Pressel Wins Amateur in Rout

Morgan Pressel didn’t have to worry about losing another tournament on an improbable shot.

The 17-year-old Pressel won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in a rout Sunday, beating college player Maru Martinez 9 and 8, at Settindown Golf Course in Roswell, Ga.

Pressel had lost two USGA events this year -- both on unlikely shots.

She went to the 18th hole of the Women’s Open tied for the lead, only to finish second when Birdie Kim knocked in a shot from a greenside bunker. Less than a month later, it happened again in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur -- Pressel lost on the first extra hole when her opponent chipped in from 40 feet.

After Martinez chipped in from the 12th during the morning round, Pressel said to herself, “Uh oh, here we go again.”

Not to worry. Pressel won the final three holes of the morning round, reaching the midway point of the 36-hole final with a 4-up lead. After a short break, she returned on a rainy afternoon to quickly finish off her opponent, a 21-year-old senior at Auburn.

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Retief Goosen overcame Brandt Jobe down the stretch and outlasted the rest of the field over 36 grueling holes to win the International at Castle Rock, Colo.

Goosen scored 15 points over the final two rounds to finish with 32, one better than Jobe, in the modified Stableford scoring system, which gives five points for eagles, two for birdies, none for pars and deducts one for bogeys.

Goosen earned $900,000 for the win and got the perfect boost into next week’s PGA Championship, the season’s final major.

“I’m feeling great, but I’m tired,” Goosen said.

It was the first 36-hole finish on tour since September 2003 -- this one played at mile-high altitude on the hilly 7,619-yard Castle Pines course.

Jobe could have won the tournament with a birdie on 18, but left his birdie putt short.

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Tom Purtzer finally closed the deal at the 3M Championship, holing a seven-foot par putt on No. 18 in Blaine, Minn., for a one-stroke victory in the tournament he twice led into the final round.

The win was Purtzer’s first on the Champions Tour since March 2004. It didn’t come without thoughts about the last two years, when he was the leader entering the final round but shot 74 both times.

Purtzer’s lead after this second round was three shots, but it was down to one as he went to the 18th tee at the TPC of the Twin Cities. He left his 20-foot birdie putt on No. 18 short by seven feet, but made the par to close a three-under 69 and a 15-under 201 total.

Lonnie Nielsen and Craig Stadler tied for second at 14 under.

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Annika Sorenstam made a birdie putt of about 27 feet on the last hole to win the Scandinavian TPC by one stroke over Natalie Gulbis in Loddekopinge, Sweden.

Sorenstam closed with a par-72 for a total of four-under 284. It was the 75th win of her career and seventh this year.

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Kathy Whitworth, whose 88 victories on the LPGA Tour are the most of any American professional golfer, retired from competitive golf after playing in a Women’s Senior Golf Tour event in Quincy, Mass.

Whitworth, 65, stopped playing the LPGA Tour in 1990.