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Golf: Patrick Reed ends winless streak at the Northern Trust

Patrick Reed pumps his fist after clinching the win at the Northern Trust on Sunday.
Patrick Reed celebrates making his final putt at No. 18 and clinching the win at the Northern Trust on Sunday.
(Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)
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Patrick Reed picked a good time to end 16 months without a victory.

Reed fell behind early, was still two shots behind on the back nine at Liberty National and then rolled in three straight putts — one for par, two for birdies — that allowed him to overtake Jon Rahm and hold off Abraham Ancer to win the Northern Trust at Jersey City, N.J.

Reed closed with a two-under-par 69 after a breezy afternoon in which a half-dozen players were in the mix on the back nine.

“It’s been a little too long,” said Reed, whose last victory was the 2018 Masters. “What better place to do it than here. It’s definitely a good time to get a `W.“’

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Reed had such mediocre results by his standards that he began the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 50 and was only assured of two events. Points count four times as much in the playoffs, so the victory vaulted him to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup.

His place at the Tour Championship is secure. His odds of the $15 million prize increased greatly.

It still wasn’t enough for him to get in the top eight automatic qualifiers for the Presidents Cup, which will be decided after next week.

He finished at 16-under 268 and won for the seventh time in his career on the PGA Tour.

Ancer felt like a winner when it was over. He also played bogey-free over the final 12 holes, and his birdie on the 17th gave him hope. But his approach to the 18th came down below a ridge, and his long birdie putt to force a playoff went some 6 feet by the cup. He made that to finish alone in second, his best PGA Tour finish.

That was enough to send him from No. 67 to No. 8, with more perks that he could count.

Ancer is a lock to make it to the Tour Championship in two weeks, meaning he earns his first spot in the Masters. He wrapped up a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup, making him the first Mexican in the event.

“When I finished, I was a little down because I didn’t get it done and I feel like I played good,” Ancer said. “But then getting all this news that I’m going to the Tour Championship, playing all the majors, going to Masters, all that, I was like, `Man, this is not too bad.’ I’m extremely happy, proud of the way I performance. I still obviously want that W, but really proud with all the boxes that I checked off today.”

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Hur wins Ladies Scottish Open

Mi Jung Hur won her third LPGA Tour title with a brilliant final round at the Ladies Scottish Open at North Berwick. The South Korean carded a closing five-under 66 in wet conditions at The Renaissance Club to finish 20-under 264, four shots ahead of compatriot Jeongeun Lee6 (70) and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn (71).

After playing the first eight holes in 1-over par, Hur had four straight birdies from the ninth and also birdied Nos. 16 and 18 in a back nine of 31 to secure her first win since 2014.

Lee6, a newcomer to links golf, won the U.S. Women’s Open in June in South Carolina. Overnight leader Jutanugarn had been trying to follow her sister with a Ladies Scottish Open victory after Ariya Jutanugarn won last year at Gullane.

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