Stricker tops Kelly for first Champions win
Steve Stricker finally hit the 18th fairway on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course. He has his first PGA Tour Champions victory — and a conquistador helmet trophy — to show for it.
“I was glad to finally make par on it and walk away with the helmet,” Stricker said.
Stricker came through Sunday in the Cologuard Classic a year after hitting left into the water on 18 to blow a chance for a victory in his senior debut, and a day after another 3-wood drive rolled into the water in a closing double-bogey.
“I was fighting it,” said Stricker, in tears after the victory in Tucson, Ariz. “You have those demons in your head and I was fully aware of what I had to do on 18 as I was playing today. I wanted to get enough of a lead where I could do something different out there.
“It’s just a tough driving hole for me and it is for everybody. A couple guys in my group hit it in the water today. If you pull it a little bit you run through the fairway, and if you push it a little bit you hit it in the water. It’s a challenging hole and somehow I just guided it out there and got it in the fairway.”
The 12-time PGA Tour winner from
Madison, Wis., birdied the par-5 15th and closed with three pars for a 4-under 69, hitting another 3wood on the par-4 18th. He finished two strokes ahead of fellow Madison golfer Jerry Kelly (65), Gene Sauers (70) and Scott Dunlap (71).
The 51-year-old Stricker finished at 14-under 205 after opening with rounds of 66 and 70.
“I didn’t make a bogey today, which I’m really proud of, and made some really good saves to do that. Just hung in there and finished it off. … It’s a relief, to tell you the truth.”
Stricker won in his eighth start on the 50-and-over tour. He has six top-three finishes, tying for second two weeks ago in Florida in the Chubb Classic. He was second in Tucson behind Tom Lehman last year, losing a two-shot lead on the final three holes.
“It all worked out finally,” Stricker said. “It’s been a challenge out here. I put a little extra pressure on myself to try to win. I’ve been close, let one get away here last year, so it’s finally really a nice feeling to finally pull one out.”
He was jokingly asked if he planned to wear the shiny conquistador helmet around town when he returns to Madison.
“Geez, I don’t know,” he said. “Probably not, but I’ll cherish it forever. It means a lot. It’s my first Champions Tour win and it was a battle — and it always is — and it means a lot.”
Bob Estes (69), Olin Browne (69) and Rocco Mediate (72) tied for fifth at 10 under.
PGA: Phil Mickelson ended the longest drought of his career with a playoff victory over Justin Thomas in the Mexico Championship, capping off a final round of lustrous cheers in thin air that included Thomas holing a wedge for eagle on the final hole of regulation.
Mickelson, who closed with a 5-under 66, won for the first time since the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a stretch of 101 tournaments worldwide.
“I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Mickelson said. “I knew it was going to be soon — I’ve been playing too well for it not to be. But you just never know until it happens.”
Thomas was coming off a playoff victory at the Honda Classic last week, and he delivered the biggest moment at Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City. Tied for the lead, his shot to the 18th from 119 yards landed in front of the pin and spun back into the hole for an eagle and a 64.
It almost was too good to be true. Thomas, who said Thursday he had never felt worse over the ball, had a 62-64 weekend and suddenly had a two-shot lead.
Mickelson, 47, responded with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th and a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to tie Thomas.
LPGA: Michelle Wie holed a 36-foot putt from off the green on the final hole to win the Women’s World Championship in Singapore by one stroke and capture her first LPGA tournament since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.
Wie separated herself when she drained her lengthy birdie putt on the last hole at the Sentosa Golf Club for a final round of 7under 65 to finish at 17-under 271.