Golf roundup: Billy Horschel beats Jason Day in playoff to win Byron Nelson title

Billy Horschel won the AT&T Byron Nelson with a par on the first playoff hole Sunday after Jason Day pulled his four-foot par putt left and past the hole.

That miss by Day almost wasn’t even needed for Horschel, whose 36-foot birdie chance was rolling straight toward the center of the cup before stopping just short. He won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour and for the first time since taking the 2014 Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup title.

With a one-under-par 69, including a 60-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole, Horschel matched Day at 12-under 268. Day had a 68.

Third-round leader James Hahn was a stroke back. He just missed a miraculous eagle at the 18th hole that would have gotten him in the playoff with his playing partners.

Because of early morning rain that delayed the start Sunday, threesomes were used instead of the usual weekend twosomes. No one outside of that final group made a real charge to contend with the final trio.

The playoff wrapped up the Nelson’s 35th and final tournament in Irving, Texas. The event will shift next year to the new links-style Trinity Forest Golf Club south of downtown Dallas.

Horschel earned $1.35 million.

Thompson finishes wire-to-wire win

Lexi Thompson shot a 6-under 65 on Sunday to finish off a wire-to-wire victory in the Kingsmill Championship at Williamsburg, Va., with a tournament-record 20-under 264 total.

Thompson broke the tournament record of 19 under at Kingsmill’s River Course set by Annika Sorenstam in 2008. The victory came in Thompson’s third event since she lost the ANA Inspiration in a playoff after being penalized four strokes for a rules violation reported by a television viewer during the final round.

The victory, Thompson’s eighth, gave her at least one in five consecutive seasons.

In Gee Chun, playing with Thompson, shot a bogey-free 67, but was no match for the leader, finishing five shots back. Thompson was also bogey free and finished the tournament with just two bogeys, both on the par-three 17th hole.

Thompson began the day with a three-shot lead and quickly added to it, rolling in long birdie putts on the par-four first hole and the par-five third. Chun used birdies on the third, par-four fifth and par-five seventh to get within two shots, but Thompson answered with a birdie at the par-four ninth and then made three birdies in a four-hole span on the back nine. She eclipsed Sorenstam’s record with a birdie on the par-five 15th, pushing her lead to five shots.

Langer repeats at Regions Tradition

Bernhard Langer cruised to his second consecutive Regions Tradition victory, shooting an eight-under-64 to match Jack Nicklaus’ record of eight PGA Tour Champions major titles.

Langer wiped out a six-stroke deficit over the weekend and entered the final round down two strokes to Fred Funk. He finished at 20-under 268 for a five-stroke victory over Scott McCarron and Scott Parel.

Funk shot a 72 to tie for fourth with Marco Dawson (66). He had a triple bogey on No. 12, a hole Langer birdied. McCarron shot a 69 and Parel 70.

Langer has eight straight rounds in the 60s since the tournament moved to Greystone in Birmingham, Ala. He took command on 12 and followed with two consecutive birdies and another on No. 17.

Kupcho, Northwestern lead NCAA tournament

Wake Forest sophomore Jennifer Kupcho shot a two-under 70 in strong wind at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., to take a one-shot lead going into the final round of the rain-shortened NCAA Women’s Championship.

Northwestern shot 10-over 298 to build an eight-shot lead over Kent State. The top eight teams advance to match play after 54 holes. Among those in trouble of not advancing to the eight-team knockout stage were Florida State, Duke and Alabama.

Kupcho was at even-par 144 and led by one shot over August Kim of Purdue, who had a 73. Leona Maguire, an Olympian at Duke, and Stanford’s Andrea Lee each shot 71 and were within four shots of the lead. Stroke play was reduced to 54 holes when play Saturday was washed out by rain.