Penalty delivers U.S. Women’s Open title to Brittany Lang

Just when it seemed as if the U.S. Women’s Open would come down to the final hole of the three-hole playoff, a rules violation changed everything and helped deliver Brittany Lang her first major title.

Lang was the beneficiary of a delayed, two-stroke penalty called on Anna Nordqvist on Sunday, as she won the title she was so close to seizing when she was runner-up 11 years ago as an amateur.

“You never want to win with a penalty or something like that happen, especially to Anna, who is a friend of mine and a great player and a classy girl,” Lang said. “But it’s unfortunate. It’s part of the game and it happened that way.”

Lang made par on all three holes of the aggregate playoff and Nordqvist was given a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with her club in a fairway bunker on the second playoff hole, helping deliver Lang the title.

The players were not told of the penalty until they were in the middle of playing the final hole, after officials reviewed replays in the latest controversy at a USGA event after the delayed penalty called in the final round on eventual men’s U.S. Open winner Dustin Johnson last month.

“Seemed kind of unreal that it happened, but it does,” Nordqvist said. “It wasn’t any reason to question it. But I’m certainly disappointed of the timing of it.”

Lang then sealed the win with a short par putt on the final playoff hole, while Nordqvist made bogey to lose by three shots.

Goydos goes bogey-free for win

Paul Goydos shot a bogey-free 69 on Sunday to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. A birdie at the 17th hole gave Goydos a two-shot victory over Wes Short Jr. (69) as he finished at 14-under 202 for his third victory on the Champions Tour.

“My game is like a jack-in-the box, kind of keep spinning it and it pops up every once in a while,” Goydos deadpanned afterward. “There was no inkling that I was going to play well, other than the mythical law of averages. Things hadn’t gone well, hadn’t played well, my attitude was bad, so naturally I won.”

Rick Lamp wins four-man playoff on Web.com Tour

Rick Lamb won the LECOM Health Challenge on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, birdieing the second hole of a four-man playoff.

Lamb closed with a 9-under 63 to match Dominic Bozzelli, Rhein Gibson and Cheng Tsung Pan at 19-under 269 on Peek’n Peak’s Upper Course. Bozzelli shot 66, Gibson 69, and Pan 68.

Lamb won on the par-5 18th after the four players each parred the hole to open the playoff.

The 25-year-old former Tennessee player earned $108,000 to enter the money list at 21st. Lamb missed the cuts in his other two starts this season.

Fowler headed to Rio, Spieth still TBD

Rickie Fowler took to Twitter to say he’s going to the Olympics. Patrick Reed confirmed at the Scottish Open that he will join him in Rio.

Now it’s up to Jordan Spieth.

With one day before the deadline to submit the American team for Rio, Spieth still has not made up his mind whether the threat of Zika and other security concerns are enough to keep him out of the Olympics.

Ty Votaw, the vice president of the International Golf Federation, said the deadline to commit for the American team is 5 p.m. at USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. That would be midnight at Royal Troon, where Spieth is playing the British Open.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson already has said he was going.

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