GLENVIEW, Ill. – After struggling with his putting much of the round, Tom Lehman made a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship.

The 55-year-old Lehman closed with a 2-under 70 at North Shore and had a 15-under 201 total for his eighth senior title and first since 2012. He rebounded from bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 – his only dropped strokes of the week – with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, parred the par-3 17th and won on the par-4 18th.

“It wasn’t my very best performance today, but it was good enough,” Lehman said.

Michael Allen and Kirk Triplett tied for second, a stroke back. Allen shot 67, and Triplett had a 68.

Lehman, the 1996 British Open winner, opened with rounds of 65 and 66 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. He ended a 27-event victory drought and won $270,000.

“The check is sweet, but the trophy is sweeter,” Lehman said.

His last win was the Schwab Cup Championship at the end of the 2012 season.

Lehman, who was bogey-free and made 13 birdies in the first two rounds, parred the first 11 holes before birdieing No. 12.

“I had a rough start and wasn’t putting like I did the first two days,” Lehman said. “It put me in a bit of a bind. After 14, I told my caddie, `Let’s have the best four holes of the week.'”

Lehman sank an 18-footer on the 15th and a 6-footer on the 16th to get back to 14 under.

Triplett birdied the first, sixth, 13th and 16th holes in his bogey-free round. His approach on the final hole stopped in the back fringe. He missed a 20-foot birdie attempt.

“I said early in the week that 15 under would win and 15 under wins,” Triplett said. “I had some chances, missed a couple and made a couple. I had a pretty tough putt on 18 coming down that hill to keep it on line. So, next week.”

Allen birdied three of the last four holes, with his approach on 18 hitting the flagstick and stopping 4 inches from the cup.

Doug Garwood was fourth at 13 under after a 66. He played the first 10 holes in 4 under and briefly grabbed a share of the lead at 13 under with an eagle on the 16th hole, but three-putted for bogey on the 17th to fall back.

Russ Cochran took advantage of a swing adjustment to shooting the best round of the tournament, an 8-under 64 that left him in a tie for sixth at 10 under.

“I got up on my toes more,” Cochran said. “Seems like a little thing, but it seemed like it did the trick.”

Colin Montgomerie was 10 under after a 70.

Hale Irwin matched his age with a 69 to tie for 39th at 3 under.

Canada’s Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge finished tied for 49th and tied for 73rd respectively.

ROYAL PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Scotland’s Bradley Neil won the Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush after a closely fought final with South African Zander Lombard.

Neil clinched the match with a half on the par 5 35th hole for a 2&1 victory in the 36-hole final. The 18-year-old becames the first Scot to win the Amateur Championship since Stuart Wilson at St Andrews in 2004.

Neil’s form on the back nine and coolness under pressure helped him clinch the title and earned him a place in next month’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay and a traditional invitation to the Masters.

“To play in front of big crowds like this is incredible,” he said. “I would like to thank my caddie Michael Stewart. This win is not just for me it is for everyone that has helped me. I am so proud that my name will be added to the list of past winners.

“It means a lot to me to have the chance to compete with Major champions in The Open.  It will be fantastic it will be a strong test and it will be good to see how my game copes.

“Zander is a brilliant guy and we have been good friends for the last six months. He is a very strong, determined player. He didn’t make it easy for me. He’s got a lot of game and he is a really good talent.”

Despite his disappointment, the 19-year-old Lombard, who was hoping to become only the second South African winner after Bobby Cole in 1966, was delighted to have reached the final and has earned a place in Final Qualifying for The Open Championship.

“I’m very pleased with my achievement,” he said. “My golf’s been good all week. We both played really solid today and I have to say thumbs up to Bradley, he’s an awesome golfer with a lot of talent. We are pretty good friends and it is always nice having really good company on the golf course.

“We both just made a lot of pars and played really solid golf without making any mistakes. I had a few errant shots around the turn of the afternoon round but all in all I am really happy with my performance and my golf and am really looking forward to the rest of my career.”

The final was all square after a closely fought 18 holes in the morning in which both players recorded level par rounds of 70, with Lombard playing the steadier golf. The South African hit 16 of 18 greens in the morning round and had six birdie putts he failed to convert. Neil only managed to find eight greens in regulation but his short game kept him hard on Lombard’s heels.

After the opening exchanges Lombard remained one hole up until the 12th when he missed his first green of the day and failed to get up and down to take the match back to all square. Neil went ahead at the 16th when Lombard bunkered his tee shot and couldn’t advance the ball to the green. Neil meanwhile holed a 10 foot birdie putt. The match went back all square on the par-5, 17th when Neil recorded a bogey after finding the left rough off the tee and Lombard managed a fine birdie.

The afternoon round began the way the morning session ended for Lombard, with the South African failing to take advantage of birdie chances. He watched with dismay as a 15 foot putt at the 19th just curled away from the hole. He missed another birdie putt at the par-3 21st hole, when his 18 foot attempt just shaved the left edge of the hole.

In between, the Pretoria native hit a poor drive at the par-5, 20th hole to find the left rough. His second shot didn’t clear the rough and he lost the hole when Neil made a birdie. Neil was much more composed at the beginning of the afternoon session and he hit seven of the first nine greens.

Lombard got the match back to all square with a birdie three at the 25th when he holed a 20 foot birdie putt. The pair traded holes at the 26th and 27th holes. A wild tee shot into the left rough on the 26th meant a bogey and back to one down for Lombard. He quickly got that back, though, when he holed a six foot putt for birdie to take the match to the 28th all-square.

Neil moved ahead on the back nine, however, when Lombard bogeyed the par 4 28th and the par 3 29th. When Neil won the 31st hole with a bogey five, after Lombard lost his ball with his drive, and the next with a par three, the situation looked ominous for Lombard as he fell four behind. The South African showed his resilience to win the next two holes with birdie threes, including holing from off the green from 20 feet on the 34th hole, but when both players halved in par at the penultimate hole the match was over. Neil had two putts from ten feet to seal his win.

“When he bogeyed 10 and 11, I think that really swung things in my favour,” added Neil. “I went two up and it was going to be tough for him to get back from that. When he lost a ball down 13, I went three up with five to go so it is going to be tough for anyone, especially when I then went four up with four to go. I really wanted it to be over but I’m just glad it is done now.”

Neil, who is currently ranked 38th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking^TM, has followed in the footsteps of players such as Matteo Manassero, Sergio Garcia and Mikko Ilonen in winning the Amateur Championship and can now look forward to playing in The Open at Hoylake next month.

For the full scoring details from the Final visit, click here.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Canada’s Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory.

Vandermade, from Brantford, Ont., had a 12-under 204 total at Blackthorn Golf Club. The 24-year-old former University of Texas player and Team Canada member earned $22,500 to jump from 90th to eighth on the money list with $26,278, with the final top 10 earning 2015 LPGA Tour cards.

“I’m so grateful to everyone that has been supportive of me for the last two years and for my career.” Vandermade said. “This means so much at the moment. It definitely hasn’t been the easiest road to get here so I think it makes this moment even sweeter. I’m just going to enjoy this.”

Lee Lopez was second after a 70. Jackie Stoelting and Jaclyn Jansen tied for second at 9 under. Stoelting finished with a 65, and Jansen shot 67.

Vandermade had a tap-in eagle on the par-5 16th, followed with a par on the par-3 17th and closed with a bogey on the par-4 18th.

“On 16, I knew that it was my moment to be aggressive and I hit a good one,” Vandermade said. “On 17, I just missed the green and then chipped it really close, to within a few inches so that was nice to have an easy par. On 18, I drove it in the rough and I just told myself to hit it up there near the green. Unfortunately, I didn’t make my par putt, but I didn’t need to.”

Other Canadians in the mix were Erica Rivard of Tecumseh, Ont., who finished 12th at 5-under 211. Kelowna, B.C.’s finished 25th at 3-under 211. Natalie Gleadall of Stratford, Ont. even par at 216 and tied for 45th with Sara Maude-Juneau of Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, Que. Danielle Mills of Montreal tied for 72nd at 6-over 222.

CORK, Ireland – Mikko Ilonen shot a final round 70 on Sunday to win the Irish Open by 1 stroke after leading from start to finish.

The 34-year old Finn celebrated his 300th European event and his fourth tour victory with an overall 13-under 271 on the Fota Island course.

Italy’s Edoardo Molinari shot 67 to take second on 12 under.

Local favorite Graeme McDowell never appeared in the hunt for his first Irish Open success, posting a 71 to finish three shots behind Ilonen.

Molinari, along with the England duo of Danny Willett and Matthew Baldwin, secured the three spots available for next month’s British Open at Royal Liverpool.

Eric Locke and Myles Creighton won the Nova Scotia Golf Association (NSGA) Four Ball Championship by a comfortable four strokes after playing a confident and consistent game through 2 rounds of golf at Osprey Ridge this past weekend.

Leading after the first round by a stroke over Marc Lombard of Saulnierville, NS and Stephane Leblanc of Meteghan, NS, Locke and Creighton continued with another impressive performance Sunday, both tying for the lowest round of the day at 66 (-5).

When asked what lead to the strong performance both golfers said it was a combination of staying out of trouble and hitting greens in regulation.

“Today we only really got in trouble on hole No. 4,” said Locke. “Myles hit a stray tee shot and I made a tough par – otherwise we played very well, lots of on in two shots.”

Despite their eventual four-stroke victory, things were close. River Hill’s Ryan Dixon and Jody Swim of Shelburne, NS had moved within one shot of Locke and Creighton through 9 holes.

“At the turn we heard we were one stroke up,” said Creighton. “Fortunately we birdied #11 and #12, then there was a delay on #13 and we saw Dixon and Swim had a tough hole, so we knew we had a bit of breathing room then.”

The win is particularly special for childhood friends Locke and Creighton.

“It’s really special,” explained Locke.  “We played together at a young age, and Myles is my best friend. To able to win with him is special.”

Having played together so long has turned the duo into virtual caddies for one another.

“Eric was the one who got me into golf,” Creighton added. “We know each other so well, how far we hit each club. Eric pretty much told me every club I should hit today. He’s very familiar with my game”.

Both have had success at the provincial level before. Locke with provincial junior titles in 2008, 2009 and Creighton with Midget and Juvenile titles, and this latest win has undoubtedly added to their confidence.

Finishing in second was Yarmouth’s Morgan Penney and Derek Boudreau who carded a stellar 9-under. Lombard and Leblanc came in third at 7-under.

For full results of the 2014 NSGA Men’s Four Ball Championship please, click here.

(FORT MCMURRAY, Alta.) – In what is becoming a regular occurrence on PGA Tour Canada this season, Clarkston, Washington’s Joel Dahmen finds himself atop the leaderboard once again after shooting 4-under par at Fort McMurray Golf Club to take a five stroke lead into the final round of the Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON.

The Order of Merit leader got his day started right with birdies on two of his first three holes to break away from the field and look as though he may run away and hide with the Order of Merit lead through three events. Dahmen led by five over Las Cruces, New Mexico’s Tim Madigan and by six over Syracuse, N.Y.’s Daniel McCarthy and defending champion Riley Wheeldon of Comox, B.C. through three rounds.

“I didn’t make a bogey today, which is huge. It was kind of a goal of mine,” said Dahmen, who has made just two bogeys for the week and is without a blemish on the scorecard in his last 35 holes. “It’s been great.”

After cruising along for much of the day without trouble, the 26-year old faced a difficult sand save on the par-3 15^th and a 15-foot par putt following an indifferent bunker shot. The ensuing putt, however, found the cup for par, keeping Dahmen’s momentum going.

“I hadn’t been close to a bogey all day, so I said to my caddie, ‘We have to make this one.’ There was a little fist pump in there. That was huge,” said Dahmen, who shared the 54-hole lead here last year before finishing tied for fourth.

Despite the considerable lead heading into Sunday and the chance to take a vice grip on PGA TourCanada’s Order of Merit, the former University of Washington Husky isn’t getting too far ahead of himself before a chance to close the deal in the final round.

“It’s far from over,” said Dahmen. “One swing and you make double or triple and a guy makes birdie and it’s back to square one. If I go out tomorrow and shoot four- or five-under and play well it’s going to be very difficult for somebody to catch me, and that’s going to be the plan.”

Dahmen added that the big lead wouldn’t lead to a change in his strategy at Fort McMurray Golf Club on Sunday.

“I’m not taking too many chances, but it’s more of a conservative strategy with an aggressive swing,” said Dahmen. “My strategy isn’t overly aggressive, but my mind frame has to be.”

Canada is well represented in the top 10 thru three rounds. Riley Wheeldon shot 66 Saturday and is tied for third. Montreal’s Beon Young Lee, who recently earned an exemption into the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, shot 69 and is tied for fifth with Ryan Williams, who carded 72.

Devin Carrey of Burnaby BC is 11-under at the close of 3 solid rounds and is tied for eighth.

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Tom Lehman opened a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship, shooting a bogey-free 6-under 66 before play was suspended because of a thunderstorm.

Lehman had a 13-under 131 total at North Shore Country Club, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. The 55-year-old Minnesotan won the last of his seven senior titles in 2012.

“It’s been a while since I had one bogey-free round, and to do two in a row is special,” Lehman said. “I haven’t missed many putts inside 6 feet. If you were to rate whether I’m making the most of my opportunities, I think you’d say I’m doing pretty well.”

The 1996 British Open winner chipped in from 20 feet for a birdie and made five putts, the longest from 7 feet, for his other birdies.

Thirty-one players were unable to finish the round.

Kirk Triplett, John Inman, Roger Chapman and Bart Bryant were 10 under. Triplett and Inman shot 67, Chapman had a 68, and Bryant had two holes left when play was washed out for the day. Bryant was 5 under for the day.

Triplett hit 14 greens, one-putted seven of them and chipped in for birdie on another.

“There are plenty of birdie chances here,” Triplett said about North Shore, hit by hard rain early in the week and another shower Saturday. “The greens are not going to firm up.”

Inman advanced to the quarterfinals in the 1983 U.S. Amateur at North Shore.

“I came out here and I didn’t remember a hole,” Inman said.

Michael Allen was four strokes back at 9 under, also with two holes left.

Colin Montgomerie, the Senior PGA Championship winner in his last tour start, was 5 under for the day and 8 under overall with two holes left.

Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer was 5 under with five holes to play.

Defending champion Craig Stadler was 1 over with two holes remaining.

Canada’s Rob Spittle shot 73 Saturday to place him among a group tied for 34th.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Ryan Moore is in contention in the Travelers Championship – again.

Moore had an eagle and two birdies Saturday in a bogey-free 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Aaron Baddeley into the final round.

“This is a tournament I really want to win and I know it’s a tournament I can win,” said Moore, who has four top-10 finishes in eight starts in the event.

The 31-year-old Moore had a 13-under 197 total at TPC River Highlands after opening with rounds of 63 and 68. He won the CIMB Classic in Malaysia at the start of the season in October for his third PGA Tour title.

“Today was a great examples of `It doesn’t have to be pretty’ to shoot a great golf score,” Moore said. “I honestly didn’t feel great all day hitting the ball, but drove it well enough to kind of keep myself out of trouble.”

Moore eagled the par-5 sixth, holing a 37-foot putt from just off the green, to take the lead early in the afternoon. He has made one eagle in each of his three rounds this week.

The eagle on No. 6 was something of a lucky break, Moore says, as his drive was off target.

“I hit it right off the tee, quite a bit right and straight into the trees, which is not a good place to be, and obviously walking up I did not think I was going to have a shot at all,” Moore said. “Just planned on pitching out almost sideways with the way the rough is. And apparently got a really good bounce and chased way down the cart path, and I was actually still sitting on the edge of the cart path and I was only maybe 230 yards out. So it had gotten pretty far down there.”

Moore chipped in for a birdie on No. 11 to move to 12 under and break a four-way tie for the lead.

No one who has held a share of the third-round lead has won the Travelers since Stewart Cink in 2008.

Baddeley had six birdies and a bogey in a 65.

“Around here you feel like you should birdie every hole. There are a lot of birdie holes out there,” said Baddeley, the Australian who won the last of his three PGA Tour titles in 2011. “But you have to be patient.”

Sergio Garcia, K.J. Choi, Scott Langley and Michael Putnam were tied for third at 11 under. Garcia had a 65, Choi shot 69, Langley 70 and Putnam 69.

Garcia has five top-10 finishes in nine PGA Tour starts this season, and won the European Tour’s Qatar Masters in January.

“It’s been a solid season so far,” Garcia said. “There’s no question I’d like to have played better at the Masters and last week (at the U.S. Open).”

Masters champion Bubba Watson was nine strokes back after a 67. He won in 2010 at River Highlands.

Former Stanford star Patrick Rodgers, making his pro debut, was 4 under after a 71.

Defending champion Ken Duke was 2 under after a 71.

Graham DeLaet, the sole Canadian on the field, carded 71 to go 1 under and hold a share of 67th heading into the final round.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Michelle Wie steadied herself with pars over the last four holes on a wild Saturday in the U.S. Women’s Open, leaving the former teen prodigy from Hawaii one round away from winning her first major.

Wie made back-to-back birdies to build a four-shot lead, only to give it all back with drives all over Pinehurst No. 2. She salvaged a 2-over 72 for a share of the lead with Amy Yang, who didn’t make a par until the eighth hole in her roller-coaster round of 68.

They were at 2-under 208, the only two players still under par on a Pinehurst No. 2 course that was crispy and brittle. The USGA set the course up relative to what the men faced last Saturday in the U.S. Open – short but tough because of the pin positions.

“It’s tough out there,” Wie said. “My system got a little overheated. You can’t be in the trees here. But I felt like I grinded out there.”

The big surprise was the tournament-best 66 from Juli Inkster, the 53-year-old Hall of Famer who has said this will be her 35th and final U.S. Women’s Open.

Inkster, who hasn’t made the cut in this championship in five years, was tied for third just four shots behind. She will be in the penultimate group, though a long shot to become the oldest LPGA major champion by 10 years.

“You can think and you can dream all you want,” Inkster said. “But the bottom line is you’ve got to come out and make the shots. And if I’m tied for the lead coming up 18, then maybe I’ll think about it. I’ve got a long way to go. I’m just going to enjoy the moment and hit a few balls and see what happens.”

Lexi Thompson, who won the first LPGA major of the year in a final-round duel with Wie, pulled within one shot with a pair of early birdies.

It fell apart on two holes.

Thompson missed the green to the left on No. 8 – the worst spot at Pinehurst – and her first chip fell down the slope, leading to double bogey. On the next hole, she went long over the green and chose to take relief she really didn’t need from a white line marking the TV tower. Thompson went to the drop zone, and her ball rolled back into a divot. Worst yet, she still used her putter, and it hopped high out of the divot and had no chance to reach the green. She made another double bogey, then made three straight bogeys on the back nine.

Thompson (74) was five shots behind, still in the game.

Na Yeon Choi had a 71 and was in the group with Inkster at 2-over 212 along with Stephanie Meadow (69) and 18-year-old amateur Minjee Lee of Australia (72). Another shot back were So Yeon Ryu, who played her final 10 holes in 3 under for a 70, and Karrie Webb, who went the final 12 holes without a bogey for a 70.

“Michelle Wie has put a few of us back into the tournament,” Webb said. “Two hours ago, I didn’t think I had a shot. I’m pretty happy about that.”

About the time Thompson imploded, Wie began to pull away. She made a 5-foot par putt on No. 8, followed that with an 8-iron to 8 feet for birdie on the ninth and then hit a beautiful lag from about 80 feet for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 10th, where the tees were moved so forward that Wie hit 8-iron for his second shot.

One swing changed everything.

The back tee on No. 11 was used for the first time all week, playing at 444 yards.

Lucy Li, the 11-year-old who missed the cut as the Women’s Open’s youngest qualifier in history, walked the final 12 holes with the last group. “Man, that hole is like 10 times harder from there,” she said. “Well, maybe not for them.”

Definitely for them based on their shots.

Wie hit a snap-hook that rambled through the trees and left her no shot but to go sideways and slightly back. She hit her third in a greenside bunker, blasted out about 25 feet long and nearly off the green and made double bogey. Her next tee shot – again with the driver – sailed right through the trees and settled on a sandy path. And while it led to bogey, this was a moment that showed Wie might be ready to win a Women’s Open.

She could have punched a low shot over the bunker, though it likely would have gone over the back of the green, leaving a difficult pitch. Instead, she punched out toward the fairway, hit wedge to about 18 feet and took bogey.

“U.S. Opens are tough,” she said. “I feel like maybe on a different golf course, I would have taken that chance. You just don’t want to be too greedy out here. Even though you make bogey, sometimes you just don’t want to make a double out here. I felt like I made the right decision there.”

Yang didn’t make a par until the eighth hole – she started with three bogeys and four birdies. She had the outright lead until a sloppy bogey on the 18th from the fairway. Even so, it’s another chance for 24-year-old from South Korea. She played in the final group two years ago with Choi and was runner-up.

“I’m much better at controlling my emotion and controlling the nervous feeling,” Yang said. “I think it’s going to be a fun round.”

Canada’s 16 year old amateur Brooke Henderson leads the Canadians after shooting 3 solid rounds, including a 72 today to tie for 18th going into the final day.

Sue Kim carded a 79 Saturday and is tied for 56th.

CORK, Ireland – Mikko Ilonen of Finland birdied the last hole to stay on top of the Irish Open leaderboard after the third round on Saturday.

Ilonen, who has led from the outset, carded a 2-under-par 69 to move to a 12-under total at Fota Island.

The leader by two shots overnight, Ilonen will take a one-shot lead into the final round over Danny Willett of England, who eclipsed Ilonen’s own course record by a shot with an 8-under 63 that also included a hole-in-one at the seventh.

One shot further back on 10 under was crowd favorite Graeme McDowell, who birdied two of his closing three holes in a score of 69. The Northern Irishman was not only targeting a first victory this year but also a maiden Irish Open victory.

“It’s been fun to come here this week after the pressures of last week’s U.S. Open and just let off some steam and relax, and enjoy my golf again, and also enjoy the odd pint of Guinness in the evenings,” McDowell said.

“I will now try and give the crowds what they want tomorrow, and that’s an Irish winner, but then there is a lot of names up on the leaderboard who will have issues with that.

“Winning the Irish Open is well up my leaderboard as far as wish lists of golf tournaments I would like to win, and to win would do many things like kick start my season and boost my Ryder Cup chances.”

He noted an Irish winner would also cap a good week for Irish golf, with Royal Portrush added to the British Open rotation, and Rory McIlroy committing to representing Ireland at the 2016 Olympics.

Ilonen confessed he wore an emerald-colored shirt to try and win over the large Irish crowds.

The Finn could have easily finished two clear when his attempted eagle chip shot at 18 lipped out, leaving a three-footer for his birdie.

“I decided to wear a green shirt today, and the fans were really pleased, but then I knew my course record wouldn’t last long and I called that,” Ilonen said.

“But I feel really comfortable out there, and really pleased to birdie 18, and get back the lead.”

Willett recorded his second hole-in-one of the year, after one at the China Open.

“It was a perfect number, wind out of the left with an 8-iron, kind of saying go in and not really quite sure, but it slam-dunked in the hole,” Willett said after his second 63 of the year.