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SPORTS Monday 22 May 2017

Nelson’s Four Seasons finale: Horschel over Day in playoff

STEPHEN HAWKINS for the fourth time on the him in the playoff with his
AP Sports Writer PGA Tour and for the first playing partners.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Billy time since taking the 2014 Because of early morning
Horschel won the AT&T Tour Championship for the rain that delayed the start
Byron Nelson with a par FedEx Cup title. Sunday, threesomes were
on the first playoff hole With a 1-under 69, includ- used instead of the usual
Sunday after Jason Day ing a 60-foot birdie putt weekend twosomes. No
pulled his 4-foot par putt at the 14th hole, Horschel one outside of that fi-
left and past the hole. matched Day at 12-under nal group made a real
That miss by Day almost 268. Day had a 68. charge to contend with
wasn’t even needed for Third-round leader James the final trio.
Horschel, whose 18-foot Hahn finished a stroke The playoff wrapped up
birdie chance was rolling back after shooting 71. He the Nelson’s 35th and final
straight toward the center just missed a miraculous tournament in Irving. The
of the cup before stop- eagle at the 18th hole event will shift next year
ping just short. He won that would have gotten to the new links-style Trin-
ity Forest Golf Club south
Romanian minister defends of downtown Dallas.
The tournament was first
keeping Kanter at airport played in Irving in 1983,
but its roots go back to
1944 as the Texas Vic-
tory Open at Lakewood
Country Club, where By-
ron Nelson won a year
before his streak of 11
PGA Tour victories in a
row. In 1968, the tourna-
ment became the first Billy Horschel poses with the trophy after winning the Byron Nel-
named after a PGA Tour son golf tournament, Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Irving, Texas.
Associated Press
player.Day, who got the
first of his 10 PGA Tour vic-
tories at the 2010 Nelson, almost matched them three putts of 5 feet or less
had the lead alone only at 12 under when his ap- on Nos. 2-4. His closing 74
once. He pitched in a 78- proach from 122 yards at put him 4 under and tied
foot shot from the rough the 18th hit on the green, for 20th.
by the greenside bunker spun back and skimmed During the stretch when
In this April 11, 2017, file photo, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes for a birdie at the 477- over the edge of the cup. Hahn fell behind his play-
Kanter, of Turkey, looks on during a break in the second half of He made the 4-foot birdie ing partners, Horschel
an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves yard 15th, after two hor-
in Minneapolis. rible shots to get in that putt to finish alone in third, rolled in a 60-foot birdie
Associated Press position. His tee shot went ahead of Jason Kokrak. putt at the par-4 14th af-
into the rough to the far Kokrak went into the ter his poor approach
right under the trees, and weekend with a five- that led him to toss his
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Twitter account that the
— Romania’s foreign minis- Turkish embassy canceled his approach set up an stroke lead, the largest club in the air.Hahn was
ever after 36 holes at the leading alone again for
ter says his country had no his passport and that he’d awkward stance.
choice in detaining Okla- been detained for several But at the par-5 573-yard Nelson. But he shot 72 on the first time since the sec-
Saturday and closed with ond hole, by one stroke
homa City Thunder center hours at a Romanian air- 16th, the easiest hole at
Enes Kanter in the capital’s port. TPC Four Seasons, Day’s a 70 to get to 10 under. over his playing partners,
Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 after making a 15-foot
airport. Kanter said he believed wayward tee shot hit a
Teodor Melescanu said Ro- he was held because of spectator. After mak- player in the world, had birdie off the fringe at
a closing 69 to tie for 13th the 312-yard 11th hole to
mania could not “proceed his political views. He has ing sure the woman
otherwise” in comments been a critic of Turkish was OK, his approach at 6 under.Defending go to 13 under.After Day
champion Sergio Garcia and Horschel bogeyed
made to news.ro. He de- president Recep Tayyip shot settled pin high on
clined to comment further. Erdogan. Kanter supports the green but a 9-foot had birdies on six of his the 452-yard 12th, Hahn
last eight holes Saturday missed a chance to ex-
Kanter was detained at Turkish cleric Fethullah Gu- birdie chance curled by
Henri Coanda Airport on len, who opposes Erdogan. the hole. Horschel, who to get within four strokes tend his lead there. But
of the lead. But he was his 5-foot par putt curled
Saturday before depart- Melescanu spoke Sunday earned $1.35 million, also
ing to the United States via from the summit of the Or- got to that green in two, as quickly out of conten- around the cup, the first
tion after giving back four of his three consecutive
London. ganization of the Black Sea and two-putted from
Kanter, who is Turkish, said Economic Cooperation, 44 feet for a tying birdie strokes in a three-hole bogeys that knocked
stretch early in the final him out of the lead for
in a video Saturday on his taking place in Istanbul.q before they both parred
the last two holes.Hahn round when he missed good.q