SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) Georgia graduate Jaime Lopez Rivarola of Argentina had a 3-under 68 to take a one-shot lead through 36 holes of the Latin America Amateur Championship.

Joaquin Niemann of Chile, the No. 1 amateur in the world, bounced back from an opening 74 at Prince of Wales Country Club with a 64, leaving him one shot behind in his bid to earn a spot in the Masters. Niemann ended his round by holing a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole.

Rivarola was at 7-under 137.

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Defending champion Toto Gana of Chile had a 70 and joined Niemann in a tie for second. Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico dropped two shots over the last two holes and had to settle for a 70, leaving him three shots behind.

The 36-hole cut was at 8-over 150, with 52 players advancing to the last two rounds.

SINGAPORE (AP) Masters champion Sergio Garcia began his 20th year as a pro by closing with a 3-under 68 for a five-shot victory at the Singapore Open.

Garcia won for the 28th time in his career, and in his fourth Asian country.

Starting the final round of the rain-delayed event at Sentosa Golf Club, the Spaniard birdied his first hole, picked up two more birdies before the turn and made all pars on the back nine.

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He won by five shots over Satoshi Kodaira (71) of Japan and Shaun Norris (70) of South Africa.

Jazz Janewattananond, a 22-year-old Thai, was among four players who earned spots in the British Open. The others went to Danthai Boonma of Thailand, Lucas Herbert of Australia and American Sean Crocker.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title on Sunday after a sensational back nine to clinch the win.

The 27-year-old Englishman, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters, and an indifferent front nine saw him make the turn five shots behind Fisher as gusty winds hit the National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club

But Fleetwood birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes for a seven-under par 65 round to finish on 22-under 267.

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Fisher, 37, got off to a fast start when he made an eagle from 45 feet on the par-5 second hole and added two more birdies in his front nine. A bogey on the par-5 10th, which could have easily turned into a double if not for a 25-feet bogey putt, stalled his progress.

Playing two groups ahead of him, Fleetwood had birdied the 10th and 12th holes, but he saved his ..

Chris GraythenNote: A recent survey by YouGov in Great Britain declared golf the most boring among 17 sports. Sports deemed more engaging included cricket, snooker and darts. It’s impossible to know what the Tour’s official response will be, but an internal communication slipped to us from Ponte Vedra may suggest current thinking.*
(*Or maybe we're making this up)
CONFIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM
To: The Commissioner
From: Director of Marketing
Re: Suggested Tour Response (with Action Points) to survey declaring Golf “Most Boring” Spectator Sport
Very important that our response here not be defensive. Yes, we could say golf is boring in Britain because everything’s boring in Britain. Or hang our hat on the fact that baseball wasn’t included. But why not go Big Humble and say: “We’ve heard our fans. We will change. In fact, we’re incorporating best practices from sports that beat us to make ours more exciting!!”
Consider these simple fan-appeal boosters:
Concussion protocol. Tour fans get b..

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title on Sunday after a sensational back nine to clinch the win.

The 27-year-old Englishman, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters, and an indifferent front nine saw him make the turn five shots behind Fisher as gusty winds hit the National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club

But Fleetwood birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes for a seven-under par 65 round to finish on 22-under 267.

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Fisher, 37, got off to a fast start when he made an eagle from 45 feet on the par-5 second hole and added two more birdies in his front nine. A bogey on the par-5 10th, which could have easily turned into a double if not for a 25-feet bogey putt, stalled his progress.

Playing two groups ahead of him, Fleetwood had birdied the 10th and 12th holes, but he saved his ..

SINGAPORE (AP) Sergio Garcia played 27 holes on the last day without dropping a shot to win the Singapore Open by five strokes Sunday in an ominous display of his new found self-belief as he prepares to defend his Masters title.

Still brimming with confidence after claiming his first major title at Augusta National last year, Garcia started his new season with a runaway victory at the Sentosa Golf Club, finishing at 14-under 270.

Returning to the course just after dawn to complete his third round after play was suspended on Saturday because of lightning strikes, Garcia finished his last nine holes in 4-under for a round of 66 to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

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With organizers desperate to avert the constant threat of more bad weather and finish the tournament on time, Garcia promptly returned to the first tee shortly after and fired a flawless 3-under 68, cruising to victory with 10 straight pars as his rivals floundered in the stifling hum..

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) Jerry Kelly bounced back from an inexplicable miss off the tee to stun Colin Montgomerie in the season opener on the PGA Tour Champions.

Kelly made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Montgomerie missed a 6-footer for par and Kelly turned a one-shot deficit into a victory Saturday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Kelly was tied with Montgomerie when he drove it well right into lava rocks on the wide par-4 16th. He hit a provisional but ended up taking an unplayable lie after he found his ball amid the rocks and made bogey.

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”It was shocking. … I stayed really solid within myself all week and I tried to hit the crap out of that one and it cost me right away,” Kelly said. ”I knew exactly what I did wrong. I took a big old backswing and I couldn’t come back from it, so it showed me a lot.”

On 18, it was Montgomerie who made a mistake off the tee, finding a fairway bunker. His approach went over the green and after ..

SINGAPORE (AP) Masters champion Sergio Garcia made four early birdies to take the third-round lead at the Singapore Open on Sunday as organizers rushed to finish the tournament on time after three days of weather delays.

Returning to the Sentosa Golf Club just after dawn to complete his third round after play was suspended on Saturday because of lightning strikes, Garcia finished off his last four holes in 4-under for a 66 and a 54-hole total of 11-under 202.

That gave Garcia the outright lead by a shot from joint halfway leader Chapchai Nirat, who bogeyed the 18th for a 68, and his fellow Thai pro golfer Danthai Boonma, who signed for a 65.

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Indonesia’s Danny Masrin, who was given an invitation to play the $1million Asian Tour event, shot a 67 to join Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira (66), at 9-under.

Former teen prodigy Ryo Ishikawa, who led by two shots early in the third round, slipped down the leaderboard with a double bogey at the last that left him at ..

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) Jerry Kelly made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Colin Montgomerie missed a 6-footer for par and Kelly turned a one-shot deficit into a victory Saturday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, the season opener on the PGA Tour Champions.

After Kelly drove it well right into lava rocks on the par-4 16th, leading to bogey and giving Montgomerie the lead, Montgomerie made a mistake with his tee shot on the last, finding a fairway bunker. Montgomerie’s approach went over the green and after Kelly converted his birdie, the 54-year-old Scot jammed his par putt well past the hole.

It was the third win on the over-50 tour for the 51-year-old Kelly, who finished tied for 14th last week at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Honolulu. That gave him confidence as he hopped over to the Big Island for his tournament debut at Hualalai. The limited-field event includes winners from last season, past champions of the event, major champions and Hall of Famers.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) Austin Cook hit a hybrid into the fairway bunker on the par-4 18th on a breezy Saturday afternoon at La Quinta Country Club, then chunked a wedge and raced a chip 20 feet past the hole.

Kip Henley, the longtime PGA Tour caddie who guided Cook to a breakthrough victory at Sea Island in November, stepped in to give the 26-year-old former Arkansas star a quick pep talk.

”Kip said, `Let’s finish this like we did on the first day at the Nicklaus Course.’ We made a big par putt on 18 there and he said, `Let’s just do the same thing. Let’s get this line right and if you get the line right it’s going in.”’

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It did , giving Cook an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge going into the final round on the Stadium Course at PGA West. Fellow former Razorback Andrew Landry and Martin Piller were tied for second, and Jon Rahm and Scott Piercy were a another stroke back after a tricky day in wind that didn’t get close to..