PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Derek Fathauer won the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship on Sunday to top the four-event Web.Com Tour Finals money list and earn a full PGA Tour exemption.
Fathauer finished with a 2-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Zac Blair. The 28-year-old former Louisville player earned $180,000 for his first professional victory to push his Finals total to $250,133.
"This is unbelievable," Fathauer said. "I was trying to force it for the first few events. I did a better job of staying patient this week and not looking too far ahead."
Fathauer has already earned a PGA Tour card with a top-25 finish on the Web.com Tour's regular-season money list. By topping the Finals money list, he earned fully exempt status for the 2014-15 PGA Tour season and a spot in The Players Championship. He played the tour in 2009, but lost his card after making only eight cuts in 25 starts and wound up losing his card after finishing No. 201 on the FedExCup standings.
"It was tough my first year," Fathauer said. "I'm not sure I was ready for the tour. I think my all-around game is better now and I'm mentally tougher. I'm ready to give it another try."
He had a 14-under 266 on TPC Sawgrass' Dye's Valley Course.
Blair earned $108,000 to secure a PGA Tour card with the 11th position in the Finals priority ranking.
Jason Gore was third at 11 under after a 69. He also earned a PGA Tour card in the regular season, and ended up 10th in the priority ranking.
The Web.com Tour Finals were limited to the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings. The top 25 on the Web.com money list competed against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players fought for another 25 cards based on their earnings in the series.
David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished 17th on the money after a sixth-place finish Sunday where he earned $36,000 for a total of $99,368.
Adam Hadwin topped the combined Web.com Tour money list to also earn a full exemption and a spot in The Players. The Canadian, also a former Louisville player, had a 72 on Sunday to tie for seventh at 6 under. He earned $30,125 for a total of $529,792.
"I think everyone out here knows the importance of being No. 1 and knows how good it is not to have to reshuffle for the next year," Hadwin said. "It allows you to just go out and have some fun and enjoy it. You don't have to put pressure on yourself to perform before the first reshuffle or the second reshuffle."
He won the second playoff event for his second victory of the year.
Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) missed securing his exemption by $3,114 after finishing Sunday in a tie for 40th place. Also not placing in the top 50 were Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) who was 70th and Scott Gardiner (Farmington) who was 72nd.
LPGA
Lewis rallies for second
RATTVILLE, Ala. -- Mi Jung Hur held off top-ranked Stacy Lewis on Sunday to win the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, finishing with a 6-under 66 for a tournament-record 21-under 267 total.
The 24-year-old South Korean player birdied four of the final eight holes to beat Lewis by four strokes for her second LPGA Tour victory.
Hur opened with rounds of 64, 70 and 67 on Capitol Hill's links-style Senator layout. She broke the tournament mark of 19 under set by Katherine Hull-Kirk in 2010. It was the best 72-hole score of Hur's career.
Lewis won in 2012 at the tournament that was dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor. She also closed with a 66.
Rookie Paula Reto was third at 14 under after a 73. She shared the third-round lead with Hur at 15 under.
EUROPEAN
Luiten wins third
NEWPORT, Wales -- Dutchman Joost Luiten won the Wales Open for his third European Tour title, shooting an even-par 71 for a one-stroke victory over England's Tommy Fleetwood and Ireland's Shane Lowry.
Luiten finished at 14-under 270 on Celtic Manor's Twenty-Ten Course.
Fleetwood closed with a 67, and Lowry shot 70. European Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson of Wales had a 67 to tie for fourth at 12 under. The Ryder Cup begins Friday at Gleneagles in Scotland.
Sports on 09/22/2014