Staysure Tour member Retief Goosen finished with two consecutive birdies at Firestone Country Club, in Ohio, to secure his first Senior Major Championship title at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
Staysure Tour member Retief Goosen finished with two consecutive birdies at Firestone Country Club, in Ohio, to secure his first Senior Major Championship title at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
The South African posted a final round of 66, two under par, to finish on a total of six under par, two shots clear of his nearest challengers, 65-year-old Jay Haas, who was bidding to become the oldest player to win a Senior Major, and fellow American Tim Petrovic.
The 50-year-old, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last month, catapulted up the leaderboard on day two with a spectacular eight under par round of 62 and despite firing a 75 in his penultimate round came into the final day just one shot behind overnight leader Scott Parel.
It was a rollercoaster of a final day for Goosen who countered a bogey on the par-four first hole with an eagle on the par-five second, and it would only be with a birdie on the 17th hole that he was able to break the deadlock at the top of the leaderboard. A ten-foot birdie on the par-four 18th would secure the victory for the two-time U.S. Open Champion, who is playing in his first full season on the over-50s circuit.
"It's been ten years since I last won a tournament," he said. "The nerves were there, and to have those nerves a little bit again in the last few weeks, you know, you've just got to put yourself in a position all the time to get used to it again and that's what I've done and it finally paid off this week.
"Played great the first two rounds and then didn't play all that bad yesterday, just let the course get the better of me and today it was playing tough again. It was tough to get close, tough to make birdies, but I managed to finish with four birdies in the last six holes or seven holes, so it was nice to pull it off."
Steve Stricker, who was going in search of his third consecutive Senior Major title, was forced to settle for sixth place, after a closing two over par round of 72.
Staysure Tour members Miguel Angel Jiménez and Colin Montgomerie finished as the highest placed Europeans, in a tie for 12th place.
