Padraig Harrington saved his best round for last at the PGA Champions Tour’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia, but he came up three strokes shy of Harrison Frazar and Richard Green.
Starting the final round five behind Brett Quigkey and four behind Frazer and Green, the Dubliner knew a fast start was required if he was to capture a second Champions Tour win of the season, but four pars were followed by a bogey at the fifth and it looked as though his chances went with it. As quickly as he was out, he revived his hopes with an eagle at the par-5 sixth and a birdie at the ninth saw him make the turn at -2 for the day and just three in arrears.
Another bogey at 12 effectively ended his challenge, and though he’d respond with birdies at 13, 15 and 16, his four-under 68 would see him come up three strokes shy in a tie for seventh alongside Ernie Els.
Meanwhile, Darren Clarke also recorded his best round of the week, but his closing 70 moved him to +1 overall and up to a tie for 41st.
Quigley, Frazar and Green would swap the lead over and back, and the Australian latter would take a one-stroke lead over his playing partners to the par-5 18th. Unable to reach the green in two, both he and Quigley would lay up and give themselves birdie putts, whereas Frazar, still seeking his first Champions Tour win, gave himself an eagle chance.
Frazar safely two-putted for his birdie, but both Green and Quigley parred, with the latter leaving his putt aginisingly short and falling one-stroke shy of the playoff.
Returning to the 18th for the playoff, both players missed the fairway and Green failed to make proper connection with his fairway metal from the rough, and he hit his third to 30 feet. Frazar cleared the cross bunkers, and his long pitch spun back to eight feet below the hole.
He clenched his fist when he saw it drop for birdie. His first PGA Tour Champions victory came 12 years after his lone win on the PGA Tour at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“Emotions are all-time high right now,” Frazar said. “I’m so happy and so proud at what I’ve done. This means a bunch. You wonder if you can really do it. You wonder if you’ve still got it. To see that putt go in the hole, gosh, what a feeling.”
Steve Stricker clinched his first Charles Schwab Cup title with two postseason events still to be played, even though he didn’t compete at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Stricker has been so dominant on the PGA TOUR Champions, winning six times and three majors, that he built a lead of just under $2 million going into the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.
With only 1,756,000 points available over the last two events, Stricker leads Steven Alker by 1,909,065.
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