RICHMOND, Va. – Scott McCarron came into the season with a goal of winning the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

He put himself in position to do just that Sunday in the Dominion Charity Classic, making a 6-foot putt on the first hole of a playoff with Tom Byrum to win the second of three PGA Tour Champions playoff events. McCarron will start next week in Scottsdale, Arizona, second in points to two-time defending champion Bernhard Langer with the cup on the line.

“I think it’s awesome. Bernhard Langer’s had a great year, a phenomenal year, one of the best years ever, but it’s a playoff. You’ve got to play well in the playoffs,” McCarron said, who moved into the top five in the rankings by finishing sixth last week in California. “If I can play well next week, I control my own destiny.”

The three-time PGA Tour champion won the Principal Charity Classic in Iowa in June for his first senior victory.

“Any time you win an event, you’ve got a lot of good feelings about your game, you’re playing well. To win in a playoff in the fashion I did just gives you a lot of confidence,” he said. “For me, going into next week, again, I’m second in the Schwab Cup, and if I can win, I can win the Schwab Cup, which I think is amazing.”

McCarron, one of the longest hitters on the tour for players 50 and older, did most of his scoring on the longest holes.

“I thought that if I could take advantage of the par 5s, I could possibly have a great tournament, and I certainly did that for most of the week,” he said.

For the season, McCarron has had birdie or better on 54 per cent of par 5s. This week, be birdied nine out of 13, including the playoff hole.

McCarron and Byrum each shot 3-under 69 in regulation to finish at 13 under on the James River Course at The Country Club of Virginia. Byrum created the tie with a birdie at the 16th hole. Both made pars on the next two holes before McCarron’s winning putt on the extra hole gave him his second victory this season.

Byrum, seeking his first victory in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since the 1989 Kemper Open, putted first, but his 15-foot putter slid past on the left edge. McCarron then rolled a slightly bending putt into the centre of the cup.

“I hit that putt just like I wanted,” said Byrum, who left soon after the loss to catch a plane. “I thought I made it.”

McCarron had missed a birdie putt on the 54th and final hole of regulation to necessitate the playoff.

Kevin Sutherland shot a course-record 63, with seven birdies and an eagle, to tie for third with Brandt Jobe (67) at 11 under.

Fred Funk was alone in fifth at 10 under. He closed with four consecutive birdies for a 67.

Sutherland also challenged for a coveted top five-spot in Scottsdale. But he needed McCarron to falter and, when the 51-year-old did not, Sutherland wound up sixth in the standings.

The points were reset after the event, so that the top five -Langer, McCarron, Colin Montgomerie, Joe Durant and Miguel Angel Jimenez – only have to win the season finale at Desert Mountain to capture the Charles Schwab Cup.

Langer, who played despite a sore knee that kept him out of last week’s tournament, would have locked up the championship weeks ago because of his huge lead in the player standings, but the first-year format means he has to play to claim the title. He shot a 71 on Sunday to tie for sixth at 9 under.

“Glad I played. I know what to work on, a couple of things that weren’t firing,” said Langer, who also won the Cup in 2010 and was the dominant player on the circuit this season. “Spend the next few days working on that and hopefully be ready next week.”

Each dollar earned Sunday was worth two points – McCarron earned $305,000 worth 610,000 – and was added to the regular-season total.

Rod Spittle tied for 39th thanks to a 3-over 75 Sunday. Ames carded a final round even-round of 72 to finish 51st.

Neither Spittle or Ames were among the top 36 who will move on to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale.

IBARAKI, Japan – Shanshan Feng needed every bit of the three-stroke lead she took to final hole Sunday at chilly Taiheiyo Club to finish off her second straight LPGA Tour victory.

The 27-year-old Chinese star closed with a double-bogey 6 to beat Ha Na Jang by a stroke in the TOTO Japan Classic, the last of six straight events in Asia. Feng closed with a 2-under 70 for a 13-under 203 total, the double bogey her only dropped shots since the fourth hole Friday.

She knew she had a three-stroke lead after birdieing the par-5 17th, not that she wanted to know.

“I have a habit where I don’t look at leaderboards when I play, but I accidentally saw the board when I was on the 17th green,” said Feng, the winner last week in steamy Malaysia.

She drove to the left and needed two more shots to reach the green.

“I thought easy two-putt, but the first putt, I just hit it way too hard,” Feng said. “The second putt, I missed and left myself a 3-footer and said, ‘It’s time to make this putt.’ I didn’t want to lose by making a triple bogey on the last.”

The putt – really only about half the length that Feng recounted – fell for her sixth LPGA Tour victory.

Projected to jump from eighth to sixth in the world ranking, Feng has finished no worse than a tie for fourth in her last seven events. She started the run with the Olympic bronze medal in Rio, tied for fourth at Evian in France, opened the Asia trip at home in China with a fourth-place tie, was second behind Jang in Taiwan and tied for third in South Korea.

“Coming into this week I had a lot of confidence and I’m feeling really comfortable,” Feng said. “I knew that I would have a chance because I’ve always liked the Japanese courses that I’ve played and I’ve played well in Japan.”

She broke through at Taiheiyo after losing a playoff to Momoko Ueda in the 2011 event at Kintetsu Kashikojima, the tournament venue from 2006 to last year.

Playing two groups ahead of Feng, Jang birdied 16 and 17 in her third 68. The South Korean player has three victories this year, beating Feng by a stroke in Taiwan.

“Every day, I had strong front nine, but was a little tired on the back nine,” Jang said. “Just tried to be patient every hole. My target was 12-under par this week and I hit my target perfect.”

A stroke ahead after parring the first eight holes, Feng birdied the next three to open a four-shot lead. She made putts from 8 feet on the par-5 ninth, 25 feet on the par-4 10th and 6 feet on the par-4 11th.

“I wasn’t actually striking the ball very well and then I didn’t give myself many birdie chances,” Feng said. “Putting was OK and then after the eighth hole I said to the others in my group, ‘We are the last group, so we need to start making birdies.’ Then, the ninth hole I had a very good chance and made it and then 10th and 11th were great birdies.”

She earned $225,000, giving her $1,062,204 in her last six tour starts. She’s sixth on the money list with $1,416,301 after making $354,097 in her first 15 events.

Feng shot a tournament-best 64 on Saturday to take one-stroke lead over second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn into the final round.

Jutanugarn missed a chance to wrap up the LPGA Tour player of the year award with a victory, shooting a 74 to drop into a tie for 10th at 8 under. The Thai star leads the tour with five victories and also tops the money list.

“Today was just not a good day,” Jutanugarn said. “I missed some tee shots and my putting was so bad.”

The top-ranked Lydia Ko, 14 points behind Jutanugarn in the player of the year race, had a 69 to tie for 43rd at 2 under. Ko and Jutanugarn are skipping the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico and will close the season in two weeks in Florida at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Japan’s Kotone Hori (68) tied for third at 10 under with defending champion Sun-Ju Ahn (70), So Yeon Ryu (68) and Soo-Yun Kang (71). Suzann Pettersen had a 72 in the final group to finish at 9 under.

Lexi Thompson shot a 68 to tie for 14th at 7 under. U.S. Solheim Cup teammate Stacy Lewis tied for 31st at 4 under after a 72. The 2012 champion is winless in 62 starts since June 2014.

LAS VEGAS – One long putt got Lucas Glover going Saturday and put him in position for his first PGA Tour victory in five years.

Glover was even par for his round when he holed a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 8, followed with a 9-foot eagle putt on the next hole and made a pair of birdies and a key par putt in the closing holes for a 6-under 65 in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Glover had a one-shot lead over Brooks Koepka (70) and Rod Pampling (71).

“That eighth hole was kind of the catapult,” Glover said. “I made that long one, and two great shots into 9 and turned in 3 under and kept it going.”

Playing in the final group, Koepka and Pampling were slowed by mistakes and wound up letting a dozen or so players back into the mix. Twenty players were separated by four shots going into the final round at the TPC Summerlin.

“We’ve got a shootout ahead of us tomorrow,” said Glover, who was at 15-under 198. “I like where I stand, but you’re going to have to play good tomorrow.”

Glover pulled ahead when he got up-and-down on the short par-4 15th, two-putted from birdie from about 50 feet on the 16th hole and then made a 5-foot par putt on the par-3 17th. The short putts are what has hurt Glover the most during the five years since the former U.S. Open champion last won at Quail Hollow.

He recently switched to a claw grip to get his shoulders more involved.

“I’ve really been working hard, and it’s starting to pay off,” Glover said. “Eighteen holes tomorrow, and see how many we can make because I’m going to have make some.”

Russell Henley made eight birdies – only one of them from under 10 feet – for a 63, and Geoff Ogilvy ran off four straight birdies late in his round for a 65. They were two shots behind. The group at 12-under 201 included Las Vegas resident Scott Piercy, Harris English and Pat Perez, who missed eight months this year with shoulder surgery. Another Las Vegas resident, Ryan Moore, was in the large group at 11 under.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was three shots back after shooting a 67. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., was tied for 28th place, Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, was tied for 57th and Dundas, Ont., native Mackenzie Hughes was tied for 71st.

Koepka had three bogeys on his opening six holes to fall behind, and he caught up by using his power to make birdie on the par 5s on the back nine and with a 3-wood that he hit to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 15th. He was tied for the lead until pulling his tee shot into the water on the 17th and making bogey, and then he ended his wild round with a sand wedge that spun back to tap-in range on the 18th.

“For as bad as we played today, I was kind of happy to be one off the lead,” Koepka said. “Just kind of struggled with everything. I feel like speed was a bit off, putting never really got comfortable. … Not my best performance, but I guess one off the lead isn’t too bad for how bad we played.”

The final group of Pampling, Koepka and Chris Kirk (75) combined to shoot 3-over par.

“We struggled out there, and at least it was good see Brooks make some birdies at the end,” Pampling said. “They were out there. It was just a few breaks here and there weren’t quite what I had been getting. Hopefully, it’ll turn around tomorrow and we’ll actually post a proper number again.”

Pampling and Glover both had to go back to the Web.com Tour Finals two seasons ago to regain their full tour cards. While it has been since 2011 that Glover last won, Pampling hasn’t won since the 2008 Australian Masters, and his last PGA Tour victory was 10 years ago at Bay Hill.

“I’m not going to lie, there was a little bit of tension early on,” Pampling said. “They guys who are a long way back go low because they’re not protecting a little bit. Obviously, I don’t think we can protect tomorrow, but I feel good. Just go out there and let it go and just hope juices are good. It’s nice to have them.”

RICHMOND, Va. – Scott McCarron and Tom Byrum shared the Dominion Charity Classic lead Saturday, with Bernhard Langer two strokes back in the second of three PGA Tour Champions playoff events.

McCarron shot his second straight 5-under 67, and Byrum had a 69 to reach 10-under 134 on The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course. Langer also had a 69 in his return for a left knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the playoff opener last week in California.

McCarron birdied the par-5 16th and 18th for the second day in a row, holing a 12-footer on 18.

“I made two nice putts on 2 and 3 from probably 30 feet or so,” McCarron said. “It’s always nice to get off to a good start when you’re making putts like that. Then just played pretty solid and took advantage of the par 5s coming in. Really like this golf course. It’s a great track. It’s in perfect shape, we have unbelievable weather, so looking forward to tomorrow.”

Byrum closed birdie-bogey-birdie, making a 20-footer on 18 to tie McCarron.

“I hung in there. Just tried to stay patient,” Byrum said. “Hit the ball decent on the front nine, struggled a lot on the back nine. I had to scramble a little bit, but all in all it was a good day playing under the pressure of leading and guys coming after me. … Maybe I can be a little more aggressive tomorrow.”

Langer is fighting the knee injury that he re-aggravated at home doing routine spinning. The 59-year-old German star leads the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs standings, had a tour-high our victories and has wrapped up the season money title with $2,697,459.

“The worst thing for me is walking downhill and bending,” Langer said. “I can’t bend my knee very well, so I’m just trying to avoid all stress, if possible.”

The playoff field was cut from 72 to 54 for the event, and Tom Lehman dropped out because of an elbow injury. The top 36 after the week will qualify for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship next week in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Each dollar earned in the first two events is worth two points – first place is worth $305,000 and 610,000 points this week – and is added to the regular-season total. At the Charles Schwab Championship, points will be reset so that the top five only have to win to capture the Charles Schwab Cup.

The 51-year-old McCarron is fifth in the standings. He won the Principal Charity Classic in Iowa in June for his first victory on the 50-and-over tour.

“I’m having an absolute blast,” the three-time PGA Tour winner said. “I’m playing with some of my best buddies. When you get to play with Hall of Famers like Bernhard Langer it really is a lot of fun.”

The 56-year-old Byrum is 27th in the standings. He’s winless on the senior tour after winning once on the PGA Tour.

Jay Haas (71), Michael Allen (69), Rocco Mediate (71), Scott Parel (66), Paul Broadhurst (68) and Brandt Jobe (69) were 6 under. The 62-year-old Haas won a month ago in Newport Beach, California, to become the second-oldest winner in tour history.

IBARAKI, Japan – Shanshan Feng shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to take the TOTO Japan Classic lead, putting the Chinese star in position to close the Asian swing with consecutive victories.

Feng birdied the final two holes for a one-stroke advantage over Ariya Jutanugarn, the 20-year-old Thai player who leads the LPGA Tour with five victories. Jutanugarn had a 68 on another chilly day at Taiheiyo Club in the tour’s first tournament in the Tokyo area since 1991.

Feng won last week in steamy conditions in Malaysia. She has finished no worse than a tie for fourth in her last six events. She started the run with the Olympic bronze medal in Rio, tied for fourth at Evian in France, opened the Asia trip at home in China with a fourth-place tie, was second in Taiwan and tied for third in South Korea before winning.

The five-time LPGA Tour winner two-putted for birdie on the par-5 17th, then capped the bogey-free round with a 10-footer on the par-4 18th that caught the left edge, circled the cup and fell in to get her to 11-under 133.

The second-ranked Jutanugarn had six birdies and two bogeys. She has a 13-point lead over Lydia Ko in the player of the year standings. The top-ranked Ko was tied for 52nd at 1 over after a 71.

Suzann Pettersen (66) and Soo-Yun Kang (69) were 9 under on the pine tree-lined Minori Course.

BEAUMONT, Calif. – Three Canadians finished inside the Top-19 on Friday at the Oak Valley Golf Club to advance to the third and final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School.

The Canadian trio were led by Vancouver product Seann Harlingten, who fired four rounds in the 60s to capture sole possession of second place at 17-under par (67-67-68-69). Three strokes back of Harlingten was fellow countryman Aaron Cockerill, who carded a bogey-free final-round 69 en route to punching his ticket to the final stage. The Teulon, Man., native is coming off a full season on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada in which he posted two Top-10 finishes.

Rounding out the Canucks to advance was Calgary’s Ryan Yip, who closed at 8-under par for the tournament, highlighted by a second-round score of 65 (-7). Yip played on the Web.com Tour last season, where he recorded two Top-25 finishes.

Andrew Yun of Chandler, Ariz., took home medallist honours at 21-under par on the heels of an opening-round, tournament-low 62 (-10).

Canada’s David Rose, Robbie Greenwell and Ryan Williams fell short of the T19 cut-line required to advance at Oak Valley.

There are three stage II qualifying sites remaining, all taking place from Nov. 8–12 at various sites across the United States. Seven Canadians will tee-it-up in the remaining events, all looking to join Harlingten, Cockerill and Yip in the final stage where at the very least they will earn conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2017.

The final stage will commence from Dec. 8–11 at the Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla.

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RICHMOND, Va. – Bernhard Langer shot a 5-under 67 on Friday in his return from a left knee injury, and Tom Byrum had a 65 to take the Dominion Charity Classic lead.

Langer missed the PGA Tour Champions’ playoff opener last week in California after re-aggravating the injury at home doing routine spinning.

The 59-year-old German star leads the 50-and-over tour with four victories and has wrapped up the season money title with $2,697,459. He tops the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs standings, 1,038,941 points ahead of second-place Colin Montgomerie.

Byrum birdied three of the final four holes on The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course.

“My putter was really good,” Byrum said. “I didn’t hit a putt that I didn’t feel good about other than the first hole. The first hole, I three putted. I made a bad stroke at the second putt. After that everything kind of settled down and everything got going and it was good. Drove it in the fairway, which you need to do. Hit my irons on the greens because you can hit the greens from the fairways, the rough is tough.”

He had a one-stroke lead over Miguel Angel Jimenez.

“Played well, played solid all day long and no mistakes,” Jimenez said. “One stroke behind the leader, two rounds to go. Nice.”

Langer birdied the final two holes.

Jay Haas, Rocco Mediate and Scott McCarron matched Langer at 67. The 62-year-old Haas won a month ago in Newport Beach, California, to become the second-oldest winner in tour history.

Tom Pernice Jr., the winner last week at Sherwood, topped the group at 68.

Canada’s Rob Spittle was opened with a 70.

The playoff field was cut from 72 to 54 for the event, and Tom Lehman dropped out because of an elbow injury. The top 36 after the week will qualify for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship next week in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Each dollar earned in the first two events is worth two points – first place is worth $305,000 and 610,000 points this week – and is added to the regular-season total. At the Charles Schwab Championship, points will be reset so that the top five only have to win to capture the Charles Schwab Cup.

LAS VEGAS – Rod Pampling followed an opening 11-under 60 with a 68 on Friday to keep the lead in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The 47-year-old Australian rebounded from two early bogeys to get to 14-under 128 at TPC Summerlin. He won the last of his two PGA Tour titles in 2006 at Bay Hill.

“The hole looked really big yesterday,” Pampling said. “I started out today and I didn’t think they’d cut them (the greens) early on. I changed ball markers, and I knew I was playing good, so I just kind of threw out a new vibe, and it started to work. I knew it wasn’t bad, it’s just like it happened, so just let it go. Corrected myself and played nice after that.

Brooks Koepka had two eagles in a 67 to pull within a stroke. He won the Phoenix Open last year for his first tour title and was 3-1 in the United States’ Ryder Cup victory over Europe.

“The ball seems to be finding the hole once we get it on the green, so just get it on the green as quickly as possible,” Koepka said.

Aaron Wise, the NCAA champion last season for Oregon, was two shot back at 12 under with four holes left when play was suspended because of darkness. He eagled the par-5 13th and 16th on his front nine.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was six back after shooting a 64. Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, was tied for 26th place while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., tied for 66th.

Pampling bogeyed two of his first five holes, failing to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the par-4 11th and from the rough over the green on the par-3 14th. He rebounded with birdies on four of the next seven holes, birdied the par-4 seventh, three-putted the par-3 eighth for bogey and two-putted for a closing birdie on the par-5 ninth.

“You’ve just got to trust yourself that you’re playing well,” Pampling said. “I knew I had been, not just yesterday, the form had been good before that. I was confident in myself. I didn’t panic. You can easily panic out there, and you shoot 2, 3 over, and at the end of the day you’re just scratching your head. I just relaxed. I knew it was good, so I let it come to me, and it thankfully did.”

Koepka eagled the par-5 ninth and 16th, and had five birdies and five bogeys – the last a three-putt from the fringe on the par-4 18th to drop out of the lead.

“It was kind of sloppy at points, but I felt like I played pretty well,” Koepka said. “The putter was hot, but just got to clean a few things up.”

Chez Reavie had the round of the day to make the cut, shooting a 61 after opening with a 76. He had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch that ended on the par-4 10th, added birdies on 13 and 15 and chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on 16.

“The biggest challenge for me was just to mentally be in a position to even have a chance of playing well today,” Reavie said. “Fortunately, I was. I was positive and just said I was going to go try and shoot as low as I can and see what happens.”

Chris Kirk was 11 under after a 66.

“Kind of felt better and better as the day went on and was able to roll a few in there on the back nine,” Kirk said.

Keegan Bradley had a 65 to join James Hahn (66) and Pat Perez (66) at 10 under.

“My game feels really good,” Bradley said. “I’ve been playing good for a while now. It’s nice to see some results.”

Defending champion Smylie Kaufman was 4 under after a 67. Fifty-two-year-old Davis Love III also was 4 under after a 70.

Oakville’s Town Council voted unanimously this week to extend an Interim Control By-law (ICB) that restricts the use of the Glen Abbey Golf Club to its existing uses for an additional year. The ICB was originally passed February 1, 2016 and with a one-year extension, will now remain in effect up to and including January 31, 2018.

In the meeting, Mark H. Simeoni, with the town’s planning services department, updated Council on the status of key planning studies underway and explained the town’s reasons for recommending an extension to the ICB.

A first draft of the study is expected in the spring of 2017 with public consultation, revisions if any, and implementation to follow as required. A draft of a cultural heritage assessment is also expected to be completed in the spring of 2017.

Section 38 of Ontario’s Planning Act permits a municipality to pass an ICB for up to a year (with the right to extend the by-law for a further year) in order to complete a review or study of land use policies in the municipality.

ClubLink, the owners of Glen Abbey, has appealed the town’s ICB to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). A appeal hearing is scheduled to begin January 30, 2017 at Oakville’s Town Hall.

Canada’s only PGA TOUR event, the RBC Canadian Open, will take place July 18-24, 2017 at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

IBARAKI, Japan – Ariya Jutanugarn chipped in for birdie on the final hole Friday for a 6-under 66 and a share of the lead in the TOTO Japan Classic, the LPGA Tour’s first tournament in the Tokyo area since 1991.

Jutanugarn birdied six of the last 11 holes in a bogey-free round at fan-packed Taiheiyo Club, holing out from 35 feet on the par-4 18th to join Soo-Yun Kang atop the first-round leaderboard. The 20-year-old Thai star also chipped in on the par-4 10th.

“I played good,” Jutanugarn said. “I missed a few tee shots, but I made some putts and those chips.”

She leads the LPGA Tour with five victories and has a 13-point lead over Lydia Ko in the player of the year standings, not that she’s looking that far ahead.

“Right now, no,” Jutanugarn said “I just try to have fun and enjoy every shot that I hit the ball. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

After a week in steamy and stormy Malaysia, the players wore jackets and sweaters in cool conditions on the pine tree-lined Minori Course. Jutanugarn tied for 43rd in Kuala Lumpur after finishing third the previous week in China.

“Last week, I was just a little bit off with my tee shot,” Jutanugarn said. “Today, I just tried to be a little bit more positive and not think about last week and try to have more fun.”

Kang birdied three of her final four holes

“I had really good putting,” Kang said. “Only 22 putts.”

The 40-year-old South Korean player won the LPGA Tour’s 2005 Safeway Classic and is now a regular on the Japan LPGA. She won the Suntory Ladies in June for her second Japanese title.

“I like Japan, people here, foods, and everything,” Kang said.

Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shin shot 67. Lewis won the 2012 event at Kintetsu Kashikojima

“I think you have to be a good ball-striker to play well here,” the Texan said about Japan.“ I just like being here. It’s one of my favourite countries that we visit. I think you just kind of come with good vibes.”

Wearing a jacket and rain pants to keep warm on the sunny day, Lewis rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 15th with a birdie on the par-5 17th. The 11-time tour champion is winless in 61 starts since June 2014.

She tied for 33rd in Malaysia in her first start since September.

“I took five weeks off,” Lewis said. “I didn’t play a lot this fall and only played two over in Asia. I just needed a break. It was like starting the year again.”

She married University of Houston women’s golf coach Gerrod Chadwell in August.

“Things definitely are changing,” Lewis said. “I’ve changed my schedule. Changed the way I do things. You just have different priorities and kind of realize there are other things to life other than just playing golf all the time. The schedule is going to change because of it, but that doesn’t change how you play on the golf course. You can still win. You just have a little bit more enjoyment off the course.”

Ha Na Jang and Sandra Gal were two strokes back at 68 in the sixth and final event on the LPGA Tour’s fall Asian swing. Jang won last month in Taiwan for her third victory of the year.

China’s Shanshan Feng, the winner in Malaysia, topped the group at 69 along with Minjee Lee, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, So Yeon Ryu and 2008 and 2010 winner Jiyai Shin. Lee won two weeks ago in China for her second victory of the year. Shin won the JLPGA event last week in Saitama.

American Lexi Thompson birdied the final hole for a 73. In May in Japan, she won the JLPGA’s World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup.

The top-ranked Ko had a 74, making two birdies and four bogeys.

“I didn’t strike the ball very well,” Ko said. “The driver and irons, nothing was really clicking and when it’s like that overall it’s really hard to give yourself a lot of birdie opportunities. I struck the ball a little better on the back nine, but still it wasn’t great.”

Gary Matthews caddied for Ko and also will carry her bag in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. Ko fired Jason Hamilton and used Sargunan Suntharaj last week in Malaysia. Hamilton teamed with Jang after his firing.

“We had a few days to work with each other and I think it’s been going pretty good,” Ko said. “I think when I’m out there I need to trust him and he trusts me. It’s been fine. I need to do my role better. Hit the ball better and all that, but it’s been good and he’s got a lot of experience and he brings that to the game.”