Darren Clarke finished as best of the Irish as Steve Alker cruised to back-to-back Insperity Invitational titles in the Woodlands.
Clarke closed with a three-under 69 for a level-par total and a share of 23rd place, fifteen shots behind Alker.
Pádraig Harrington was three shots further back of Clarke after a final round of 74 while Paul McGInley took 52nd place on seven-over after a 73.
Charles Schwab Cup winner Alker (-15) carded a final round 66 to ease to a four-shot win over Steve Stricker in second place.
The New Zealander earned $405,000 and he was emotional after winning with his son as caddie.
“Obviously you see the emotion at 18 there,” said Alker, who won for the first time in 2023 and moved up to third in the Schwab Cup standings. “But I saw a sea of orange today (many of Workman’s family and friends wore Astros jerseys), and it just reminded me of Sam. I had my son on the bag. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Alker, 51, became the first player since Bernhard Langer (2007-08) to repeat at the Insperity, though Langer did it at different venues. Both of Alker’s came at The Woodlands, both after shooting 5-under 31 on the back nine.
“As I said, this nine obviously has been great to me,” said Alker, who notched his sixth PGA TOUR Champions victory. “Just the whole week has been amazing, the support from everybody, and especially the orange brigade out there. Yeah, I couldn’t ask for more. It’s been fantastic.”
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