TROON, Scotland — Bruce Vaughan won the Senior British Open on Sunday for his first career victory, sinking a 20-foot putt to beat John Cook on the first playoff hole.
Cook squandered a three-stroke lead after 10 holes but still went to the 72nd leading Vaughan by one. Cook hit his tee shot into the right rough and played his third shot well short of the green. He decided to putt but left it 15 feet short, leading to a bogey and an even-par 71 finish and a 6-under 278 total.
Vaughan made a par for a 70 that forced the Americans back to No. 18 to begin the playoff, the championship’s third in four years.
Vaughan found the center of the green with his approach shot and sank his 20-footer. When Cook missed his putt from 12 feet, the former firefighter from Hutchinson, Kan., won his first tournament on the senior or regular PGA tours.
Eduardo Romero finished third after failing to make the playoff by missing an 8-foot putt at the 18th. He had a 70 to finish at 5-under 279, one shot ahead of Bernhard Langer (68).
Footnotes.
Chez Reavie won the Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario, for his first PGA Tour title, closing with a 1-under 70 for a three-stroke victory over Billy Mayfair (68).
Reavie, a short hitter generously listed at 5-feet-9, was on the mark in the wire-to-wire win at rain-softened Glen Abbey, hitting 44 of 56 fairways and 54 of 72 greens in regulation.
Playing for the sixth straight week, Reavie finished at 17-under 267. Sean O’Hair (68) and Steve Marino (70) tied for third at 13-under.
• Helen Alfredsson won her first LPGA Tour title in five years, defeating rookie Na Yeon Choi in a playoff at the Evian Masters in Evian-les-Bains, France.
The 43-year-old Swede made a 3-foot birdie on the third playoff hole, the 18th, while Choi, of South Korea, parred the hole. Angela Park had been eliminated after the first extra hole.
