Golf:
Cam Davis won the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title when Troy Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth hole of a playoff.
Davis missed putts to win on each of the playoff holes. The 26-year-old Australian left 6- and 18-foot putts high, a 25-foot putt low and a 19-footer high. He misread a break on a 12-foot putt on the fifth playoff hole, then won when Merritt made bogey.
Davis closed with a 5-under 67 to match Merritt (68) and Joaquin Niemann (68) at 18-under 270 at Detroit Golf Club. Niemann dropped out of the playoff with a bogey on the first extra hole, his first bogey of the week.
Niemann had a chance to win it on the 72nd hole, but left a 17-foot putt high.
Davis holed a 50-foot sand shot for eagle on the par-5 17th and birdied the par-4 18th to get to 18 under.
Niemann followed with two shots that went 569 yards and he two-putted from 14 feet to take the lead at 18 under, but he quickly had company.
Merritt, who was in the final group with Niemann, made his fourth birdie in a five-hole stretch to share the lead. Davis joined them with the eagle-birdie finish.
The 22-year-old Niemann shared the second- and third-round lead and was runner-up for the third time, including coming up short in a playoff at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Last week at the Travelers Championship, Harris English beat Kramer Hickok in an eight-hole playoff that tied the second-longest sudden death in PGA Tour history. Hickock stuck around to watch the playoff in Detroit after finishing 6 under.
Alex Noren (64) had a share of the lead at 17. He got out of the heat and humidity, but planned to leave the comfortable clubhouse as soon someone was a stroke ahead of him and that happened with a trio of competitors. Noren tied for fourth with Hank Lebioda (68).
Bubba Watson surged up the leaderboard earlier on the hot and steamy afternoon with a 64 to put him at 16 under. That briefly gave him a share of the lead, and he tied for sixth with Brandon Hagy (68).
Beckman holds off Els: Cameron Beckman ran off five straight birdies to start the back nine and then held on at the end for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Ernie Els in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, his first title on the PGA Tour Champions.
Beckman, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, earned full status on the PGA Tour Champions and a spot in the U.S. Senior Open next week.
Els, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, closed with a 72 to finish second.
Ko rebounds: Jin Young Ko closed with seven straight pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory in the Volunteers of America Classic, her first start since losing the No. 1 world ranking.
Ko sank her shoulders when she made her par putt from just outside 3 feet on the final hole at Old American Golf Club, holding off Matilda Castren of Finland, who also shot 69.
The South Korean star won for the first time this year, and the timing couldn’t have been better. She had held the No. 1 ranking for nearly two years until Nelly Korda supplanted her last week by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.