CENTURION, South Africa – English golfer Ross Fisher secured his first European Tour title in four years with a three-shot victory in the Tshwane Open on Sunday.

Fisher, who started the day with a five-stroke lead, saw off a challenge from Michael Hoey that briefly cut his advantage to one shot.

Fisher responded with an eagle at the long 15th from 25 feet to see off the Northern Irishman, who finished on 17 under for a share of second place with South Africa’s Danie van Tonder. Spain’s Carlos Del Moral was a shot behind in fourth.

Fisher, who now has five European Tour titles, said “I’m just thrilled to get over the line. It was a testing day with the weather conditions and playing with Mike he put up a great challenge for me.”

SINGAPORE – Paula Creamer sank a 75-foot eagle putt on the second playoff hole against Azahara Munoz to win the HSBC Women’s Champions on Sunday for her first LPGA title since the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open.

Creamer’s putt curled across the 18th green and then rolled slowly down the slope and directly into the hole. She ran across the green, then fell to her knees and put her head on the ground, laughing and pounding the grass.

“It’s one of those putts where if you just get it in the right spot, it’s going to fall down,” she said. “But I could stand there all day long and putt that and I don’t think get it within six, seven feet.”

Creamer and Munoz finished 72 holes tied at 10-under 278, one stroke ahead of Karrie Webb, who led after every round but bogeyed three of her last six holes to give up a three-shot lead and finish third.

Creamer captured eight titles early in her career before getting her breakthrough win at a major at the U.S. Women’s Open.

After that title, though, Creamer found it tough to win again. She came close on a number of occasions, only to fall short every time.

Two years ago, she lost an LPGA record nine-hole playoff against Jiyai Shin at the Kingsmill Championship. She was also third here in Singapore last year and finished in a tie for third twice to start this season.

“I just was struggling. I was enjoying what I was doing, but I wasn’t loving it,” she said. “My expectations were way too high.”

In December, Creamer got engaged to Derek Heath, which she said put some of her past difficulties in perspective. Then came Sunday’s victory against one of the toughest fields outside the majors, featuring 19 of the top 20 ranked players.

“It might be one of my favourite wins. … It’s been almost three years and so much has happened,” she said. “Holding that trophy, gosh, it was so nice.”

For much of the day, it appeared as if Webb, not Creamer, would take the trophy home. But after avoiding trouble on a tricky Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club for much of the week, the veteran Australian stumbled late.

First, Webb’s three-foot par putt on the 13th caught the edge of the hole and curled away. Then she hooked her tee shot left on the 15th, grimacing as it dropped into the water. She settled for bogey on both.

She came undone on the 18th when another errant tee shot ended up in a bunker. She took a big swing at the ball and it hit the lip of the bunker, plopping back down into the sand to lead to another bogey.

“I’m a bit in my head right now,” Webb said after the round. “Just not a lot of good decisions.”

Creamer and Munoz, meanwhile, were steady in the closing holes.

Creamer, who trailed Webb by four strokes at the start of the day, made a difficult 12-footer for birdie on the 15th to pull even with Webb at 10 under. Then, after hitting into the bunker herself on No. 18, she recovered to save par and headed to the clubhouse to wait for Munoz to finish.

The Spaniard, who had trailed by five strokes early in the round, came out of nowhere to join the leaders by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th. She had a chance to win it on the 18th but pulled her birdie putt wide.

Webb wasn’t the only one who had a disappointing day. Defending champion Stacy Lewis saw her streak of 13 consecutive top-10 finishes broken with her joint-40th place. She had been closing in on Webb’s LPGA record of 16 straight top-10 finishes, set in 1998-99.

“I played terrible all week,” she said. “I didn’t hit the ball well or make any putts.”

World No. 1 Inbee Park shot a 68 to finish in joint fourth place at 7-under 281 with No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, So Yeon Ryu, Angela Stanford and Morgan Pressel.

Michelle Wie and Teresa Lu were two strokes back in a tie for ninth.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Rory McIlroy did just enough to keep the lead Saturday in the Honda Classic with a 1-under 69, giving him a two-shot lead and a chance to win on the PGA Tour for the first time in 18 months.

McIlroy avoided a big number early in his round with a superb shot off the pine straw to escape with bogey, and he gave himself a slightly bigger cushion late as the wind picked up at PGA National. He hit 5-iron over the water and into the wind to 10 feet for birdie on the 16th hole. He narrowly missed two more to close out his round.

McIlroy was at 12-under 198, two shots ahead of Russell Henley.

Henley, who has not been in serious contention since winning his debut as a PGA Tour member last year in the Sony Open, made a late surge with two great shots. He holed out from 150 yards for eagle on the 14th, and made a 50-foot birdie putt from just off the 17th green. He shot a 68.

Russell Knox of Scotland had a 68 and was another shot behind.

Tiger Woods moved up 49 spots on the leaderboard after a 65 so early in the morning that he finished two hours before McIlroy started. Woods wound up in a tie for 17th, though he was still seven shots behind. Woods has never won on the PGA Tour when trailing by more than five shots going into the final round, though he once came from eight shots behind to win on the European Tour in 1998.

“Today was a positive day,” Woods said after his lowest score in 10 rounds this year. “Hit the ball well and made some putts and got myself back in the hunt.”

But there were 16 players ahead of him, and one big name at the top.

McIlroy, coming off the worst season of his young career, began to turn the corner late last year and finally won at the Australian Open. Twice this year in stroke-play tournaments, he had chances to win going into the final round, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

This is his best opportunity yet.

“It’s all about not making mistakes,” McIlroy said. “It’s about limiting the damage. You’re going to make a few bogeys out there. If you limit those, hit fairways and greens, that’s what I’m going to try to do tomorrow.”

He gave a supreme example of that on the par-3 seventh hole.

McIlroy opened with two birdies in three holes and was motoring along until pulling his approach on No. 6 and chipping poorly to make bogey. On the next hole, he pulled his tee shot well left of the green. The ball wound up under a palmetto bush, and McIlroy had to take a penalty drop.

Playing off the pine straw to an elevated green, he pitched it beautifully into the slope and past the pin by about 8 feet, and then holed that for a bogey.

That was his last mistake until missing the green to the right from the middle of the 14th fairway and missing a 6-foot putt.

Henley has only two top 10s in 32 starts on the PGA Tour since he won the Sony Open last year. He’s trailing by two shots, and also is well behind on experience in the last group. But he loves the idea he at least has a chance.

“I’m trying not to pay attention to what Rory is doing,” Henley said. “Obviously, he’s playing great and he’s been in this situation a little bit more than me. But I still have a lot of confidence and I’m just going to try to play my game and not worry about what he’s doing too much.”

It would be a remarkable turnaround for McIlroy, who a year ago was so frustrated with his game and high expectations that he walked off the course after 26 holes, a mistake he vowed to never repeat.

“There’s still 18 holes to go,” said McIlroy, the 2012 winner at PGA National. “But I’m feeling comfortable with where I am.”

Even so, McIlroy has proven to be tough to catch. Ever since he blew a four-shot lead at the Masters three years ago, he has converted every 54-hole lead into a win.

DIVOTS: Brendon de Jonge, who started the third round one shot behind McIlroy, shot a 76. … The 54-hole cut was made to exactly 70 players. Among those who failed to make it to Sunday were Mark Calcavecchia (73) and William McGirt (78). …Knox is the only player among the top eight who has never won on the PGA Tour. …Canada’s David Hearn is tied for 35th after a third-round, even par 70.

CENTURION, South Africa – English golfer Ross Fisher is closer to his first European Tour title in four years after extending his lead to five shots at the Tshwane Open on Saturday.

Fisher, one ahead overnight, carded a 5-under-par 67, including seven birdies and two bogeys, at Copperleaf to lie at 18 under after three rounds. His fourth and last tour win was the Irish Open in 2010, when he also played in the Ryder Cup.

“It would be nice to win in a good fashion because I feel like the game is good enough to win by a good number of strokes,” Fisher said.

Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland shot 69 to be 13 under, and will partner Fisher in the final round.

A shot further back were England’s Simon Dyson and Spain’s Carlos del Moral, who both made 71.

SINGAPORE – Karrie Webb and Angela Stanford were so close down the stretch Saturday at the HSBC Women’s Champions, matching each other birdie for birdie, that Stanford only sees one way to get the advantage in Sunday’s final round.

“I’m going to send Webbie a six-pack (of beer) tonight,” she said.

Webb wasn’t sure that would help. “I’ll probably drink wine coolers,” the Australian veteran said.

The two players set up a showdown between former HSBC champions after finishing off their third rounds with identical birdies over three of the last five holes Saturday to separate themselves slightly from the rest of the crowded leaderboard.

Webb, the 2011 winner, shot a 70 to move to 11-under 205, one stroke ahead of 2012 champion Stanford, who had a 69.

They both have a chance to be the first repeat champion of the tournament, although on two different courses. Both players picked up their first HSBC crown at Singapore’s Tanah Merah Country Club and this year’s event is being played at the Sentosa Golf Club.

Still, Stanford said, there are enough other quality players within striking range after a momentum-shifting day that anybody could claim the title.

“It’s really not worth looking at (the leaderboard),” she said. “You just know a lot of people are going to be at the top.”

Among those chasing Webb and Stanford are Spain’s Azahara Munoz, who fired an eagle and four birdies for a 5-under 67, the low round of the day; and Taiwan’s Teresa Lu, who gave up her LPGA membership in 2010 to concentrate on playing in Japan. Both are tied for third at 8-under 208.

America’s Paula Creamer, who briefly held the lead with Webb and Munoz on Saturday, had six birdies to go with three bogeys to sit in fifth place at 7 under.

Morgan Pressel of the United States was at 6 under, Norway’s Suzann Pettersen was another stroke back at 5 under, and Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi were in joint eighth at 4 under.

Webb, a seven-time major winner, led the first two rounds in Singapore, but started out slowly on Saturday. She played her front nine at even par and then bogeyed the 10th hole to go to 1 over, allowing the rest of the field to close the gap.

“Even when I was not giving myself a lot of good birdie opportunities early on, I had to tell myself it’s Saturday, there’s plenty of golf left to be played and just to be patient,” she said. “And fortunately I listened to myself for a change.”

Webb turned it around on the 153-yard, par-3 14th hole, where she struck her tee shot to within a couple feet of the hole for an easy birdie putt. Next came a chip shot from the fairway on the 16th which rolled in for birdie to give her a two-stroke lead again.

Stanford stayed with Webb, though, as the other challengers fell back. Not to be outdone on the 14th, the American placed her tee shot even closer than Webb’s – a mere inches – leading to birdie. She matched Webb’s birdie again on the 16th, and both players closed the round with birdies on the 18th.

If either veteran slips in the final round, however, Munoz and Lu are right behind them.

Both players are looking for their second LPGA titles. Munoz captured her only tournament at the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship, while Lu won hers at last year’s Mizuno Classic.

Defending champion Stacy Lewis’ disappointing week, meanwhile, looks likely to end her streak of 13 consecutive top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. Lewis shot a 73 on Saturday, leaving her far down the leaderboard in joint-42nd place.

Lewis, the reigning Women’s British Open champion, is only three away from matching Webb’s LPGA record of 16 consecutive top-10 finishes, set in 1998-99.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Rory McIlroy bounced back from a rough start for a 4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Honda Classic.

Tiger Woods had to scramble Friday to narrowly make the cut.

McIlroy made six birdies in a 10-hole stretch and looked good from tee-to-green at PGA National to take the lead into the weekend of a PGA Tour event for the first time in 18 months.

McIlroy was at 11-under 129.

Brendon de Jonge was tied for the lead until making bogey on his final hole for a 64. He was one behind.

Woods hit only two greens in regulation on the back nine of PGA National. His only birdie was on the 13th when he chipped in. He shot 69 to make the cut on the number.

Two-shots back of Woods was Mike Weir, who shot an even-par 70 Friday. This is the seventh missed cut of the season for the former Masters champion.

Stephen Ames also missed the 36-hole cut after combining rounds of 73-75 to sit 8-over.

David Hearn is tied for 23rd after an even-par 70 on the day.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – This already is shaping up as a big year for Graeme McDowell – his wife is expecting their first child.

McDowell and his wife, Kristin, were married in October in The Bahamas. He said they found out she was pregnant on New Year’s Day, shortly after returning from Northern Ireland to see his family during the holidays.

“We found on Tuesday it’s a girl,” he said Friday at the Honda Classic. “Obviously, we’re real excited.”

For a former U.S. Open champion who plays a worldwide schedule, no timing is good timing. McDowell said the baby was due at the end of August. That’s right in the middle of the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour, and a month before the Ryder Cup in Scotland.

McDowell has played on the last three teams, won the decisive match for Europe in 2010 at Celtic Manor and is a favorite to be on the team again. As for the playoffs? He has never fared well the last three years, so his wife having a baby can’t hurt.

“I think we’re planning to have her, if all goes well, the Monday of Boston if she decides to stay in there that long,” McDowell. “It’s a great problem to have. I really don’t care when she comes, as long as she’s healthy. The playoffs into the Ryder Cup … not much you can do there. But if it affects the playoffs, then it affects the playoffs. There will be other playoffs. You only have your first kid once.”

McDowell, a 34-year-old from Northern Ireland, has 14 wins worldwide, including the 2010 U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach. He is No. 15 in the world.

His wife, an interior decorator from Orlando, has a 5-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

“I already know all about Disney princesses,” McDowell said.

Victor Dubuisson gained a ton of new fans with his phenomenal par saves from the cacti and desert flora at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona. His performance earned him comparisons to Phil Mickelson and the late Seve Ballesteros.

Dubuisson rebounded from 3-down to Jason Day and forced the final match to 23 holes before Day eventually prevailed.

Canadian golf fans may have the opportunity to see him in Montréal this summer at the 2014 RBC Canadian Open.

“Yes, the invitation has been sent to his team,” confirmed Bill Paul, tournament director for the RBC Canadian Open, which will be held at The Royal Montreal Golf Club from July 24 to 27.

“It is the least we can do for the great golf fans of Quebec,” he added, good-naturedly from Golf Canada’s office in Oakville, Ont.

Bill Paul was indispensable to the success of our national Open championship at Royal Montreal in 1997 and 2001, in addition to the unforgettable Presidents Cup of 2007, all held at the prestigious Montréal area course.

That said, what was the reaction of the Dubuisson clan?

“His people will see. Agents always like to see how far they can take things when a new phenom emerges. What matters is that they didn’t say no,” added Paul.

Dubuisson’s Breakthrough

“The Bush” as the talented Frenchman has been nicknamed is 23 years old. He’s currently ranked ranked 23rd in the world and was the world’s top ranked amateur from November to December of 2009.

After his victory at the Turkish Airlines Open last November, at the head of a field that included Tiger Woods (his idol from the age of 12), as well as Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, he took 3rd in the DP World Tour Championship and finished the season in 6th place in the Race to Dubai. He also finished tied for 10th at the 2008 Canadian Amateur. He is anything but a flash in the pan.

He is third in the Ryder Cup running, behind Thomas Bjorn and Sergio Garcia.

He would be a great asset to the tournament as it heads to Montréal – his French background and star status would make him popular with fans as well as with media.

At the same time, Victor Dubuisson needs the RBC Canadian Open.

As strange as it may seem, Dubuisson must count on sponsor exemptions in order to play and qualify for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup.

Scheduled the same week as the RBC Canadian Open is the Russian Open. The European Tour event will be held in Moscow with a purse of $1 million versus the $5.5 million offered in Montréal.

“Our offer is on the table,” said Paul.

Tickets and volunteer information for the 2014 RBC Canadian Open can be found online at rbccanadianopen.com.

CENTURION, South Africa – Ross Fisher of England stormed home with an eagle-birdie-birdie-par finish to grab a one-shot lead in the Tshwane Open after the second round on Friday.

Fisher made five birdies and eagled the par-5 15th hole with a curling 40-footer at Copperleaf for a 7-under-par 65. He’s 13 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Morten Orum Madsen of Denmark, the South African Open winner who carded seven birdies in his own flawless 65.

Simon Dyson of England, the overnight leader in the clubhouse after the first round was suspended by a thunderstorm, shot 68 to lie in a tie for third at 11 under with Carlos del Moral of Spain (65).

Another stroke behind them on 10 under were the leading South Africans – Jake Roos (65), Darren Fichardt (68) and Trevor Fisher Jr (69) – and Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland, who reeled off a personal-best seven straight birdies from the 10th hole in a 65.

(Hamilton Spectator) – It’s probably a good thing he was named Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year. If only to break the string of ridiculously bad luck Mackenzie Hughes has been dealing with recently.

In his first year as a pro, the 23-year-old golfer from Dundas, Ont. led the PGA Tour Canada in earnings, was named player of the year, earned his Web.com Tour exemption for this full season and qualified for the U.S. Open where he narrowly missed making the cut.

“I would definitely have to give it an A,” he says of his season. “I wouldn’t give it an A+. I would’ve liked to be a little more consistent at times.”

So with all this good stuff, what’s all this talk about bad luck?

Well, earlier this month, a little more than a week before the first event of his new season, he was stopped at a red light in his new car — the first vehicle he’d ever bought that had only 1,500 kilometres on it — when another car blasted him from behind.

“Out of nowhere I get rear-ended at 60 miles an hour,” he says.

The force of the blow sent his car flying into the vehicle in front leaving his new ride looking rather accordion-like.

Fortunately he wasn’t injured other than some soreness in his lower back and neck. So he headed off to play that first event in Colombia a few days later. Except his flight out of Houston was horribly delayed. So instead of arriving mid-afternoon, he touched down at 1 a.m.

Which is when he found out the pro-am in which he was required to play wasn’t scheduled for the next day as he’d been told, but for that day. Better yet, he had a 7 a.m. tee time leaving him just a couple hours to sleep in the room he was sharing with Canadian Albin Choi.

Trouble was, getting to the hotel much later than expected meant the staff had filled the place, leaving only one room available. One with a single king-sized bed.

“It was a big bed,” Hughes laughs. “We know each other well enough to say, ‘Here’s the boundary, stay on your side.'”

That could be the end of the story. It isn’t.

When he got to the course in the morning, he had to quickly find and hire a caddie. Yet finding someone who spoke English proved to be a considerable challenge. With some help, he eventually stumbled on Miguel.

“He was maybe five-feet tall,” Hughes chuckles. “He was 68 years old. He was about as big as my bag. I’m thinking, this should work out well.”

And for the first round, it actually did. On the dry, hard course, he played clean and even touched fifth place on the leaderboard before wrapping up at even par. Then about a minute before he was to tee off for Round 2, the heavens opened and near-flood conditions ensued.

When he finally got back onto the course, the track was playing 180-degrees differently than it had during his warmup hours before. The trampoline had become a sponge.

“It cost me probably two or three shots where I probably played the wrong shot,” he says.

Which, of course, caused him to just miss the cut.

So, yeah, this award comes at just about a perfect time. He was due for something good to happen.

Outtakes from Bubba’s new PGATOUR.com commercial

Bubba Watson’s new PGA Tour commercial is great, but the outtakes are even better.

The commercial is promoting the newly designed PGATour.com, which launched to mixed reactions. In the first commercial of the campaign, Watson tells the guys who built it “these guys are good.” A play on the long-time PGA Tour commercial starring actual golfers.

Here’s the commercial.

Outtakes from the making of Bubba’s commercial are below.

More commercials are set to air featuring Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter. Go behind the scenes of all three shoots in the video below.