-yard shot to an inch on the par-4 15th, holed a 15-footer on the 16th and made a 6-footer on the par-5 17th.

The putt on 16 gave broke a tie with Funk and Dunlap.

“I couldn’t hit a better putt than the I did on 16,” Goydos said. “That putt on 16 was key. I’m proud of that. … I’m happy how I handled things at 16 after Fred made ace.”

The birdie putt on 17 gave him the cushion he ended up needing on 18.

“That was massive,” Goydos said.

Goydos won twice on the PGA Tour, the last in the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.

“I love it over,” Goydos said. “It’s a great place to play golf.”

He broke the tournament record of 14-under 202 set by Willie Wood in 2012 in the inaugural event.

Davis Love III struggled in his Champions Tour debut, closing with a 72 to tie for 64th in the 81-man field at 3 under. The 20-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 in April.

Canadian Rod Spittle tied for 40th at 7-under 209.

Davis Love III – a 20-time PGA Tour winner who turned 50 in April – struggled in his Champions Tour debut, closing with a 72 to tie for 64th in the 81-man field at 3 under with Canada’s Jim Rutledge.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Derek Fathauer won the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship on Sunday to top the four-event Web.Com Tour Finals money list and earn a full PGA Tour exemption.

Fathauer finished with a 2-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Zac Blair. The 28-year-old former Louisville player earned $180,000 for his first professional victory to push his Finals total to $250,133.

“This is unbelievable,” Fathauer said. “I was trying to force it for the first few events. I did a better job of staying patient this week and not looking too far ahead.”

Fathauer has already earned a PGA Tour card with a top-25 finish on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list. By topping the Finals money list, he earned fully exempt status for the 2014-15 PGA Tour season and a spot in The Players Championship. He played the tour in 2009, but lost his card after making only eight cuts in 25 starts and wound up losing his card after finishing No. 201 on the FedExCup standings.

“It was tough my first year,” Fathauer said. “I’m not sure I was ready for the tour. I think my all-around game is better now and I’m mentally tougher. I’m ready to give it another try.”

He had a 14-under 266 on TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course.

Blair earned $108,000 to secure a PGA Tour card with the 11th position in the Finals priority ranking.

Jason Gore was third at 11 under after a 69. He also earned a PGA Tour card in the regular season, and ended up 10th in the priority ranking.

The Web.com Tour Finals were limited to the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. The top 25 on the Web.com money list competed against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players fought for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.

Abbotsford, B.C.’s Adam Hadwin topped the combined Web.com Tour money list to also earn a full exemption and a spot in The Players. The Canadian, also a former Louisville player, had a 72 on Sunday to tie for seventh at 6 under. He earned $30,125 for a total of $529,792.

“I think everyone out here knows the importance of being No. 1 and knows how good it is not to have to reshuffle for the next year,” Hadwin said. “It allows you to just go out and have some fun and enjoy it. You don’t have to put pressure on yourself to perform before the first reshuffle or the second reshuffle.”

He won the second playoff event for his second victory of the year.

Chalk up one more Canadian to watch for on PGA Tour leaderboards during the 2014-15 season.

With Abbotsford, B.C.’s Adam Hadwin and Merrit, B.C.’s Roger Sloan having already secured their PGA Tour playing privileges after cracking the top 25 on the Web.com Tour’s regular season money list, the stage was set for one of the most clutch final rounds in Canadian golf history.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., a former Team Canada member, joined the pair as PGA Tour rookies for next season after firing a blazing 7-under 63 on a breezy day at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Taylor, 26, would go on finish 37th on the Web.com Tour eligibility category.

Hadwin, Taylor and Sloan, as well as Mark Hubbard, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Justin Thomas, talk about earning their PGA Tour cards at the 2014 Web.com Tour Championship in the video below.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Norway’s Marita Engzelius eagled the first hole of a playoff Sunday to win the season-ending Symetra Tour Championship, and the top 10 on the money list earned LPGA Tour cards.

Engzelius hit a 7-wood to 5 feet to set up the eagle on the par-5 18th.

“It’s just a great, great end of the Symetra Tour season,” Engzelius said. “I’m unbelievably happy to stand here with this trophy. I was shaking. I was shaking a lot. The first professional win is big and this is definitely the beginning for me and I’m looking forward to many more.”

Engzelius closed with a 3-under 69 to match Jackie Stoelting and Demi Runas at 10-under 278 on LPGA International’s Jones Course. Stoelting finished with a 64, and Runas shot 65.

Engzelius earned $22,500 to finish 15th on the money list with $36,050. She earned an exemption into the final stage of the LPGA Tour’s qualifying school.

“It’s very important,” Engzelius said. “I knew I didn’t have a chance to get my card this week even though I won, but I knew I had a chance to get straight to final stage and play this course again in December. I will get a couple of months of good practice in and we will see what happens there but maybe I can give myself an opportunity for LPGA next year.”

Runas and Stoelting each made $11,872. Runas jumped from 15th to ninth on the money list to earn an LPGA Tour card, and Stoelting went from seventh to third.

“It’s unbelievable. I don’t think it has set in yet,” said Runas, a former University of California player. “I didn’t know I made it until the girls rushed me and told me after the playoff.”

Marissa Steen, a three-time winner this season, topped the LPGA Tour qualifiers with $75,348. From Westchester, Ohio, the 24-year-old former Memphis player missed the cut in the finale.

“For all the players on the Symetra Tour, the ultimate goal is to finish in the top 10 in order to get full-time status on the LPGA Tour, so to be in that group and to have been in the top 10 the entire year is a dream come true,” Steen said. “My ultimate career goal is to play on the LPGA for a long time, so to know it is going to be happening next year is a great feeling.”

Min Seo Kwak was second at $69,143, followed by Stoelting ($60,452), Sadena Parks ($57,597), Min Lee ($57,011), Wei-Ling Hsu ($53,004), Yueer Cindy Feng ($51,992), Kendall Dye ($47,684), Runas ($45,095) and Mallory Blackwelder ($41,381).

Parks is the first black player to earn an LPGA Tour card through the Symetra Tour. The 24-year-old former Washington player, a two-time winner this year, closed with a 67 to tie for 12th at 6 under.

“It means a lot, but it’s one goal achieved and more goals set for myself for 2015 on the LPGA,” Parks said. “This is going to be a memorable moment, my father is here. I was patient this year. The beginning of the season wasn’t great, but I got back in it with more focus and my coach started travelling with me. I’m looking forward to the first LPGA tournament, but just most importantly I’m looking forward to having fun.”

Veronica Felibert dropped from 10th to 11th, finishing $940 behind Blackwelder for the final spot.

Also narrowly missing out on LPGA Tour cards for next season were Canadians Sara-Muade Juneau, Nicole Vandermade and Maude-Aimee Leblanc.

Juneau, of Fossambault, Que., finished 13th on the tour’s money list. Brantford, Ont.’s Vandermade finished 17th.

Leblanc, of Sherbrooke, Que., needed a win this week to retain her full status on the LPGA Tour for next season. She held the lead heading into today’s final round but carded a final round 74 to tie for 4th and finish 19th on the money list.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Mi Jung Hur was finally able to relax for a couple of holes after matching top-ranked Stacy Lewis stroke for stroke Sunday in the final round of the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

The 24-year-old South Korean player never gave up the last-day lead on her way to a tournament-record 21-under 267 total. Hur birdied four of the final eight holes to beat Lewis by four strokes for her second LPGA Tour victory. The each shot 6-under 66.

Hur was able to savor the end of her round, at least. She made a 36-foot birdie putt on No. 11 and set up much easier birdies after that, including one on No. 16.

“After I made that, I definitely think about winning,” she said. “The last two holes, I really enjoyed the golf.”

She allowed herself to go from relief to tears of joy before her second shot on the final hole as she wrapped up her first victory since 2009. Her father, Kwan Moo, served as her caddie and was able to share the moment as she bowed her head crying for several seconds when the win was official.

“It’s definitely an exciting week for me,” Hur said. “I started with two birdies and it made me so much more comfortable the rest of the round. But Stacy played so well and I definitely thought about her.

“I just played my own game, and after nine holes I made a few birdies on the back nine.”

Hur opened with rounds of 64, 70 and 67 on Capitol Hill’s links-style Senator layout. She broke the tournament mark of 19 under set by Katherine Hull-Kirk in 2010. It was the best 72-hole score of Hur’s career.

She saw on the leaderboard that Lewis had climbed to 16 under with a birdie on No. 10. Hur kept up her own string of birdies with four in six holes starting on No. 11.

“It made me a little nervous, but I just focused on my ball and played my own game,” she said.

Lewis won in 2012 at the tournament that was dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor. She also closed with a 66.

Rookie Paula Reto was third at 14 under after a 73. She shared the third-round lead with Hur at 15 under.

Kris Tamulis was fourth at 13 under after a 70.

Hur gained two strokes on Reto with a long birdie putt on the first hole while the former Purdue player from South Africa two-putted for bogey. Hur birdied the second hole as well while Reto had a bogey on No. 3.

Reto worked her way back to 16 under before back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 put her four strokes back again.

Lewis, a three-time winner this year, opened with four birdies in a six-hole stretch starting on No. 3. She finished her bogey-free round with five straight pars, not enough to close the gap on Hur.

Lewis said it was one of her best days striking the ball “in a long time.” She said the 18th hole was the only time on the back nine where she didn’t have a potential birdie putt of 15 feet or less.

“You get events where people kind of run away with tournaments,” Lewis said. “I’ve done it before. It’s just golf. I played well, gave myself a ton of opportunities for birdies, which that was the goal coming into the day.

“I would have liked to have made a couple of more to give her something to think about coming up those last few.”

Canada’s Alena Sharp climbed 20 spots up the leaderboard Sunday after a final round 6-under par 66. The Hamilton, Ont. native tied for 30th at 5-under 283.

Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. tied for 63rd at 3-over 291.

NEWPORT, Wales – Joost Luiten overcame a shaky start to shoot a level-par 71 and hang on for a one-shot victory at the Wales Open on Sunday.

Luiten opened with two straight bogeys but bounced back with three birdies on the back nine and then recovered from a poor tee shot on the 18th to make par for the victory. The Dutchman, who had led by two shots after the third round, finished with a 14-under total of 270.

It was Luiten’s third European Tour victory and comes after he was overlooked as a captain’s pick for next week’s Ryder Cup in favor of Lee Westwood.

“I knew when the qualification ended I needed to play better so luckily I’m in good form now,” Luiten said. “I just wish the team all the best and hopefully they can win.”

England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (7) shared second place. European Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson shot a 67 to share fourth place at 12-under par.

In contrast, Westwood struggled over the final day with five bogeys on the front nine, and added a double bogey on the 14th before closing with two late birdies for a 76. He plummeted to a share of 60th place at 2 over.

“I needed to play some competitive golf and I’ve done that,” Westwood said. “I hit a few good shots this week, not so good today, but I probably had one eye on next week. I don’t think the concentration and the focus was there.”

Thomas Bjorn heads to his third Ryder Cup, and his first in 12 years as a player, after closing with a 74 and finishing just one shot ahead of Westwood.

“It’s been a strange week,” Bjorn said. “I didn’t play particularly well early on but played pretty well on the weekend, but didn’t score that well with my putter letting me down. But if that’s all I have to work on then that’s pretty good for my concentration levels going into the Ryder Cup.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Derek Fathauer shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Zac Blair in the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship.

Fathauer has already earned a PGA Tour card with a top-25 finish on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list. The 28-year-old former Louisville player had a 12-under 198 total on TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course.

Blair, needing to earn about $40,000 for a PGA Tour card, shot a 71.

Jason Gore was third at 10 under after a 66. Canada’s Adam Hadwin, in position to top the Web.com Tour and four-event Web.com Tour Finals money lists, was 8 under along with Jim Herman and Tyrone Van Aswegen. Herman had a 65, and Hadwin and Van Aswegen shot 67.

The Web.com Tour Finals is limited to the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. The top 25 on the Web.com money list have earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.

Hadwin leads the four-event money list and is second on the combined Web.com list, $15,736 behind Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz missed the cut. Hadwin won the second Finals event in Davidson, North Carolina.

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur birdied four of the last eight holes Saturday for a 5-under 67 and a share of the lead with Paula Reto in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

“Beginning of the round my putting wasn’t that good,” Hur said. “But after turned the nine holes, my putting gets better and better, so I had a low score.”

Reto, the second-round leader, birdied three of the final five holes for a 70 to match Hur at 15-under 201 on Capitol Hill’s links-style Senator layout.

“I didn’t start too well,” said Reto, a former Purdue player from South Africa. “I had a couple bogeys and a double there, but I kept patient and just focused on one shot at a time and it kind of helped me out toward the end of the round.”

Hur won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2009, and Reto is winless in her rookie season.

Top-ranked Stacy Lewis and Kris Tamulis were tied for third at 11 under. Lewis, the 2012 winner in the event dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor, had a 70.

“For the way I played, the score ended up pretty good,” said Lewis, the tour leader with three victories this year. “I didn’t play well. It was kind of a struggle all day and just had to work pretty hard to shoot what I did. But I’m still within striking distance, still have a chance for tomorrow, which that was the goal going into the week.”

Tamulis shot 65, the best round of the day.

“I wasn’t really trying to chase anybody,” Tamulis said. “Didn’t have a great middle of my round yesterday, so I was just going out there. I had some really good numbers today and was able to just kind of go for it.”

Reto rebounded from her double bogey on the par-3 seventh with birdies on the next two holes.

“I wasn’t kind of where I wanted to be with my mental and stuff,” said Reto, who started playing golf at 16 in 2005 when she moved to Florida with her family “So, I just took a couple seconds to myself just to rethink everything, just kind of stayed in there.”

They will play in the same group again Sunday.

“I’m just going to focus on each shot and I will do my best for tomorrow,” Hur said. “Play with Paula will be fun, not much pressure. I mean, she made me so comfortable.”

Reto is in position to win after missing 11 cuts in 18 starts this year.

“It would be really cool. That would put the cherry on the cake,” said Reto, coming off a ninth-place tie in Portland, Oregon. “But I’m not going to think about it. I’m just going to have fun and stuff.”

On the Canadian front, the lone Canadians to make the 36 hole have a share of 50th spot after 54 holes. Hamilton, Ont.’s Alena Sharp and Langley, B.C.’s Sue Kim sit at 1-over 217.