Pádraig Harrington signed off with a one-under par round of 71 as Miguel Angel Jiménez ran out a two-shot winner at the Boeing Classic in Washington.
Harrington entered the event having cracked the over-50’s code of late, enjoying five podium finishes from six starts, including a maiden senior major title at the U.S. Open before so nearly adding another at The Senior Open where he was pipped by Darren Clarke.
With a special salute to the flyover ?@majimenez1964 seals the deal to win the @BoeingClassic. pic.twitter.com/Sv23h7WQB5
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 14, 2022
However, it proved to be a tricky week on the Jack Nicklaus-designed The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge where Harrington birdied four holes from the 12th in a rousing finish to get into the red on Sunday and to six-under overall; his share of 14th worth around $40,000 to the Dubliner.
It was Jiménez who was laughing all the way to the bank on Sunday, however, firing a superb five-under 67 to capture his third Champions Tour title of the season.
The Spaniard held off David McKenzie by two strokes at 15-under par and can now count 12 PGA Champions titles on his CV, adding to his 21 European Tour wins.
“It feels great,” said the 58-year old. “I did not play very good all through the year, but today, yeah.
“But it’s been close to coming. But I’m happy, and I’m hitting the ball all the week very solid. Two bogeys on the first nine hole of the tournament, and then the last 45 holes is bogey-free round. And I make 14 birdies in the last 45 holes.”
Asked what was key to victory, Jiménez added; “The key is to be hitting good. And I feel confident with my game. I feel good from the tee and feel good with every club from the bag. And I played very solid. Very, very solid.”
And as for the celebrations, well, Jiménez, who banked $330,000 for the win, has long held the key to unlocking a good party:
“Good cigar, of course. Good wine, good cigar, everything good, you know. The life is too short to have bad things.”
Meanwhile, after finding route 66 on day two, Darren Clarke signed off with a disappointing two-over 74 to tie 17th at five-under par.
- Full scoring HERE
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