Roundup: Europe stomps U.S. in Walker Cup at Royal Lytham and St Annes
Britain and Ireland regained the Walker Cup with the team's highest points total on Sunday, beating the United States 16.5 to 9.5 at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
Leading 7-5 after the first day of the biennial amateur event, Britain and Ireland again won the morning foursomes 3-1 to lead 10-6.
That left the hosts needing just 3.5 points from the 10 afternoon singles, and Britain and Ireland clinched victory with six matches still out on the course on England's north west coast.
"We fought hard and lost with grace and dignity, that's what sport is all about," said United States captain John `Spider' Miller.
Britain and Ireland captain Nigel Edwards, a four-time Walker Cup player, also led his team to victory at Royal Aberdeen in 2011.
"The lads' short games are fantastic, which is probably what has given us the edge," Edwards said. "Some of the bunker shots were exceptional."
England's Ashley Chesters and Jimmy Mullen and Ireland's Cormac Sharvin won three of the first four singles before Paul Dunne, who shared the lead after three rounds of this year's British Open, halved his match with Maverick McNealy to seal victory.
Chesters' 3 and 1 victory over Jordan Niebrugge gave him 3.5 points out of a possible four while his England teammate Mullen claimed his fourth point with a 3 and 2 win over Denny McCarthy.
Sharvin's 4 and 3 win over Mike McCoy also gave him a perfect record with three wins in three matches. He was four up after six holes against the veteran American and, although McCoy got it back to two by the 11th, Sharvin regained his four-hole advantage with birdies at the 12th and 14th.
Dunne always had the edge against McNealy, who never held the lead but could have won it on the 18th. Dunne putted first from eight feet and missed, leaving McNealy with a five footer to win the match, but the ball slid by, giving Britain and Ireland victory.
There were further home wins for Scotland's Grant Forrest, who beat Scott Harvey 2 and 1, and Gary Hurley, who won by one hole against Hunter Stewart.
Bryson DeChambeau claimed the biggest win of the whole competition, beating Gavin Moynihan 6 and 5, and Beau Hossler was the only other U.S. singles winner Sunday, edging out Ewen Ferguson with a birdie at the final hole.
Hossler got the most points for the U.S., winning three of his four matches.
Earlier, in the morning session, English pair Chesters and Mullen claimed their second foursomes win, fighting back after losing the first two holes to beat Hossler and McCarthy 3 and 2.
Dunne and Hurley got the home side's second point with a one-hole victory over Mike McCoy and Harvey, while DeChambeau and Robby Shelton won the sole U.S. point, beating Moynihan and Jack Hume 3 and 2.
Britain and Ireland's final morning point came in a see-saw match, with Sharvin and Jack McDonald beating Stewart and Lee McCoy by two holes.
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Sweden's Henrik Norlander won the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Hotel Fitness Championship to wrap up a PGA Tour card.
Norlander shot a course-record 10-under 62 at Sycamore Hills to beat Michael Thompson and third-round leader D.H. Lee by three strokes. The 28-year-old former Augusta State player finished at 19-under 269 and earned $180,000 after finishing 47th on the Web.com Tour's regular-season money list.
Thompson closed with a 65, and Lee had a 71.
The four-event series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 from the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings and non-members of the tour who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points.
The top 25 players on Web.com regular-season money list earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals and the final leader getting a spot in The Players Championship. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.
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ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Belgium's Thomas Pieters won the KLM Open for consecutive European Tour victories, closing with a 5-under 65 for a one-stroke victory.
The 23-year-old Pieters, the Czech Masters winner Aug. 30 in his last start, had a 19-under 261 total at Kennemer. England's Lee Slattery bogeyed the final hole to tie for second with Spain's Eduardo De La Riva. Slattery had a 68, and De La Riva shot 63.
Tom Watson shot a 68 to tie for 47th at 7 under.
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MAYETTA, Kan. -- Annie Park won the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic for her third victory in nine Symetra Tour starts this season.
Park earned $15,000 to jump from fourth to second on the money list with $66,125, more than enough for a 2016 LPGA Tour card as a top-10 finisher.
The 20-year-old former Southern California player from Levittown, New York, closed with a 7-under 65 at Firekeeper for a three-stroke victory. She finished at 13-under 203.
Park is the 10th player in tour history to win at least three times in a season. She won in July in Rochester, New York, and last month in Milwaukee.
Mexico's Margarita Ramos was second after a 69.
