Watson rallies for victory
Tom Watson figured third-round leader Jay Haas was in good position to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Turns out, Watson was wrong.
Watson rallied from a six-shot deficit with an 8-under 64 Sunday to win the Champions Tour’s season-ending event at Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma, Calif.
Surging up the leaderboard as Haas struggled with his drives and putting, Watson finishing at 16-under 272 for his second win of the year and eighth victory on the Champions Tour. He won the senior tour’s final event of the season for the third time.
Before the final round, the Senior British Open champion told his daughter Meg that Haas was “probably going to run away” with the title.
“I really didn’t expect to win. I didn’t expect to make 10 birdies like I did,” said Watson, who capped the 2000 and 2002 seasons with a victory.
Watson, the winner of 39 PGA Tour titles, earned $440,000 and also claimed the Charles Schwab Cup points race and a $1 million annuity.
Haas, going for his third win in four weeks, closed with a 71 and was a stroke back at 15 under. He said his poor putting likely cost him the title.
“I wasn’t quite as sharp overall,” Haas said. “The greens seemed to pick up speed overnight.”
Rain softened the rough, but the sun baked the greens and kept them quick through the weekend.
Tom Kite had a final-round 67 and was third at 13 under. Mark McNulty was 11 under after a closing 68, and Loren Roberts and leading money winner and previous Schwab Cup points leader Dana Quigley were another stroke back in fifth after 70s.
PGA
Carl Pettersson steadied his nerves and his swing down the stretch, saving par with a tough chip on the 15th and a clutch putt on the 16th for an even-par 71 to win the Chrysler Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., his first PGA Tour victory.
Chad Campbell made five birdies on the back nine in a terrific charge, including a 12-foot putt that swirled into the cup on the 18th hole for a 67 that left Pettersson no room for error.
Leading by a shot, Pettersson found the middle of the fairway and hit his approach 20 feet by the cup. Trying to nestle the ball close to the hole, he ran it 3 feet by but made that for par and the $954,000 prize.
Pettersson, born in Sweden and raised in North Carolina, finished at 9-under 275.
LPGA
Jee Young Lee of South Korea won her first LPGA Tour title, closing with a 1-over-par 73 for a three-shot victory in the CJ Nine Bridges Classic in Jeju, South Korea.
Lee led all three rounds and finished at 5-under 211 to easily beat Mi-Hyun Kim and Carin Koch.
European tour
Not even eligible for all the majors at the start of the year, Colin Montgomerie completed a remarkable turnaround when he tied for third in the Volvo Masters in Sotogrande, Spain, and captured his record eighth money title on the European tour.
Paul McGinley of Ireland closed with a 4-under-par 67 at Valderrama for a two-shot victory over Spaniard Sergio Garcia, his first victory this year. He finished at 10-under 274.