Kaye Finally Strikes It Big

Jonathan Kaye won the water-logged Buick Classic for his first PGA Tour title Sunday, holing a 12-foot eagle putt from just off the back of the 18th green on the first hole of a playoff with John Rollins.

Kaye, who lost a playoff to Chris Riley last year in the Reno-Tahoe Open, made a four-foot birdie putt in regulation on the par-five closing hole to match Rollins at 13-under-par 271 on the saturated Westchester Country Club course at Harrison, N.Y.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” said Kaye, a five-time runner-up in seven full seasons on the tour. “That’s why we’re all out here -- to win. It’s nice to finally come out on top.”

Kaye played 30 holes Sunday, completing the rain-delayed third round with a three-under 68 and matching Rollins -- who missed a 12-foot birdie putt in the playoff before Kaye’s winning eagle -- with a 67 in the final round.

“It was a long day,” Kaye said. “It was hard walking around on this wet, soggy grass. And my knee was bothering me too.”

After bogeying his final hole Saturday to drop to six under, Kaye played the final 11 holes of the third round in three under and reached 12 under in the fourth round with birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 7. He bogeyed the par-five ninth, but got back to 12 under with a six-foot birdie putt on No. 14 and tied Rollins with the four-footer on No. 18.

Joey Sindelar had rounds of 70 and 68 to finish third at 11 under, and Sergio Garcia (66-69) was another stroke back along with Fred Funk (64-69), Jay Haas (67-65) and Skip Kendall (70-70). Briny Baird, tied for the third-round lead after topping the field the first two days, closed with a 77 to tie for 30th at three under.

Tiger Woods, winless since the Bay Hill Invitational in March, had rounds of 71 and 70 to tie for 13th at seven under. He’s winless in four appearances in the Buick Classic, one of only five tour events he has played more than once without winning.

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Rachel Teske held off hard-charging rookie Lorena Ochoa with a four-under 68 to capture the Rochester LPGA in New York, her second consecutive tournament win for the second time in her career.

Teske finished at 11-under 277, retaining the four-stroke lead she carried into the final round at the tree-lined Locust Hill course. It was her eighth win in seven years on the U.S. tour.

Ochoa surged in with a tournament-low 66 to land in second place at seven under.

South Korea’s Grace Park shot 69 to finish third at six under, one ahead of compatriot Se Ri Pak and Brandie Burton, a two-time major champion who is winless since 1998.

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Doug Tewell birdied the third hole of a playoff with Eamonn Darcy of Ireland to win the Farmers Charity Classic at Grand Rapids, Mich.

Tewell won with a 14-foot putt after the two finished the 54-hole event at 15 under. Tewell, 53, has won seven times on the Champions Tour but is the tour’s 17th champion in 17 events this year.

Tewell forced the playoff with Darcy when he made a 15-foot putt for an eagle on the 518-yard, par-five 17th hole.

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Marilyn Lovander won the Hy-Vee Classic by one stroke when Amy Alcott faltered on the last two holes and Martha Nause missed an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 18 that would have forced a playoff in the Women’s Senior Golf Tour event at Johnston, Iowa.