PGA Tour

Silvis, Ill.: Lucas Glover made his third straight birdie and knew winning the John Deere Classic was in reach with a one-shot lead and four holes to go.

But this was not the time to be thinking about ending 10 years without a PGA Tour trophy. Conditions were too soft and pure. There were too many birdies to be made, and too many players behind him.

“Push, push, push,” Glover said. “And I think that kept me from getting complacent, kept me from getting too nervy, because I knew it was going to take a bunch more under par.”

He finished with five birdies over his last seven holes for a 7-under 64 and a two-shot victory Sunday, ending 244 consecutive starts since he last won at Quail Hollow in May 2011.

“I felt good golf coming,” Glover said. “I didn’t know how good.”

It had to be to win at TPC Deere Run, where the greens were soft from rain but still smooth as can be, the perfect recipe for birdies.

Glover was in log jam that at one pointed featured 25 players separated by three shots. Someone had to emerge, and it turned out to be him.

It started with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th hole. He hit his approach into 4 feet and 7 feet on the next two holes, and then flushed a 7-iron to 3 feet on the 15th hole to take the lead.

Glover finished his run with a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 17th, and a 6-foot putt to save par from the bunker on the 18th that he figured would come in handy.

It never got to that. No one could catch him. He finished at 19-under 265 for his fourth career PGA Tour victory.

LPGA Tour

Sylvania, Ohio: Nasa Hataoka of Japan was declared the winner of the Marathon LPGA Classic when the final round Sunday was washed out by relentless, heavy rain.

Hataoka had a six-shot lead over Elizabeth Szokol and Mina Harigae. She won for the fourth time on the LPGA Tour, and her first LPGA title in two years.

The final round began at 7 a.m. with hopes of beating the rain. That lasted only a few hours before Highland Meadows was soaked, and soon became unplayable.

Donna Mummert, the LPGA’s senior manager of rules and competition, said the greens were the first problem as the tournament tried to resume. By mid-afternoon, it was the fairways that were so soaked the LPGA had no choice but to end the tournament.

American Century

South Lake Tahoe, Nev.: Vinny Del Negro became the first basketball player to win the American Century Championship, rallying for an emotional victory four days after his father died.

Del Negro, the 54-year-old former NBA player and coach making his 20th appearance in the celebrity tournament, choked back tears after the victory thinking about father Vincent. He died Wednesday in hospice at age 85. Del Negro birdied the par-5 18th in regulation to force a playoff with Atlanta pitching great John Smoltz and won with another birdie on the hole in a playoff.

“I lost my father this Wednesday, and I wanted to play well for him,” Del Negro said. “I thought of him the whole time — every fairway, every shot. What he would tell me? ‘Toughen up. Hit the shot. You’re either good enough or not. Just hit it …I stuck to my game plan.”