Doyle Wins Major at Watson’s Expense

Allen Doyle figured he had maybe one friend among the thousands of people following him, Tom Watson and Loren Roberts in the final round of the U.S. Senior Open at Hutchinson, Kan.

“My wife was out there,” he deadpanned. “I think the rest were all for Tom.”

Nevertheless, Doyle shot a steady two-under-par 68 Sunday to overcome Watson’s two-shot lead and win the Open for the second year in a row.

“I was in a no-lose position. If Tom won, he was supposed to win,” Doyle said. “If you grabbed anybody and they said they were [rooting for Doyle] they were probably lying.”

He enjoys being an underdog, he said, “because I am one.”

“Being the underdog is not a bad thing. It allows you to come into town and take care of business, practice without people bothering you.”

A year ago in Kettering, Ohio, Doyle needed a closing-round 63 to come from far back in the pack.

With the win Sunday, Doyle becomes the first back-to-back U.S. Senior Open winner since Gary Player in 1987-88 and the oldest ever at 57 years 11 months 17 days. He is also the third U.S. Senior Open winner to post four straight rounds in the 60s.

Doyle went into the final round trailing only Watson, who built a two-stroke lead with consecutive rounds of four-under 66 on the tricky Prairie Dunes layout.

But Watson couldn’t get control of his putter.

The popular Kansas City, Mo., native three-putted two of the first three holes for bogey and never regained his rhythm, finishing with a 72 and a four-day total of 274, two shots behind Doyle’s eight-under 272.

“I got off to a bad start ... and that put me in the defensive type of mood, it seemed like,” Watson said. “And I just didn’t get the offense working. I felt like I was playing defense all day. And as a result, I shot the score I did.”

Several others spent the day charging into contention and then dropping out.

D. A. Weibring, who bogeyed the last two holes at last year’s U.S. Senior Open and finished one stroke behind Doyle, took the lead with seven birdies on his first 12 holes to get to seven-under for the day and the tournament.

But he collapsed on the back nine with bogeys on 13 and 14 and a double bogey on the par-four 16th after driving into the rough. He shot a 68 to finish the tournament at two-under.

Bruce Lietzke had a 66 Sunday and was tied for third with Peter Jacobsen (69) at five-under.

Roberts, whose eight-under-62 on Saturday broke the USGA Open championship record and brought him within three strokes of the lead, had a 68 Sunday and wound up at 278 along with Weibring and Jay Haas.

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Brittany Lincicome spoiled Michelle Wie’s bid for her first professional victory -- and took most of the drama out of the finale too.

The long-hitting Lincicome won the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship at Gladstone, N.J., for her first LPGA Tour victory, beating Juli Inkster 3 and 2 in the final after edging Lorena Ochoa on the first extra hole in the morning semifinals.

The 20-year-old Lincicome, a 4--and-3 winner over Wie in the quarterfinals Saturday, had a 5-up lead after eight holes against the 46-year-old Inkster and ended the match with a conceded par on the par-four 16th.

“I’m so in shock,” Lincicome said. “It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s what I’ve been trying to do since I was a little girl -- play on the LPGA Tour and win a tournament.”

In the morning semifinals, Lincicome edged Ochoa with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole, and Inkster beat Solheim Cup teammate Paula Creamer 5 and 4. The third-seeded Ochoa beat the fifth-seeded Creamer 3 and 2 in the third-place match.