Aberg stages late charge to win Genesis Invitational
Published
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ludvig Aberg returned to Torrey Pines in far better health and showed it Sunday when he birdied four of the last six holes, including a 7-foot birdie on the 18th, for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot victory over Maverick McNealy in the Genesis Invitational.
Aberg shared the 36-hole lead at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open three weeks ago until getting so sick he barely made it through the tournament and had to withdraw the following week, a nasty illness that caused him to lose 10 pounds.
The Genesis Invitational relocated to Torrey from Riviera because of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, and Aberg made good on another chance at one of his favorite courses.
This took all the Swede had. McNealy birdied eight of his opening 11 holes and led by three shots when he stood on the 17th tee. He finished with a pair of pars for a 64.
Tournament host Tiger Woods watched a lot of unfold from the broadcast booth. Woods withdrew from the tournament on Monday as he coped with the death of his mother, Kultida, last week. Players wore a red button that had the Thai symbol of love to honor her.
Aberg two-putted from 50 feet for birdie on the 13th, attacked a daunting back pin on the 14th to 5 feet for birdie and rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th to tied for the lead. From the middle of the fairway on the par-5 18th, he hit 7-wood long, some 70 feet away, rolled that down to just under 7 feet and calmly holed the putt.
Aberg, who finished at 12-under 276, won $4 million for his third victory worldwide since turning pro in June 2023. He moves to No. 4 in the world.
Scottie Scheffler was 10 shots better than the third round with a 66 and tied for third with Patrick Rodgers (71).
LIV Golf League
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Joaquin Niemann won his third LIV Golf title when he closed with a 7-under 65 on Sunday to erase a three-shot deficit and win LIV Golf Adelaide by three shots over Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz.
Ancer had led most of the final round until the Chilean rallied. They were tied with two holes to play when Ancer (71) finished bogey-bogey to fall back and Niemann birdied the 18th hole to finish at 13-under 203. Ortiz birdied the last two holes for a 71.
The Fireballs won the team competition.
PGA Tour Champions
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Justin Leonard won the Chubb Classic for his first PGA Tour Champions victory, overcoming a slow start Sunday with a back-nine charge on Tiburon’s Black Course.
Leonard birdied five of the last seven holes for a 4-under 68 and a four-stroke victory over Billy Andrade. The 52-year-old Texan won in his 45th start on the 50-and-over tour, his first victory since the last of his 12 PGA Tour titles in the 2008 St. Jude Championship.
After a bogey on 10 dropped him to 1 over for the day, Leonard scrambled for a key par on the 11th, then birdied the next three. He scrambled again for par on the par-3 16th, then got a 30-footer to catch the right edge for birdie on the par-4 17th and got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the par-5 18th for one last birdie.
Leonard finished at 15-under 201.
Andrade also shot 68.
Other tours
Jeeno Thitikul made her 2025 debut by closing with a 3-under 69 for a four-shot victory over Somi Lee in the Aramco Series-Riyadh on the Ladies European Tour. ... Wilco Nienaber captured his first Sunshine Tour title in nearly four years when he closed with a 2-under 70 in the NTT Data Pro-Am to win by seven shots.
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