It was a disappointing finish to a good week for Darren Clarke as Zach Johnson won his first PGA TOUR Champions major in the final event at Firestone Country Club, closing with a two-under 68 for a six-shot victory Sunday in the Kaulig Companies Championship.
The Dungannon man went into the final round tied for fourth, though seven shots back, and had an up-and-down day as he traded three birdies and three bogeys over his first 12 holes. He parred his way to 16, but a double bogey-seven dropped him back to +2 for the day and -4 overall, costing him a share of fifth and he eventually finished T10.
Johnson had a 63 in the third round that staked him to a four-shot lead entering the final round, and even with a pair of bogeys in his opening four holes, no one came particularly close. Johnson chipped in from 20 feet on his last hole.
It was Johnson’s third win in his rookie season on the 50-and-older PGA TOUR Champions, allowing him to close the gap on Stewart Cink in the Charles Schwab Cup. The victory makes Johnson eligible for THE PLAYERS Championship next year.
Johnson finished at 15-under 265.
Boo Weekley closed with a 66 to finish alone in second at 9-under 271, followed by Rory Sabbatini, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medalist from Slovakia, who had a 66-66 weekend. Cink finished fourth with a closing round of 68.
Johnson’s previous best finish at Firestone was a runner-up by five shots to Hideki Matsuyama in 2017, when it was a World Golf Championships event. That event moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2019 and became a PGA TOUR Champions site.
The Kaulig Companies sponsorship is ending, and the Champions Tour is leaving Firestone – tournament golf dates to 1954 – for Newport Beach, California, next year to play its fifth major.
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