RAVENNA, Italy: German Marcel Siem claimed his sixth European Tour title with a play-off win at the Italian Open on Sunday.
Siem, 43, overcame a shaky back nine on his final round to hole a birdie putt on the 18th to tie him at 10-under with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, after having at one point held a three-shot lead over his closest competitor.
On the first play-off hole, McKibbin missed his birdie putt and Siem then made no mistake in sinking his as he claimed a win in just his fourth tournament back after hip surgery in February.
“I love this sport and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment,” said Siem.
“I think it’s the second oldest trophy on mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now, I’m so proud of that.”
However, the second-place finish does at least have a note of consolation for Northern Irishman McKibbin as it ensured his place at The Open Championship in July.
Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off
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Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off

Doug Ghim clings to one-shot lead at John Deere Classic

- Ghim, a 29-year-old Illinois native, is hoping to land his maiden PGA Tour victory in his home state
- The round of the day belonged to defending champion Davis Thompson, whose bogey-free 63 catapulted him to 11 under
SILVIS, Illinois: Doug Ghim shot a 3-under par 68 and held onto a one-stroke lead over Max Homa and a group of contenders at the John Deere Classic on Friday in Silvis, Illinois
Homa is part of a five-way tie for second after also posting a 68 late Friday afternoon at TPC Deere Run. He matched Ghim at 12 under with a birdie at the par-5 17th hole, but after finding a bunker off the 18th tee he failed to save par and dropped back a shot.
Ghim, a 29-year-old Illinois native, is hoping to land his maiden PGA Tour victory in his home state.
“They couldn’t make it today but I’m anticipating family coming (Saturday), and I’m excited about that,” Ghim said.
Ghim made an eagle for the second straight round, holing out from 179 yards away at the par-4 15th.
“I guess holing out two days in a row is always nice,” he said. “It’s been couple years since I think I holed out from the fairway. To get two back-to- back days is a great.”
He reached 13 under for the tournament with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 4-5, but Ghim bogeyed his closing hole, No. 9.
Homa entered the week an abysmal No. 122 in the FedEx Cup standings amid a disappointing season, but now he’s in the mix for his first win since 2023.
“I don’t think really much changes” on the weekend, Homa said. “I mean, just play the golf course. You’re going to have to shoot really low. If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I’m not so sure that is going to work. Somebody can go out there and shoot 11-under out there and jump everybody.
“So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically.”
The round of the day belonged to defending champion Davis Thompson, whose bogey-free 63 catapulted him to 11 under. Tied with Homa and Thompson are Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67) and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66).
“(On Thursday) I hit a lot of great putts early but they were just burning the edges,” said Thompson, who made four birdies on each nine Friday. “Then I was able to make a few on the back nine (Thursday) and just ride that momentum into today.”
Colombia’s Camilo Villegas (66) and Si Woo Kim of South Korea (67) are part of a group at 10 under as the second round finished up late Friday.
Rickie Fowler dropped four shots in a four-hole span on his back nine, with two bogeys and a double bogey, but he birdied No. 17 to finish up a 1-over 72 and get to 5 under, which wound up being the cut line at the end of the day.
Notable names who missed the cut included Tom Kim of South Korea (4 under), Australian Jason Day (2 under), J.T. Poston (1 under) and Canadian Adam Hadwin (2 over).
Doug Ghim leads John Deere as Max Homa, Rickie Fowler also go low

- There have been nine first-time winners on the PGA Tour this season, and Ghim, a 29-year-old native of Illinois, is trying to become the 10th
- Homa had his best round of 2025 on 63 after struggling with his game throughout the first six months of the season
SILVIS, Illinois: Doug Ghim made an eagle from the sixth fairway en route to a bogey-free, 9-under par 62 on Thursday to set the firs round lead at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois
Ghim made four of his seven birdies on the inward nine at TPC Deere Run to head to the clubhouse with a one-shot lead over Max Homa and Austin Eckroat. There have been nine first-time winners on the PGA Tour this season, and Ghim, a 29-year-old native of Illinois, is trying to become the 10th.
“Obviously any win on the PGA Tour is amazing. To do it here would be awesome,” Ghim said. “There is a lot of golf to be played and I probably won’t even be leading by the end of the day. We’ll see.”
Ghim chipped in for birdie at the opening hole and was 2 under through two before arriving at the short par-4 sixth hole. He had a 91-yard shot to the front pin location and played it perfectly to card an eagle 2.
“There are times like earlier in my career that you try to go out and shoot a 62,” Ghim said. “Not to say that we’re not trying to shoot 62 every day, but you kind of have it let to come to you.”
Homa had his best round of 2025 after struggling with his game throughout the first six months of the season. He was in line for a 62 of his own before making his only bogey at his last hole, the par-4 ninth.
“I just did everything really solid. I made a ton of putts. Kept the driver in good spots,” said Homa, who has been balky off the tee this season but hit 10 of 14 fairways in regulation Thursday. “Got to take advantage of my iron play, my wedge play.
“Always feels good to get off to a good start when you’re struggling, that’s for sure.”
Eckroat eagled two of his first five holes, first sinking an 11-foot putt at the par-5 second and then holing out from 137 yards at the fifth. Eckroat was proud that he didn’t get too far ahead of himself.
“It was a little too early to go nuts, but it was still — threw my hands up in the air. Had fun,” he said. “If it was late on Sunday, probably been more of a reaction for sure.”
Four players were tied at 7-under 64: David Lipsky, Sam Stevens, Justin Lower and past John Deere champion Michael Kim.
Rickie Fowler posted a 6-under 65 that featured a 29 on his second nine, the front nine. He eagled No. 2 from 103 yards out and added three straight birdies at Nos. 5-7. He was part of a large tie that included Matt Kuchar, Si Woo Kim of South Korea and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.
Defending champ Davis Thompson opened with a 3-under 68. Australian Jason Day struggled to a 3-over 74.
Aldrich Potgieter, 20, wins Rocket Classic in five-hole playoff

- Potgieter drained an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole to secure his first PGA Tour victory by winning the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club
- The trio of Potgieter, Greyserman and Kirk finished 72 holes at 22-under-par 266
DETROIT: As a grueling playoff unfolded in the Rocket Classic, South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter was determined to have enough pace on what became the final putt Sunday.
Potgieter drained an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole to secure his first PGA Tour victory by winning the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
“Struggled to make putts. Left a lot short,” Potgieter said. “Finally got one to the hole.”
Potgieter outlasted Max Greyserman in an extended playoff that began with three golfers. Chris Kirk’s bogey on the second playoff hole cost him a chance and reduced the playoff to two golfers.
Potgieter, a big-hitting 20-year-old, began the tournament with a 62 on Thursday and ended up with the biggest prize. He is the youngest South African to win on tour.
“Big thanks to my family, friends, coaches, everyone who has been involved to kind of get me to this point,” Potgieter said.
The trio of Potgieter, Greyserman and Kirk finished 72 holes at 22-under-par 266.
“This one is going to sting a little bit,” Greyserman said.
Potgieter, who became the seventh-youngest PGA Tour winner since 1983, and Greyserman both had birdies on the par-5 14th hole — the fourth stop in the playoff — before Potgieter sank the winning putt on the par-3 15th hole.
Kirk and Greyserman shot final-round 5-under-par 67s and Potgieter, who was the first- and third-round leader, had 69.
Kirk had the best chance on the first playoff hole, but he was off the mark on a birdie putt of slightly more than 9 feet.
“It’s a shame that first playoff hole,” Kirk said. “Hit just three perfect shots and I misread that putt a little bit. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Greyserman missed from 11 feet on the second extra hole before Kirk was eliminated with a three-putt bogey moments later.
“Just really disappointed right now,” Kirk said. “Felt like I played great today. I’m happy with the way I played.”
Greyserman, ranked 48th in the world entering this week, remains without a PGA Tour victory. He has four runner-up finishes.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the job done,” Greyserman said. “Thought I hit a lot of good shots down the stretch. Very pleased with how I handled myself down the stretch.”
It was a bogey-free round for Greyserman, who missed a birdie putt from just inside 12 feet on the final hole that would have given him the victory. He made birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to rise into a share of the lead.
Except for a birdie on No. 17, Kirk posted par on seven of his last eight holes in regulation.
It was a crowded leaderboard for the entire day.
Michael Thorbjornsen (67) and Jake Knapp (68) shared fourth place at 21 under. Jackson Suber (68) and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (66) tied for sixth at 20 under.
By late afternoon, there were 26 golfers within three shots of the lead. After Potgieter and Greyserman made the turn as the final pairing, there were several fewer so close to the top, but still more than a dozen — with more than half of those golfers still on the course.
Echavarria played the final seven holes in 4 under to match his first-round 66.
Harry Higgs and Akshay Bhatia had 65s for the best scores of the last round, finishing at 16 under and 15 under, respectively.
Reed wins four-man playoff to capture first LIV Golf title

- “The biggest thing with relief is to finally win in my home state,” said Reed, who lives near Houston
WASHINGTON: Patrick Reed birdied the first extra hole to win a four-man playoff on Sunday and capture LIV Golf Dallas for his first victory in 41 starts in the Saudi-backed series.
Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, led by as many as five strokes early in the final round, squandered his advantage, then won on only the third birdie of the day at the 18th hole at Maridoe Golf Club.
“The biggest thing with relief is to finally win in my home state,” said Reed, who lives near Houston. “To finally get that done meant a lot. To get my first win here as part of LIV means so much to me.”
The 34-year-old American won last November’s Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour for his first title since a 2021 PGA victory at Torrey Pines.
Reed, England’s Paul Casey, South African Louis Oosthuizen and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma shared the lead after the regulation 54 holes on six-under 282.
Reed opened with a birdie at the first hole, jumped ahead by five after double bogeys by his top rivals, but had five bogeys on the front nine before parring his way through the back nine proved good enough to make a playoff.
“I tried to mess it up,” Reed said. “After making birdie on the first I seemed to leave every putt short. Just kind of putting pretty tentative.”
He missed a birdie putt at 18 in regulation to ensure a playoff.
“Had a good putt there to win on the final hole of regulation, hit a good putt and it doesn’t go in there. Leave it short,” Reed said. “So when I had that down there (to win in the playoff) I thought I left it short too but making a birdie at the last always helps.”
Reed composed himself at the turn after losing the lead to his woeful front side.
“I told myself the putts have to start falling. For the most part I thought I hit the ball fine. I had just a lot of missed putts,” he said.
Kozuma missed a chance for his first victory outside his homeland.
Sharing fifth on 283 were Americans Charles Howell and Harold Varner, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia qualified for the British Open, taking the spot available to a top-five LIV season player not already in the field for next month’s major showdown at Portrush.
The Crushers, featuring Casey and two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, won the team title.
Arab Golf Federation wraps up inaugural Elite Scholarship Camp in Riyadh

- Targeting under-18 boys and girls, the program forms part of the federation’s broader effort to create a sustainable pipeline of Arab golfers capable of competing on the global stage
RIYADH: The Arab Golf Federation concluded the first-ever edition of its Elite Sports Scholarship Program Camp on Sunday.
The event brought together 16 promising young golfers from across the region for an intensive four-day development experience at Riyadh Golf Club.
The camp, held in partnership with IMG Academy, marked the launch of one of the AGF’s flagship long-term initiatives aimed at producing a new generation of Arab golfing talent by 2035.
Targeting under-18 boys and girls, the program forms part of the federation’s broader effort to create a sustainable pipeline of Arab golfers capable of competing on the global stage.
Over the course of the week, participants underwent technical, physical and psychological assessments, including high-performance testing using TrackMan technology, as well as on-course and indoor training.
To simulate competitive pressure, players took part in two 18-hole championship rounds, with final-day winners crowned and scholarship recipients selected.
Those chosen will begin receiving full support from August, including elite coaching, academic tutoring, strength and conditioning, and mental performance services.
Speaking at the camp, IMG Academy Executive Director Kevin Craggs delivered a session titled “Mastering the Margin: Coaching for Clarity and Competitive Edge.”
Addressing families and coaches, Craggs highlighted the value of resilience, conscious leadership and athlete-centered development.
AGF President Sheikh Fahim Al-Qasimi had previously said the scholarship program represented a pivotal moment for Arab golf, positioning the region as a serious player on the global sporting map.
“By investing in the next generation of athletes, we are creating long-term opportunities for Arab players to succeed internationally,” he said ahead of the camp’s launch.
The conclusion of the Riyadh camp coincided with another major milestone for regional golf: More than 35 Arab players took part in an Asian Development Tour tournament in Morocco during the same week, highlighting the AGF’s commitment to providing real-world competitive exposure as part of its talent pipeline.