Tanigawa closes out Champions win with an eagle

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Ken Tanigawa made a 35-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th at Pebble Beach Golf Links to win the Pure Insurance Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour Champions title.

Making his 18th start on the senior circuit, the 50-year-old Tanigawa closed with a par 72 to beat Marco Dawson and Kirk Triplett by a stroke. The former UCLA player went through Q School as a reinstated amateur and turned professional again at the start of the season.

“Just, wow!” Tanigawa said. “I’m a little speechless right now, a lot going on. It was a hard round for me, but I fought back, and to be able to eagle the last hole, just unreal.”

Tanigawa finished at 10-under 205, also making a long eagle putt on his final hole Saturday at Poppy Hills Golf Course to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. On Sunday, he birdied Nos. 2 and 3, gave the strokes back with bogeys on 4 and 5, had a double bogey on the par-4 eighth and made nine straight pars before the winning eagle.

“I was just trying to hang in there,” Tanigawa said. “It was hard to play with the lead; I’ve never done it out here. I made a couple birdies early, but then I made a few bogeys and I started playing a little defensive. Then I doubled eight, and I just kind of hung in there. You never know, and it just happened to work out.”

Triplett closed with a 70. The tournament’s 2012 and 2013 winner birdied the 18th after bogeying 16 and 17.

Dawson saved par on 18 for a 71.

“I hit the ball really good the first two days,” Dawson said, “and I can’t tell you how many shots better I would have been if I just made half the putts from 12 feet that I missed.”