By Tony Webeck

A Marc Leishman Sunday charge has again come up just short as the Victorian finished tied for third at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.

For the second time in as many starts this season Leishman flirted with the top of the leaderboard in a final day birdie blitz but again ran out of holes, posting a final round of 8-under 63 at TPC Summerlin to take the clubhouse lead at 19-under par.

It would prove to be five shots shy of Korean Sungjae Im who delivered the round of the day to earn his second PGA Tour title, his 62 highlighted by a run of five straight birdies from the ninth hole.

Tied for 15th through 54 holes, Leishman peeled off five birdies of his own on the front nine and when he added three more at holes 11, 13 and 14 had drawn to within just one of the lead.

But a tee shot that he lost right at the par-4 15th and an approach shot that bounced back into the water to make bogey at the par-5 16th ultimately brought Leishman’s hopes undone, a birdie at the 72nd hole earning a share of third alongside Rory Sabbatini and Adam Schenk.

The 37-year-old shot 65 in the final round to finish fourth at the Fortinet Championship three weeks ago and intends to use this hot start as a platform for a big 2022 campaign.

“It’s good just to be playing well, feeling good over the ball, seeing the putts go in,” said Leishman, who will stay in Vegas this week for the CJ Cup.

“It’s been a while since that’s happened and for it to happen at Napa and then here again it’s a good feeling.

“You have to do everything pretty well when you shoot a number like that. To do it on a Sunday makes you feel pretty good.

“Hopefully I can continue on next week and for the rest of the season.”

Like Leishman, Cam Davis saved his best golf for the final round, closing with a 5-under 66 to earn a share of 27th alongside fellow New South Welshman Matt Jones who made a strong return to the Tour after a five-week layoff.

Kiwi Ryan Fox continued his good recent play to lead the Australasian contingent at the Open de Espana in a share of 25th, Min Woo Lee the best of the Aussies two shots back in a tie for 39th.

Min Woo’s sister Minjee was the leading Australian at the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup as she shared 25th position while Robyn Choi completed her Symetra Tour season by finishing in a tie for 30th at the Symetra Tour Championship in Florida.

Results

PGA Tour Shriners Children’s Open TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada Winner Sungjae Im         63-65-70-62—260           $US1.26m T3          Marc Leishman 67-67-68-63—265           $371,000 T27        Cam Davis          67-68-71-66—272           $46,944 T27        Matt Jones         64-67-71-70—272           $46,944 T35        Adam Scott        70-67-67-69—273           $34,860

European Tour Acciona Open de España Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Winner Rafa Cabrera Bello          67-65-64-69—265           €233,900 T24        Ryan Fox             65-71-67-70—273           €13,809 T39        Min Woo Lee     67-69-70-69—275           €9,494 T56        Jason Scrivener 71-68-70-69—278           €5,110 MC        Scott Hend         73-69—142 MC        Maverick Antcliff             74-73—147

LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup Mountain Ridge Country Club, New Jersey Winner Jin Young Ko      63-68-69-66—266 T25        Minjee Lee         69-68-73-70—280 T42        Hannah Green   68-72-70-72—282 T51        Su Oh    68-72-73-70—283 T55        Katherine Kirk    70-72-72-70—284 MC        Sarah Jane Smith             72-72—144 MC        Sarah Kemp       76-73—149 MC        Wenyung Keh    72-80—152

Japan Golf Tour Bridgestone Open Sodegaura Country Club (Sodegaura Cse), Chiba Winner Tomoyasu Sugiyama      69-68-62-66—265           ¥22m T20        Anthony Quayle              70-70-65-71—276           ¥1,173,333 T36        David Bransdon 70-69-69-72—280           ¥539,000 T42        Todd Sinnott      70-70-67-74—281           ¥429,000 MC        Dylan Perry        73-72—145

Korean PGA Tour Genesis Championship Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (Links Cse), Incheon, South Korea Winner Jaekyeong Lee   67-68-73-66—274           KRW304,890,442 MC        Junseok Lee       75-78—153 MC        Wonjoon Lee     76-78—154

Symetra Tour Symetra Tour Championship LPGA International (Jones Cse), Daytona Beach, Florida Winner Prima Thammaraks        69-63-69-65—266           $US37,500 T30        Robyn Choi        68-71-70-69—278           $1,985 T55        Stephanie Na     67-72-72-72—283           $938 MC        Soo Jin Lee         74-68—142 MC        Julienne Soo      72-70—142

LET Access Series Terre Blanche Ladies Open Golf De Terre Blanche, France Winner Linn Grant          68-66-72—206  €6,400 T14        Kristalle Blum    74-72-72—218  €790 T32        Amy Walsh        74-74-75—223  €470

Champions Tour Constellation Furyk and Friends Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Florida Winner Phil Mickelson   66-67-68—201  $US300,000 T7          Steven Alker      68-70-70—208  $61,000 T38        Rod Pampling    68-72-74—214  $10,400 T46        Stuart Appleby  70-69-77—216  $6,600 T57        Robert Allenby  78-73-68—219  $3,700 T63        John Senden      73-74-73—220  $2,500 T72        Stephen Leaney 73-73-77—223  $1,370 T78        David McKenzie 75-76-77—228  $960

Legends Tour Riegler & Partner Legends Golf Club Murhof, Austria Winner Mauricio Molina             66-66-67—199  €37,500 T15        Michael Campbell           68-73-68—209  €4,087 T21        Michael Long     70-74-67—211  €2,825 T43        Peter Fowler      71-75-70—216  €1,325