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Vegas rallies to win Canadian Open, earns spot in PGA Championship

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Vegas rallies to win Canadian Open, earns spot in PGA Championship

OAKVILLE, Ontario — Jhonattan Vegas rallied to win the Canadian Open on Sunday for his second PGA Tour victory, birdieing the final three holes at Glen Abbey for an 8-under 64 and one-stroke victory.

The 29-year-old Venezuelan Olympic player began the day five strokes behind leader Brandt Snedeker and four behind U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and Canadian amateur Jared du Toit.

Vegas had five straight birdies on Nos. 2-6, bogeyed the par-4 eighth and also birdied the par-5 13th. He then birdied the par-5 16th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th to post at 12-under 276.

No one could catch him.

Johnson, Jon Rahm and Martin Laird tied for second. Johnson eagled the 16th and birdied the 18th for a 69. Laird finished with two pars in a 67. Rahm, du Toit's former Arizona State teammate, birdied 16 and 18 in a 67. The Spaniard was making his fourth start since turning professional.

Vegas earned $1,062,000 and a spot in the PGA Championship next week at Baltusrol in New Jersey. He also received a two-year tour exemption and a spot in the Masters next year.

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Vegas also won the 2011 Bob Hope Classic. He tied for fourth last week in Alabama in the event opposite the British Open, shooting a course-record 60 in the second round.

Snedeker, the 2013 winner at Glen Abbey, shot a 71 to tie for fifth at 10 under. He birdied the 16th and closed with two pars.

Du Toit tied for ninth at 9 under after a 71. He birdied 16 and 18.

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Du Toit, an Arizona State senior from Kimberley, British Columbia, was trying to become the first Canadian winner since Pat Fletcher, born in England, in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver, British Columbia. Carl Keffer is the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Albert Murray, a Canadian also born in England, won in 1908 and 1913. Doug Sanders was the last amateur to win the event in 1956, and Phil Mickelson — then also an Arizona State student — was the last amateur winner on the tour in the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.

Top-ranked defending champion Jason Day had a 67 to tie for 14th at 7 under.

This article was written by The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.