Davis Riley wins at Colonial; LIV Golf player Richard Bland takes Senior PGA

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Davis Riley shot even-par 70 while playing in the final group Sunday with Scottie Scheffler, and still won a subdued Colonial by five strokes over the world’s No. 1 player and Keegan Bradley for his first individual victory on the PGA Tour.

Riley finished at 14-under 266. Bradley shot 67, and Scheffler 71 on a day when he hit only seven of 14 fairways and didn’t have a birdie until the 13th hole.

After beginning the final round with a four-stroke lead, Riley gave up a stroke with a bogey on the second hole when he drove into the right rough and then hit into the bunker. But that was the closest Scheffler — or anybody else — would get with wind gusts of 20 mph and more blowing throughout the day.

The 27-year-old Riley’s only other PGA Tour victory came when he and Nick Hardy won the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans last year. The Mississippi native’s win at historic Colonial, which had been completely restored since last year’s tournament, earned him $1,638,000, the traditional winner’s plaid jacket and a fully restored and modernized 1975 Stingray car.

The final round was played on the same day that Grayson Murray’s parents said their 30-year-old son took his own life Saturday, a day after the two-time tour winner had cited illness when withdrawing from the event with two holes left in his second round.

PGA OF AMERICA

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Richard Bland had time off from LIV Golf and made it pay off in a major way when he won the Senior PGA Championship in his senior major debut, closing with an 8-under 63 for a three-shot victory at Harbor Shores.

In a final round delayed by about an hour because of storms, Bland hit what amounted to the winning shot on the par-5 15th, an approach to 6 feet for eagle. That took him from one shot behind Greg Chalmers to a one-shot lead when Chalmers could only manage a par.

The storms finally arrived, and the 51-year-old Bland returned to make three pars and claim his first victory since the 2021 British Masters, the European tour title that unwittingly started Bland on this amazing ride.

Bland did not realize until last year the Senior PGA Championship offers a one-time exemption to players who have won on the European tour in the last five years. He couldn’t play because the Senior PGA was held the same week as LIV Golf Bedminster in New Jersey. But he asked about this year, and the PGA of America provided the invitation.

Bland won by three shots over Richard Green, who shot 65.

EUROPEAN TOUR

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Nacho Elvira of Spain parred his final seven holes to close with an even-par 71 and hold on for a one-stroke victory at the Soudal Open in Belgium.

Elvira won for the second time on the European tour.

The Spaniard started the final round with a four-shot lead and was almost reeled in by Denmark’s Nicolas Norgaard, who missed a 12-foot birdie chance on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff.

Norgaard had to settle for a 68 and a tie for second place with home favorite Thomas Pieters (66) and Romain Langasque, who birdied the last for a 68.

Elvira’s other win came at the Cazoo Open in Wales in 2021 and he was in tears after securing the title at Rinkven International Golf Club, where the final round had to be suspended midway through because of heavy rain that flooded the greens.

KORN FERRY TOUR

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Harry Higgs made it two playoff victories in a row on the Korn Ferry Tour when he made eagle on the second extra hole to beat Frankie Capan III in the Visit Knoxville Open.

The victory all but assured Higgs a return to the PGA Tour. The top 35 players at the end of the season earn cards, and Higgs moved up to No. 2 in the points list.

Higgs, who chipped in for eagle to force a playoff at the AdventHealth Championship last week, this time had to settle for par on the par-5 18th and a 5-under 65. Capan birdied the final hole for a 66 to force the playoff.

Both made birdie on the 18th, and then Higgs won it with an eagle for another trophy.

OTHER TOURS

Ryosuke Kinoshita ended three years without a victory on the Japan Golf Tour by closing with a 1-under 71 to win the Mizuno Open by two shots. The victory sends Kinoshita to the British Open this summer, along with Guntaek Koh and Yuto Katsuragawa. ... Andreas Halvorsen won his first Challenge Tour event when he closed with a 1-under 71 to completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Danish Golf Challenge. ... Morgane Metraux of Switzerland captured her second Ladies European Tour title when she overcame a rough start to close with a 1-over 72 for a three-shot victory in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Golf Resort in France. ... Kieran Vincent took advantage of an open week on LIV Golf to close with a 6-under 66 for a four-shot victory in the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour. ... Akie Iwai won the Resort Trust Ladies with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory over Rio Takeda on the Japan LPGA. ... Sohyun Bae shot even-par 72 and won the E1 Charity Open by three shots on the Korea LPGA.

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The Associated Press