Kirk Triplett wins Champions Tour’s First Tee Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Kirk Triplett won the First Tee Open on Sunday at Pebble Beach for his first Champions Tour title, making an early eagle and closing with a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Mark McNulty. Triplett, the three-time PGA Tour winner making his eighth start on the senior tour after turning 50 in March, finished at 10-under 206. He opened with a 70 at Pebble Beach and had a 70 at Del Monte on Saturday to enter the final round four strokes behind leaders Tom Kite and Brad Bryant. “To win anywhere is special,” said Triplett, a former Pullman resident who joined Olin Browne, Ron Streck, Keith Fergus, Tom Lehman and Gary Hallberg as players who have won on the PGA, Champions and Web.com tours, “but to win at Pebble Beach is extra special. To do it in my first Champions Tour try is great.” Triplett, eagled the par-5 second hole, and chipped in on the par-4 16th for the last of his five birdies. He had only one bogey in the final round, on the par-3 12th. McNulty closed with a 69. Triplett won the 2006 Chrysler Classic in Tucson, Ariz., for his last PGA Tour title, and took the News Sentinel Open last August to become the oldest winner in the history of the Web.com Tour, then known as the Nationwide Tour. “I really hadn’t been playing that well,” said Triplett, who has four top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour. “But I’m doing a lot better lately and feeling more comfortable out there.”