Anthony Kim ended a nearly two-year drought when he beat fellow American Vaughn Taylor in a playoff at the Houston Open Sunday. Kim, who started the final round tied for the lead, squandered the chance to win in regulation when he bogeyed the last hole after missing a six-foot par putt. He carded 70 to tie Taylor, who birdied the last for 68, at 12-under-par 276 at Redstone. Taylor, who needed to win to qualify for this week's US Masters in his hometown of Augusta, made a mess of the first playoff hole, the par-four 18th, where Kim won with a par. South African Charl Schwartzel (67) and Canadian Graham DeLaet (68) finished one stroke behind, tied for third. It is the third win on the PGA Tour for 24-year-old Kim and a confidence-boosting tune-up for the Masters. Kim collected $1,044,000 for his third victory on the PGA Tour, after previously winning twice in 2008 had told NBC that he had a torn thumb ligament and may have to take time off after the Masters. “At the beginning of the week, if you told me I was in a play-off, I don't know if I would have fully believed you, because I didn't know what I was expecting with my golf game. But I did a great job just staying patient, staying loose, and got the job done.” Taylor admitted that the occasion proved too much in the playoff. It was a quiet week for several of the Masters favorites, with Phil Mickelson finishing at two-under, Ireland's Padraig Harrington one-under and South Africa's Ernie Els on even par. Tseng claims second major Taiwan's Yani Tseng kept her cool to hold off Norway's Suzann Pettersen by one shot to win her second major title at the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Rancho Mirage, Calaifornia, Sunday, then ignored an earthquake an hour later. Tseng, who closed with a four-under 68 for a total of 13-under 275 to pip Pettersen was in the middle of her champion's media conference when the effects of a 6.9 earthquake in Baja was felt throughout southern California. Tseng began the final round tied for second with Pettersen and an eagle at the par-five second and a birdie at the par-four third propelled the 21-year-old to the top of the leaderboard. As Tseng watched on nervously, Pettersen piled on the pressure and was unlucky to miss an eagle chip at the par-five closing hole. The Norwegian could only sink a birdie to close on 276. South Korea's Kim Song-hee closed with two-under 70 to take third at nine-under 279. World number one Lorena Ochoa was fourth on six-under 282 with third round leader Karen Stupples of Britain tied for fifth after she closed with a six
