CHONBURI, Thailand – South Korea’s Amy Yang won the Honda LPGA Thailand on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour title, finishing with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over American Stacy Lewis and two others.

Yang broke a tie with Lewis with a three-stroke swing on the par-4 15th. Yang made a short birdie putt on the hole, and Lewis had a double bogey after blasting a 67-yard wedge shot over the green. Yang bogeyed No. 16 and closed with two pars to finish at 15-under 273 on Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course.

“I don’t know what just happened,” Yang said. “I still can’t believe I did it today.”

The 25-year-old Yang is projected to jump from 16th to 11th in the world ranking.

“I was a little bit nervous out there, but I tried to focus on how low I can go today, just focus on my game,” said Yang, also the 2013 LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship winner in South Korea.

She has finished in the top five in her last tour starts. She was second last week in the Women’s Australian Open, two strokes behind top-ranked Lydia Ko.

“I worked hard in this offseason and I really wanted to come back and play well,” Yang said. “It came earlier than I thought. I’m going to keep working hard.”

Lewis, the third-round leader, finished with a 72 to match Taiwan’s Yani Tseng and South Korea’s Mirim Lee at 13 under. Tseng, the 2011 and 2012 winner, had a 67, and Lee shot 69.

Tseng won the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in 2012.

“I played good, but I missed bunch of putts out there,” Tseng said. “I was just actually a little nervous out there when I was putting.”

Spain’s Beatriz Recari had a 63 to match the course record. She tied for fifth at 12 under with South Korea’s Sei Young Kim (65).

JOHANNESBURG – Andy Sullivan won his second European Tour title in South Africa in just over a month after closing with a 6-under 66 for a 17-under total and a two-shot victory at the Joburg Open on Sunday.

Sullivan’s second European win came in the same city as his first after he won the South African Open in Johannesburg in January.

The Englishman began Sunday three shots behind leader Wallie Coetsee at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, but went top after five birdies in his front nine on the East Course. He only made two birdies on the second nine but that was enough to hold off a big group of chasers down the home stretch.

Sullivan finished two clear of a five-way tie for second made up of Kevin Phelan, Jaco van Zyl, Anthony Wall, David Howell and Coetsee.

Sullivan and fellow Englishmen Wall and Howell also claimed the three places at the British Open at St. Andrews that were on offer.

The 28-year-old Sullivan is making a habit of big final-day moves after charging up the leaderboard to beat Charl Schwartzel in a playoff at the South African Open for his first career title six weeks ago.

“It’s unbelievable,” Sullivan said. “I never imagined it would happen again so quickly. Coming down the stretch, me and my caddie were loving life again and enjoying it. It seems to be a theme. (I’m) enjoying my golf and getting the right results at the moment.”

South Africa’s Coetsee was in pole position for his maiden European Tour title after starting Sunday with a two-shot lead, but he could only make three birdies and two bogeys in his 71, his worst round of the week.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Top-ranked Lydia Ko won the New Zealand Women’s Open on Sunday for her second straight victory.

The 17-year-old New Zealander, the Women’s Australian Open winner last week for her sixth LPGA Tour title, closed with a 1-under 70 at Clearwater for a four-stroke victory.

“I really wanted to win in front of such great crowds,” Ko said. “This is probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen. It’s always cool winning on home ground. We were walking up 16 and (playing partner Giulia Sergas) said `They like you.’ I said, `Well, it’s home.'”

She has 10 worldwide victories in professional events, also winning at Clearwater as an amateur in 2013.

“The more Ws the better,” Ko said. “I think I had a really good (offseason) break, which got me fresh going into this year.”

On Saturday, Ko broke the course record with a career-best 61 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. She had five birdies, a double bogey and two bogeys Sunday to finish with a tournament-record 14-under 202 total.

“This is even better than I would ever have imagined,” Ko said. “It’s just great to have won the two Opens back to back.”

Australian amateur Hannah Green was second after a 68.

Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen was third at 9 under after a 71.

England’s Charley Hull had a 75 to tie for sixth at 7 under.

Hull pulled within two strokes of Ko with an eagle on the par-5 10th. She fell back with a double bogey after hitting into the water on No. 12 – Ko birdied the hole for a three-shot swing – and bogeys on Nos. 15, 17 and 18.

The tournament was sanctioned by the European and Australian tours.

BEAUMONT, Calif. – Katie Kempter won the Volvik Championship at Morongo Golf Club in cold, wet conditions Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, beating Lee Lopez with a par on the second hole of a playoff.

With the temperature in the low-40s with light rain and wind gusting to 20 mph, Kempter birdied the final three holes of regulation for a 1-under 71 and got in the playoff when Lopez bogeyed the final hole for a 72. They finished at 5-under 211.

“It is a little surreal,” said Kempter, from Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I didn’t know what to think when I realized I won, but this is very special.”

They parred the par-4 18th on the first extra hole, and Kempter won on the hole a few minutes later when Lee lipped out a short par putt.

“You never want to see someone lip out to decide the outcome,” Kempter said. “I was like, `Oh, my gosh, this actually happened.'”

The 27-year-old former University of Denver player was making her 70th tour start. She earned $15,000 to move into second on the money list after two events. The final top 10 will earn 2016 LPGA Tour cards.

“A win is huge, but it doesn’t mean your work is done,” Kempter said. “There is a lot of work to go, it is just the very beginning of the season, but it is a nice way to start the year for sure.”

Kempter qualified for the LPGA Tour in 2010 through Q-school.

“I had a lot to learn. I wasn’t ready for the LPGA Tour when I was out there,” Kempter said. “Mentally, I wasn’t ready, but physically I had the game. If it’s my time to go back out there next year great. I would love to be back out on the LPGA Tour.”

Canadian Maude-Aimee LeBlanc held the lead heading into the final round, but carded a final round 80 to slip into a tie for 4th at even par.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Padraig Harrington is a 36-hole leader on the PGA Tour for the first time in nearly five years and he knows he has a long way to go.

A vicious storm Saturday at the Honda Classic made his weekend even longer.

Harrington made six birdies in the 12 holes he played Saturday morning in the rain-delayed tournament to complete a 4-under 66 and take a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed, with Ian Poulter and Brendan Steele another shot behind.

The third round ended 51 minutes after it started because of a storm that packed 50 mph gusts and dumped about 5 inches of rain on PGA National. The storm was so severe that it created an air bubble on the 18th green the size of a sea turtle, caused the sides of bunkers to cave in and toppled an electronic scoreboard off a platform and down to the bottom of a lake.

“That’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it rain,” Russell Knox of Scotland said after a 68 left him four shots behind.

Only 24 players completed a hole before the storm arrived, causing the third delay of the week. The plan was to return at 10 a.m. Sunday to resume the round, and continue with the same pairings to play as much as possible on Sunday. The tournament now is to end on Monday.

“We’ve got pretty much a mess,” said Slugger White, the tour’s vice president of competition.

It helps that the next event is a World Golf Championship about a 90-minute drive down the highway at Doral, and there is no pro-am.

Harrington, the three-time major champion from Ireland, has fallen to No. 297 in the world and couldn’t qualify for Doral even if he were to win. He won the Indonesian Open on the Asian Tour at the end of last year, ending a four-year drought dating to another Asian Tour event.

His last PGA Tour victory was his second straight major, the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. He said the benefit of playing Indonesia was a boost to his confidence, on and off the golf course. At such a small tournament, his name resonates.

“They treat you like a star, you play like a star,” he said. “I’m back to being a three-time major winner. I went for that reason – to give my ego a boost. There’s definitely a lot to being a big fish in a small pond.”

That was a proper analogy when PGA National turned into a pond, and Harrington surely played the role of a big fish.

Thanks to nearly four hours of rain delays Friday, he made it through six holes and returned Saturday with back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes, and then another from about 10 feet on No. 1, posing over just about every shot.

After a bogey set up by a wild tee shot on the par-5 third hole – he had to pitch down the second fairway because of the trees – Harrington ran off three straight birdies before a few loose tee shots cost him. The rough had become so thick and wet that he couldn’t reach the green on his last two holes, making bogeys on both.

He finished at 7-under 133.

“It’s nice to be in contention,” Harrington said. “I’m very positive about my game coming in here this week. I don’t know what’s going to happen the next 36 holes, but I have a good idea where I’m going. I’m pretty confident.”

Reed finished his 67 on Friday.

Poulter matched the low round of the week at PGA National with a 64 and was two shots back. He holed out for eagle with a sand wedge on the fourth hole and dropped only one shot on the back nine.

“If I play half as good as I’ve obviously played today, then I’m going to have a chance come Sunday,” Poulter said.

Steele’s 69 score doesn’t reflect his up-and-down day. He didn’t make a par until the 10th hole, playing the front nine with six birdies and three bogeys. And then he made nothing but pars on the back nine except for a double bogey on the 16th.

Luke Donald finished his 67 on Friday and was another shot back at 4-under 136.

The cut was at 4-over 144 and didn’t include Rory McIlroy. His first tournament in America in five months lasted only two days for the world’s No. 1 player. McIlroy bogeyed three of his last four holes on Friday for a 74 and missed the cut by three shots.

Phil Mickelson, who had missed two straight cuts on the West Coast swing, finished up at 67 on Saturday and was five shots behind.

The focus on Sunday starts with Harrington.

“Through 27 holes, I was the most confident guy in the world, and less so at the moment,” he said after his bogey-bogey finish. “I know it’s going to be a long weekend, and a tough weekend. I have two options. I can play well on the weekend or I can dig deep and hang in there.”

Canadian Update:

Adam Hadwin was the lone Canadian to make the cut. The Abbotsford, B.C. native carded a 71 in round 2 to squeak into weekend action.

JOHANNESBURG – Wallie Coetsee takes a two-shot lead into the final round of the Joburg Open after a 2-under 70 on Saturday.

Chasing a first European Tour title, Coetsee extended his overnight lead by a shot with five birdies and two bogeys to go 14 under par at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington.

There are four players tied for second behind him, with fellow South Africans Tjaart van der Walt and Jacques Blaauw, and Englishmen David Howell and Steve Webster 12 under.

Coetsee managed just one birdie in his first nine but recovered to create an advantage for himself heading into Sunday’s final round.

He is also chasing a place at the British Open. The leading three finishers in the top 10 at the Joburg Open will qualify.

CHONBURI, Thailand – Stacy Lewis held on to lead Amy Yang by one stroke at the LPGA Thailand despite a dismal third-round 73 on Saturday.

Leading overnight by three shots after a second-round 64, Lewis had three straight bogeys in the front nine before the American fired a five-foot eagle on the 15th hole to regain the lead from South Korea’s Yang.

Third-ranked Lewis had five bogeys – including at the 18th – and two birdies at the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course for a three-day total of 13-under 203.

Sandra Gal of Germany shot 68 for third place, a further stroke behind Yang.

“It was a bit all over the place today,” Lewis said. “Hit some good shots, hit some shots too far.”

Yang bogeyed Nos. 12 and 14 before back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes saw her finish with a 71.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Rory McIlroy’s first PGA Tour event in five months lasted only two days.

His road to the Masters hit a speed bump Friday in the Honda Classic when the world’s No. 1 player managed only one birdie in the rain, stumbled badly down the stretch and headed home for the weekend after a 4-over 74, the first time in nearly a year he had consecutive rounds over par.

The cut officially will not be made until Saturday because of a rain delay of nearly four hours, though he knew the score. And he wasn’t happy about it.

“I don’t like missing cuts,” McIlroy said. “You want to be playing on the weekend, and I’m not there. I’m not going to be playing this weekend, which is not nice.”

It was pleasant enough for Patrick Reed, who recovered from a double bogey early in his round by playing bogey-free the rest of the way for another 67. He was the clubhouse leader at 6-under 134. None of the late starters had enough light to play more than 12 holes before the second round was suspended by darkness.

Brendan Steele birdied all four holes he played and was at 8 under.

The Honda Classic is considered the start of the buildup to the Masters, and McIlroy is getting more attention than anyone over the last two decades except for Tiger Woods. McIlroy is No. 1 in the world. He already has won this year. And a green jacket is all that’s missing for him to become the sixth player with the career Grand Slam.

He’s also not about to panic.

“I guess after coming off a three-week break, and then felt a little … I wouldn’t say rusty, but just not quite on top of my game yesterday,” McIlroy said. “And then today, I felt like I was trying to get something going and couldn’t. Coming off three weeks off and playing in conditions like these, it sort of shows you where you’re game is at. Just got to regroup and put some work in and get ready for Miami next week.”

McIlroy is playing twice more before the Masters.

“I wouldn’t worry and read too much into it,” Luke Donald said after a 67 put him at 4-under 136, two shots behind Reed. “Rory has been by far the best players in the world for the last year or so.”

Reed made double bogey on No. 11 – his second hole of the round – and then the rain became so heavy that play was stopped, first for about two hours, and then for nearly another two hours.

“Made for a long day,” Reed said. “But to get off to a rough start with making that double on 11 and to be able to play bogey-free from there on out, it meant a lot to me just because it means my game is where it needs to be.”

McIlroy lives a short drive from PGA National, though that’s not where he wanted to be for the weekend.

While the three bogeys at the end of the round cost him, what really hurt was a bogey on the par-5 18th as he made the turn. He felt his lie in the left rough was good enough for him to go for the green with a fairway metal. It wasn’t, and the ball came up short and into the water, leading to bogey.

That’s also where the big turnaround for Brooks Koepka occurred.

Koepka, who grew up in West Palm Beach, played with McIlroy and Dustin Johnson and opened with a 78. On the 18th, his approach hit a cart path and bounced over the sky box and onto the other side. It took a rules official some time to even figure out where he was. He received a free drop on the other side, 70 yards away, hit wedge to 20 feet and holed the putt.

“I guess you could say it was the kick-start I needed,” Koepka said.

That was the centerpiece of three straight birdies, and Koepka kept right on rolling to fulfill a mission. Swing coach Claude Harmon told him to try to do 10 shots better than a 78, and the 24-year-old told him, “I’ll do better than that.” He shot 64 – a 14-shot improvement – to finish at 2-over 142.

Johnson, a contender at Pebble Beach and Riviera the last two weeks, wasn’t so fortunate. He three-putted from 3 feet on the seventh hole, shot 75 and finished at 12-over 152 to miss his second cut this year.

McIlroy missed the cut for the 29th time in 191 tournaments worldwide, and for the 11th time on the PGA Tour. His last weekend off was at the Irish Open last summer. Boy Wonder has a history of getting streaky with wins and missed cuts, though this would be appear to be more of an aberration.

“It was funny, it felt like the first tournament of the season when I’ve actually played two events,” McIlroy said, referring to his runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi and victory in Dubai. “I felt yesterday maybe a little tentative, just maybe trying to ease my way into the round a little bit and not really being that aggressive. That’s why it’s nice to have four rounds next week to try and put that right.”

CANADIAN UPDATE:

Adam Hadwin was the lone Canadian not to finish Friday. The Abbotsford, B.C. native was sitting 3 over mid-way thru his second round.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. (70-75) was 5-over and sitting tied for 81st, in danger of missing the cut.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. (75-75) was 10 over and will miss just his second cut of the season.

ACTON, Ont. —With most of Canada in a deep freeze, the prospects of green grass, warm winds and championship golf seem like a fantasy.

However, the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship hosted at Turtle Hill Golf Club at The Fairmont Southampton in Southampton, Bermuda, is a golfer’s dream reprieve from the cold and snow.

Now in its sixth year, the championship takes place March 27-29 and is expected attract participants from 15 different countries, including a number of players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC.

The Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship has steadily grown in popularity and prestige over the past five years,” said Adam LeBrun, Tournament Director and Managing Director of Championships and Events for the PGA of Canada. “This year will be no different and look forward to another star-studded international field on a golf course that is truly second-to-none.”

With a total prize purse of $75,000 (USD), the top 50 per cent will be paid out with the champion taking home the first place prize of $20,000. In addition, a number of cars will be up for grabs as hole-in-one prizes.

Entry into the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship is $325 (USD) with registration closing on March 6th.

In addition to the professionals in the championship, the field will be rounded out by amateur golfers—from Bermuda, the United States, Canada and Europe—vying for titles in the men’s, women’s and senior divisions.

Entry into the amateur divisions is $275 (USD) with registration also closing on March 6th.

The Turtle Hill Golf Club has been recognized by Golf Magazine as one of the “Top 5 Par 3 Courses in the World” and is a recipient of Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play Golf Award.”

Past champions of the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship include Bermudian Daniel Augustus, Canadian and PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor, PGA of Canada member Ian Doig, American Jordan Mitchell and last year’s winner Mark Mouland of the European Senior Tour.

For more information about registering for the 2015 Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship, CLICK HERE.

JOHANNESBURG – Wallie Coetsee holds a one-shot lead at the Joburg Open after a 6-under 65 on Friday put him 12 under par and at the front of a group of South Africans.

Coetsee leads from fellow home players Garth Mulroy and Tjaart van der Walt at the halfway mark of the European Tour event in Johannesburg, with England’s Simon Dyson also tied for second at 11 under.

Coetsee opened with a 66 on the tougher, par 72 East Course on Thursday, and took his strong form onto the par 71 West Course in the second round.

Coetsee had three straight birdies to start and finished with five birdies and an eagle in all, and just one bogey.

Coetsee is seeking his maiden European Tour title after breaking his 17-year drought on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour last year.

“Somebody must wake me up, it feels like a dream,” he said.

An extra bonus could await Coetsee with the leading three players in the top 10 at the Joburg Open not already exempt qualifying for a place at the British Open at St. Andrews.

Mulroy carded a 68 and Van der Walt a 69 on the East Course. Dyson, also on the East, had six birdies and a bogey in his 67.

Players play a round each on the West and East courses before play moves to the East Course for the weekend.

New Europe Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke was at 1-over 144 after two rounds to miss the cut at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington.