RIVER HILLS, Wis. --- Steve Wilson, of Ocean Springs, Miss., defeated Todd Mitchell 5-and-4 on Thursday in the 36-hole final of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship to earn an invitation to next year's Masters Tournament.
The 38-year-old Wilson one-putted nine times in the first 18 holes to take a 2-up lead into the afternoon session of the U.S. Golf Association event. He finished with 14-one putts in 32 holes.
Mitchell, 30, Bloomington, Ill., struggled with his putting, including a three-putt to lose the par-4 18th hole in the morning round and go 2-down.
WOMEN'S MID-AMATEUR: In Ann Arbor, Mich., Joan Higgins went out looking for pars. She found enough to become the oldest winner of the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship.
The 52-year-old Higgins didn't birdie a single hole, but 13 pars were enough to give her a 1-up victory over Lynn Simmons in the 18-hole final at Barton Hills Country Club.
The Glendora, Calif., native became the first player over 50 to win the event since it began in 1987. Carol Semple Thompson was 48 when she won her second Mid-Am in 1997. The tournament is open to amateur golfers 25 and older.
EUROPEAN TOUR: In Pulheim, Germany, Richard Finch and Jean-Francois Lucquin each shot 6-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead at the Mercedes Benz Championship, a tune-up for the Ryder Cup.
Finch, who won the Irish Open in May, birdied five of his first seven holes and had four birdies on the back nine.
"It's the first time I played the tournament and I am glad I just gave myself a chance," he said.
Robert Karlsson followed the leaders with 67. He is one of four European players using the tournament to warm up for next week's Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Defending champion Soren Hansen, another member of the Ryder Cup team, shot 73.
The two other European Ryder Cup players at this tournament are Graeme McDowell and Miguel Angel Jimenez, and both shot 72.
Fred Couples and John Daly started strong but faded. Couples (75) made an eagle on his first hole and a birdie on his second. Daly (73) birdied his first two holes.
Retief Goosen, the 2005 champion, shot 76, and four-time champion Bernhard Langer was at 70.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: In Boise, Idaho, Michael Putnam opened with a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 for a one-stroke advantage over six players in the Boise Open.
Putnam could benefit greatly from a victory late in the season. The top 25 on the money list at the end of the season earn PGA Tour cards, and Putnam came into the week at No. 54.
Arjun Atwal, who came in at No. 32, is among the players who shot an opening-round 66 at Hillcrest Country Club.
Augusta's Scott Parel (69) was tied for 37th after the first round. He came into the week at No. 71 on the money list.
Six events remain on this year's Nationwide Tour schedule. The schedule closes Nov. 6-9, with the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
LPGA TOUR: In Mobile, Ala., China's Shanshan Feng shot 5-under-par 67, playing a four-hole stretch in 5-under, for a share of the first-round lead with fellow LPGA Tour rookie Anna Rawson in the Bell Micro LPGA Classic.
Fourth in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in July, Feng has missed the cut in 11 of her 19 tour starts this season.
Rawson, a former Southern Cal star, had six birdies and a bogey on The Crossing course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Magnolia Grove complex.
Paula Creamer, an eight-stroke winner last year at The Crossings in the Tournament of Champions, shot 78 -- matching her worst score of the year.
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