Fred Funk Wins his 1st Champions Tour Major

Even with a widening lead in the final found of the JELD-WEN Tradition, Fred Funk pretended he was trailing.

“We were going down the second fairway and my caddie, Mark (Long), said ‘Let’s say you are four behind,”’ Funk said. “We were trying to make it as if we were behind all day. Don’t protect anything and fire at all the flags.”

The aggressive Funk won his first Champions Tour major title, closing with a 3-under 69 on Sunday for three-stroke victory over Mike Goodes at the Crosswater Club.

The 52-year-old Funk, also the winner of the season-opening MasterCard Championship in Hawaii, had a 19-under 269 total. He shot a bogey-free 65 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Senior PGA champion Jay Haas into the final round.

“He wasn’t going to be denied today,” said Haas, who shot a 72 to tie for third, with Tom Watson (70). “He got to 6-up after 15 and I just took my foot off the gas.”

Funk, an eight-time champion on the PGA Tour and four-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, had birdies at Nos. 11, 14 and 15 to get to 22 under.

“In my mind I just wanted to get up as far as I could and basically bury the field,” Funk said. “When I got to 6 under for the day I as doing exactly what I wanted to do.”

He made a double bogey on 16 before waiting out a 63-minute delay because of thunder and lightning, then returned to bogey the 17th.

Scott Hoch (71) was 13 under, followed by Scott Simpson (70) at 12 under.

After splitting his time between the PGA and Champions tours the past three years, Funk plans to play the PGA Tour full-time next year. He won Sunday despite neck, back and knee problems that led him to visit a chiropractor.

Goodes is a non-exempt player who joined the tour out of Q-school in 2007. His best previous finish was fourth at the Regions Charity Classic in May.

Carl Pettersson Wins Wyndham

Carl Pettersson was one imperfect hole from leading the full final two rounds of the Wyndham Championship. It was that brief slip-up that propelled the Swede to victory in his adopted hometown.

Pettersson won his local tournament for his first PGA Tour victory in two years, shooting a 2-under 68 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory at Sedgefield Country Club.

Irked by a bogey on the 11th hole that temporarily dropped him into second place, Pettersson responded with three birdies during the four-hole stretch that followed to finish at 21-under 259 and earn $918,000.

“Not getting it up and down on 11 kind of (ticked) me off,” Pettersson said. “I kind of told myself, ’I’m letting the tournament get away from me again.’ ... That was where the tournament was won for me.”

Scott McCarron briefly led midway through the final round before fading into second with a 68. Rich Beem’s second straight 63 left him four strokes off the lead, with J.J. Henry (62) and rookie Martin Laird (63) another shot behind him.

But there was never any question that the last day of the PGA Tour’s final pre-playoff event was anything but a two-man showdown.

Pettersson made his move immediately after slipping out of the lead for the first time since Friday, when his tournament-record 61 in Round 2 shot him up the leaderboard. He began the back nine with consecutive bogeys, falling one stroke back to 19 under when he missed an 8-foot par putt on the 11th.

“I kind of felt like I let the tournament slip away on 10 and 11,” Pettersson said.

McCarron gave the stroke back on the 12th, missing a 13-foot birdie putt and lipping out a 4-foot par attempt during just his second bogey, then saying afterward that “I thought I kind of let it go” on that hole.

“I told myself on the next tee box, ’I got my momentum. I’ve got to put the pressure on Scott and hit a great tee shot. I’ve got a chance to really put the hammer down,”’ Pettersson said. “And I managed to do it.”

Pettersson birdied the 13th for a one-stroke lead, then went back up by two shots with a birdie on the par-5 15th — the easiest hole on the course for everyone but him, after two bogeys and a par on it. This time it was McCarron’s turn for trouble; he sent his second shot into the sand, recovered and lipped out an 8-foot birdie putt.

“That hole has not been very good to me,” Pettersson said. “Finally feel like you got one back on that hole.”

McCarron’s bogey on the 17th all but locked up Pettersson’s first victory since the 2006 Memorial. Among those joining in the celebration were N.C. State coach Richard Sykes and former Wolfpack teammate Tim Clark, who tied for sixth.

Pettersson is a Swede who moved to Greensboro as a teen, played at North Carolina State, lives a 90-minute drive away in Raleigh and serves on the tournament’s board.

“It will be a great satisfaction just to think about, you know, pulled it off and did it and it’s a wonderful feeling,” Pettersson said. “Doesn’t happen that often in golf unless you’re Tiger Woods.”

McCarron — who had used two early birdies to erase the two-stroke lead that Pettersson brought into the round — was denied his fourth career victory and first since 2001. It was the second top-10 finish of the year for the PGA Tour veteran who sat out the 2007 season after having surgery to repair a tendon in his right elbow.

“Second place is obviously tough to swallow right now, but I’ll probably be pretty happy here when I realize I’ve got a job for the rest of the year,” McCarron said.

Beem and Henry both finished strong and propelled themselves off the FedEx Cup bubble and into the playoffs, which begin later this week at The Barclays.

“I knew I had to play my butt off just to make it up there,” Beem said. “I didn’t want to have four weeks off, you know, and I’m glad at least I got into the first one.”

Beem had birdies on four of his last six holes, jumping 52 spots to 114th, while Henry, who birdied four of his final five holes, moved up 42 spots to 135th. Laird, who shared the first-day lead with Bob Heintz before falling off the pace, wound up jumping 36 spots to 128th.

Heintz and Laird Share Lead at Wyndham

Bob Heintz has always wanted some fans to follow him around the course for a change. For one day anyway, he got that kind of attention, even if it took some ribbing - and a remarkable start to the Wyndham Championship.

Heintz and rookie Martin Laird matched the course record Thursday with 7-under 63s at Sedgefield Country Club to share the lead after the first round of the PGA Tour's last event before the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

They joined three other players who previously shot 63s at the Donald Ross-designed course - nobody had done it since Gary Player in 1970, although the pros haven't played Sedgefield since 1976 - and surpassed the venue's opening-round record by one stroke.

Garrett Willis birdied his final five holes to join Scott Sterling, Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson one stroke back at 64. Steve Marino, Bob Sowards, Ken Duke and Scott McCarron were two strokes behind at 65.

Early during Heintz's round, he figured out that the gallery of roughly 50 people was far more interested in another member of his threesome, local amateur Drew Weaver.

"I said, 'I imagine y'all are here to watch Drew, right?''' Heintz said. "They kind of laughed and felt bad that they weren't there to watch me. I relayed to them that one of my career goals was to get where I'm good enough where someone might actually go to a golf course, pick up a pairing sheet and say, 'I'll follow Bob Heintz's group today.'

"That's kind of a vague career goal, but they started to tease me about that as the day went on - 'I guess I'll follow you now.' I'd rather have attention than, you know, have nobody know who I was.''

Heintz started his round on the back nine and birdied five of his first eight holes. He could have pushed his score even lower on his final hole, the par-4 ninth, but he pushed his 15-foot birdie putt to the right and tapped in for par.

Laird's round was bogey-free with five birdies - including one on the course's toughest hole, the par-4 18th. He added an eagle on the par-4 13th, using a wedge out of the left rough and holing out from about 115 yards away.

"That was one of the ones I got lucky,'' Laird said.

The co-leaders could use a weekend's worth of that good fortune if they want to extend their seasons, qualify for the playoffs and maybe even keep their tour cards.

Laird ranks 162nd on the money list and 164th on the points list. Heintz is one spot ahead of Laird in earnings but trails him by three spots in the FedEx Cup chase in which the top 144 players advance to the postseason.

"If I was to point to something and say, 'This could be stressful for me right now,' it would not be whether I get into the FedEx Cup,'' Heintz said. "It would be, you know, am I going to be able to finish this year in the top 125?

"Am I going to be able to finish in the top 150? For a player of my current status, those are the real concerns. I would love to take some of that FedEx Cup money, and that would mean good things for me, but I don't come to this week going, 'Man, I've got to get in the FedEx Cup.'''

Heintz and Laird bested the course's previous opening-round mark of 64 shared by four players, most recently Lee Elder and Tom Weiskopf in 1973.

Four years after that, the tournament moved 15 miles across town to Forest Oaks Country Club, and it was held there from 1977-2007 before organizers this year brought the event back to Sedgefield.

Brandt Snedeker, whose first career PGA Tour victory came at Forest Oaks last year, finished his opening round three strokes off the lead.

"This golf course actually sets up better for me than Forest Oaks did,'' Snedeker said. "This is more of a placement-off-the-tee kind of golf course and hitting the greens and making some putts. ... Forest Oaks was more of a shootout, see how many birdies you can make. If you hit it long, you had an advantage. Over here, you don't. You've got to place it around the golf course, which is kind of more suited to my game.''

Ochoa Leads Canadian Women’s Open

Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam in the Canadian Women’s Open, leaving Michelle Wie nine strokes back Thursday in her final LPGA Tour event of the year.

Ochoa, the winner last year at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton, Alberta, hit all 18 greens in regulation and was in the rough only once in sunny, calm conditions on the tree-lined Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club course.

“I probably hit 18 greens and I don’t remember chipping, so that was good, too,”’   said Ochoa, a six-time winner this year. “It was a great day. It always feels good when you have no bogeys on your scorecard. ... You’ve got to be careful off the tee — to hit the fairways — that’s going to be the key all week.”

Wie, using the last of her six 2008 sponsor exemptions, bogeyed three of her last six holes for a 75. She birdied Nos. 1 and 3 to get to 2 under, but gave the strokes back with double bogey on the par-5 sixth hole.

The 18-year-old Stanford student, down to No. 309 in the world, needs to win or finish second to avoid a trip to Q-school — if she decides to try qualifying.

In her last start, she missed the cut in the PGA Tour’s Reno event with rounds of 73 and 80. In the State Farm Classic in her previous LPGA Tour start, she was disqualified for failing to sign her second-round scorecard.

Se Ri Pak, Nicole Castrale, Meena Lee and Hee-Won Han opened with 68s, and Suzann Pettersen, Catriona Matthew, Song-Hee Kim, In-Kyung Kim and Eunjung Yi had 69s. Lee won the 2005 tournament at Glen Arbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Alena Sharp was the top Canadian at 71, while 17-year-old Sue Kim opened with a 72. Crowd favorite Lorie Kane shot 74.

Sorenstam, the 2001 winner at Angus Glen in Markham, Ontario, had six birdies and a bogey for a 5-under 31 on her first nine, the back nine. The Swede dropped strokes at the second and eighth before closing with a 14-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth.

“I putted really well,” said Sorenstam, leaving the tour after the season. “I got off to a great start and made tons of putts. “I missed a few opportunities on the (second) nine, but I made a birdie to finish on a high note, so I’m very pleased.”

She had only 10 putts on her first nine holes.

“I can’t remember the last time I had 10 putts on nine holes,” Sorenstam said. That’s what you need to score here.”

The top-ranked Ochoa, winless since May, took time off this summer to deal with a death in the family and other issues.

“I think my game has always been there, it’s more emotionally — sometimes you have ups and downs and distractions and you’re tired,” Ochoa said. “I’m feeling OK now.

“I’ve played solid the last couple of weeks. I’ve had my rest and my time to practice and get motivated. I don’t want to get too far ahead. This is just one round. Hopefully, it will continue to go in this direction.”

Piercy Wins Nationwide Tour's Wichita Open

Scott Piercy won the Wichita Open for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with an even-par 71 for a two-stroke victory over Daniel Summerhays, Hunter Haas and Spencer Levin.

The 29-year-old Piercy, 2007 Ultimate Game winner, opened with rounds of 64, 62 and 65 en route to a 22-under 264 total on the Crestview Country Club course.

He earned $94,500 to jump from 123rd on the money list to 35th with $118,749. The top 25 at the end of the season will earn 2009 PGA Tour cards.

Summerhays and Levin finished with 67s, and Haas closed with a 70.

Tiger Woods Returns to Golf Next Year

Tiger Woods has said he will be unable to swing a golf club until next year as he recovers from reconstructive knee surgery.

The American world number one decided to have surgery on his left knee for a fourth time after winning the U.S. Open in mid-June, ending his 2008 PGA Tour campaign.

“As far as swinging a club, that’s not going to happen until next year,” Woods said in his monthly newsletter on Tuesday. “I just don’t have a choice.

“We simply don’t know what type of swelling there would be or if there would be any residual effects the next day once you start wheeling and dealing on the knee. Everyone’s body reacts differently. I could putt right now but I’m not going to do it.”

Woods, a winner of 14 major titles, underwent an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction of his left knee. He had torn his knee ligament after last year’s British Open at Carnoustie while running and took 10 weeks off at the end of the 2007 season.

He took a further two months off after having arthroscopic surgery two days after the Masters in April and did not play competitively until the June 12-15 U.S. Open.

“I don’t know what the doctors are going to tell me about playing golf down the road,” the 32-year-old added. “I’m taking it day-to-day, week-to-week. All I’m doing every day is looking forward to my next day.”

Weight Loss
Woods said his rehabilitation was going well, despite an initial weight loss.

“I’m a lot more mobile, which is really nice,” he added. ”The big thing is I’ve started my rehab and can ride the (exercise) bike. I can’t ride it hard -- just motion -- but am getting in two or three sessions a day.

“Initially, I probably lost about 10 pounds because I wasn’t working out. All of that was muscle. I’ve put about two pounds back on, but I’m still pretty light. I’m eating mostly raw and organic foods that provide the most nutrients.”

While spending quality time at home with his Swedish wife Elin and young daughter Sam Alexis, Woods has been watching television coverage of the Olympic Games.

He also watched last week’s U.S. PGA Championship at Oakland Hills where Ireland’s Padraig Harrington won his second successive major title.

“I want to congratulate Padraig Harrington on his wins at the British (Open) and PGA,” said Woods, PGA champion in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007.

“As a two-time defending PGA champion, it was a lot more frustrating not to be competing and that hurts the most.”

Tiger Woods watched enough of the PGA Championship to see Padraig Harrington join him as the only players this decade to win two majors in the same season, and he congratulated the Irishman in a newsletter Tuesday.

Woods said he watched only parts of the British Open, PGA Championship and Senior British Open, where friend John Cook was in contention. But he sounded eager about watching the first Ryder Cup without him since 1995.

“I will definitely watch some of the Ryder Cup matches and will be pulling hard for the American team,” he said. “I wish I could do more than root!”