LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There were lots of jokes, some big swings, few surprises and zero injuries – unless you count bruised egos.

That’s how the scorecard read from Tuesday’s long-drive competition at the PGA Championship.

But the real takeaway: Jack Nicklaus still rules.

Once a fixture during practice week of the season’s final major, the long-driving contest had been on hiatus for a half-century. It returned to mixed reviews, with the victory going to Louis Oosthuizen, one of the tour’s longer hitters. He smacked his tee shot at the par-5 10th an impressive 340 yards.

But it seems a little less impressive when you consider that Nicklaus, who won the competition the last two years it was staged previously (1963-64), captured the first of those with a drive of 341 yards, 17 inches – and he was using a small, persimmon-headed driver and wound balata golf ball at the time.

“Incredible,” marveled 21-year-old Justin Spieth, already one of the longer-hitting pros. “He must have had a nice little wind behind him.”

In fairness, the grandstand behind the 10th tee at Valhalla Golf Club stopped some of the breeze at the golfers’ backs. But it gave them a sometimes-stoked audience for their powerful swings. One fan looked up at the board to see John Daly, once the biggest gun out on tour, languishing in 10th and turned to a friend.

“What did he hit,” he asked, “a hybrid (club)?”

No. But usually fun-loving Bubba Watson, who has won two Masters, leads the tour in average driving distance and owns a hovercraft outfitted to look like a golf cart, decided to boycott the event and hit 3-iron off the tee instead.

“I don’t see that we should have a competition like that while we’re playing a practice round and learning the golf course, trying to win a great championship,” Watson said afterward. “There’s no reason to make something up in the middle of the practice round like that. That’s just me. Like it or not, that’s just who I am. That’s just what I think.”

Fortunately, not everyone was such a spoilsport. The best group of the day, to no one’s surprise, was led by Phil Mickelson. Lefty often puts together money games during the practice week leading up to a major, and his playing partners included power hitters Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, as well as Brendan Steele.

Bradley set the tone by crushing his drive 326 yards, rolling past the marker at 320 that Adam Scott laid down going off the 10th tee first at 6:45 a.m. But that celebration didn’t last long; Fowler promptly uncorked a 328-yarder and then, for good measure, turned back in the direction of the cheering grandstand and flexed his biceps.

By the time Spieth arrived close to 2 p.m., his caddie, Michael Greller, a former sixth-grade teacher, looked over at the golfer and counseled, “I wouldn’t even try.”

Spieth was wolfing down a sandwich with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Alongside him was Scotsman Russell Knox, who was assessing the board.

“Look,” Knox said. “All 314 (yards) will get you is 10th. Great.”

He looked down at the sandwich he was holding. “I don’t want people to see my 272,” Knox said.

A PGA official who was standing nearby with tracking equipment tried to cheer him up.

“The shortest guy right now,” he said, “is Tom Watson at 264.”

No one bothered to add that Watson, a contemporary of Nicklaus, turns 65 in a month. But Knox slowly walked up to the tee, pounded out a respectable 311-yard effort and then Spieth followed with a booming drive that wound up in the right rough. Greller breathed a sigh of relief as Spieth headed down the fairway no worse for the effort.

“The goal?” Spieth said, smiling. “Just try not to hurt yourself.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There were lots of jokes, some big swings, few surprises and zero injuries – unless you count bruised egos.

That’s how the scorecard read from Tuesday’s long-drive competition at the PGA Championship.

But the real takeaway: Jack Nicklaus still rules.

Once a fixture during practice week of the season’s final major, the long-driving contest had been on hiatus for a half-century. It returned to mixed reviews, with the victory going to Louis Oosthuizen, one of the tour’s longer hitters. He smacked his tee shot at the par-5 10th an impressive 340 yards.

But it seems a little less impressive when you consider that Nicklaus, who won the competition the last two years it was staged previously (1963-64), captured the first of those with a drive of 341 yards, 17 inches – and he was using a small, persimmon-headed driver and wound balata golf ball at the time.

“Incredible,” marveled 21-year-old Justin Spieth, already one of the longer-hitting pros. “He must have had a nice little wind behind him.”

In fairness, the grandstand behind the 10th tee at Valhalla Golf Club stopped some of the breeze at the golfers’ backs. But it gave them a sometimes-stoked audience for their powerful swings. One fan looked up at the board to see John Daly, once the biggest gun out on tour, languishing in 10th and turned to a friend.

“What did he hit,” he asked, “a hybrid (club)?”

No. But usually fun-loving Bubba Watson, who has won two Masters, leads the tour in average driving distance and owns a hovercraft outfitted to look like a golf cart, decided to boycott the event and hit 3-iron off the tee instead.

“I don’t see that we should have a competition like that while we’re playing a practice round and learning the golf course, trying to win a great championship,” Watson said afterward. “There’s no reason to make something up in the middle of the practice round like that. That’s just me. Like it or not, that’s just who I am. That’s just what I think.”

Fortunately, not everyone was such a spoilsport. The best group of the day, to no one’s surprise, was led by Phil Mickelson. Lefty often puts together money games during the practice week leading up to a major, and his playing partners included power hitters Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, as well as Brendan Steele.

Bradley set the tone by crushing his drive 326 yards, rolling past the marker at 320 that Adam Scott laid down going off the 10th tee first at 6:45 a.m. But that celebration didn’t last long; Fowler promptly uncorked a 328-yarder and then, for good measure, turned back in the direction of the cheering grandstand and flexed his biceps.

By the time Spieth arrived close to 2 p.m., his caddie, Michael Greller, a former sixth-grade teacher, looked over at the golfer and counseled, “I wouldn’t even try.”

Spieth was wolfing down a sandwich with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Alongside him was Scotsman Russell Knox, who was assessing the board.

“Look,” Knox said. “All 314 (yards) will get you is 10th. Great.”

He looked down at the sandwich he was holding. “I don’t want people to see my 272,” Knox said.

A PGA official who was standing nearby with tracking equipment tried to cheer him up.

“The shortest guy right now,” he said, “is Tom Watson at 264.”

No one bothered to add that Watson, a contemporary of Nicklaus, turns 65 in a month. But Knox slowly walked up to the tee, pounded out a respectable 311-yard effort and then Spieth followed with a booming drive that wound up in the right rough. Greller breathed a sigh of relief as Spieth headed down the fairway no worse for the effort.

“The goal?” Spieth said, smiling. “Just try not to hurt yourself.”

Winnipeg, Man. – Brian Bullington and Jonathan Garrick share top spot on the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship leaderboard after opening with 6-under 66’s. 

Bullington of Frankfort, Ill., played on the morning side of the draw at Southwood Golf and Country Club. He carded a 4-under 32 closing nine that was highlighted by four birdies over his final seven holes to vault into the early lead.

“I made like a 35-footer footer on No. 1 and on No. 2 I didn’t get up and down, I hit a spike mark which kind of kicked me into gear,” Bullington said. “I birdied the next three which was awesome and I knew that No. 7 was straight downwind so I knew if I could get that I’d probably be in a good position.”

Playing in the final pairing of the day Jonathan Garrick of Atherton, Calif., matched Bullington’s round with a bogey-free 6-under 66. The UCLA Bruins’ junior birdied his two final holes to grab top spot heading into Tuesday’s second round that will be split between Elmhurst and Southwood Golf and Country Club. 

“I birdied No. 10 to start of the back nine and in the middle I made one more but then missed a few opportunities, it was good to finish with two birdies,” Garrick said. “I’ve been playing well but I haven’t been scoring well, I’ve just been kind of waiting for it to all come together and it seems like this week it’s going to go that way.”

Leading the way for the Canadian contingent was Manitoba’s Josh Wytinck and Team Canada’s Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont. who opened with a pair of 5-under 67’s. Wytinck of Glenboro, Man. carded seven birdies on Monday, while an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole highlighted Rank’s round.

“I’ve just been hitting it so well and usually when I feel pressure or nerves it’s usually when I’m not playing well,” Wytinck who plays for the University of Manitoba Bisons’ said. “I’ve been playing so well that I’m very confident in myself that if I made putts I’d shoot something like this.”

Colombia’s Ricardo Celia shares third place alongside Rank and Wytinck. Celia finished tied for fourth at the 2013 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship and opened his 2014 campaign with six birdies at Southwood Golf and Country Club. 

In the Willingdon Cup team competition, Team Ontario’s squad of Rank, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. and Chris Hemmerich of Kitchener, Ont. lead the pack after opening with a 7-under 137 team total. Alberta’s A.J. Armstrong of St. Albert, Banff’s Jack Wood and Tyler Saunders of Sturgeon Country trail the trio of Team Canada’s National Squad members by three strokes heading into Tuesday’s final day of Willngdon Cup action. 

Monday’s opening round was contested at both Elmhurst Golf and Country Club and Southwood Golf and Country Club. Robert Ellis of St. Catharines, Ont. and Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, New Mexico carded the low rounds of the day at Elmhurst after posting 3-under 67’s to sit in a tie for 11th.

For a full field list as well as starting times, live scoring and post-round results for the 110th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, click here.

Winnipeg, Man. – Brian Bullington and Jonathan Garrick share top spot on the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship leaderboard after opening with 6-under 66’s. 

Bullington of Frankfort, Ill., played on the morning side of the draw at Southwood Golf and Country Club. He carded a 4-under 32 closing nine that was highlighted by four birdies over his final seven holes to vault into the early lead.

“I made like a 35-footer footer on No. 1 and on No. 2 I didn’t get up and down, I hit a spike mark which kind of kicked me into gear,” Bullington said. “I birdied the next three which was awesome and I knew that No. 7 was straight downwind so I knew if I could get that I’d probably be in a good position.”

Playing in the final pairing of the day Jonathan Garrick of Atherton, Calif., matched Bullington’s round with a bogey-free 6-under 66. The UCLA Bruins’ junior birdied his two final holes to grab top spot heading into Tuesday’s second round that will be split between Elmhurst and Southwood Golf and Country Club. 

“I birdied No. 10 to start of the back nine and in the middle I made one more but then missed a few opportunities, it was good to finish with two birdies,” Garrick said. “I’ve been playing well but I haven’t been scoring well, I’ve just been kind of waiting for it to all come together and it seems like this week it’s going to go that way.”

Leading the way for the Canadian contingent was Manitoba’s Josh Wytinck and Team Canada’s Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont. who opened with a pair of 5-under 67’s. Wytinck of Glenboro, Man. carded seven birdies on Monday, while an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole highlighted Rank’s round.

“I’ve just been hitting it so well and usually when I feel pressure or nerves it’s usually when I’m not playing well,” Wytinck who plays for the University of Manitoba Bisons’ said. “I’ve been playing so well that I’m very confident in myself that if I made putts I’d shoot something like this.”

Colombia’s Ricardo Celia shares third place alongside Rank and Wytinck. Celia finished tied for fourth at the 2013 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship and opened his 2014 campaign with six birdies at Southwood Golf and Country Club. 

In the Willingdon Cup team competition, Team Ontario’s squad of Rank, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. and Chris Hemmerich of Kitchener, Ont. lead the pack after opening with a 7-under 137 team total. Alberta’s A.J. Armstrong of St. Albert, Banff’s Jack Wood and Tyler Saunders of Sturgeon Country trail the trio of Team Canada’s National Squad members by three strokes heading into Tuesday’s final day of Willngdon Cup action. 

Monday’s opening round was contested at both Elmhurst Golf and Country Club and Southwood Golf and Country Club. Robert Ellis of St. Catharines, Ont. and Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, New Mexico carded the low rounds of the day at Elmhurst after posting 3-under 67’s to sit in a tie for 11th.

For a full field list as well as starting times, live scoring and post-round results for the 110th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, click here.

GLEN COVE, N.Y. – Australia’s Su-Hyun Oh shot a 4-under 66 on Monday in the U.S. Women’s Amateur to take the first-round lead in stroke-play qualifying.

The 18-year-old Oh had six birdies and two bogeys at Nassau Country Club. The top 64 after the second round Tuesday will advance to match play.

“I’m playing quite solid,” said Oh, a quarterfinalist last year at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina. “Just giving myself a lot of opportunities and making a few.”

Eighth in the world amateur ranking, Oh matched the women’s course record. She holed out from 40 feet for birdie from off the green on the par-4 11th.

“I thought, `Just get it somewhere there,'” Oh said. “It felt good. I’ll take it any day.”

Sixteen-year-old Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Arizona, was a stroke back. She birdied four of her last six holes and needed only 25 putts.

“I just started hitting the ball better,” O’Sullivan said. “I was putting great all day and just gave myself better opportunities and drained the putts.”

Megan Khang, also 16, of Rockland, Massachusetts, opened with a 68.

Princess Mary Superal, the 17-year-old Filipino player who won the U.S. Girls’ Junior winner last month, had a 70.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who was low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open, shot 71 and was tied for 12th with Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont.

Augusta James of Bath, Ont. the newly crowned Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, opened with a 72.

Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City was 3-over after the opening-round – she fired a 73.

Defending champion Emma Talley, the 20-year-old University of Alabama player from Princeton, Kentucky, was tied for 86th at 76.

HAYWARD, Calif. – Tony Finau won the Stonebrae Classic on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 4-under 66 for a three-stroke victory.

The 34-year-old Finau, from Salt Lake City, had a 22-under 258 total at TPC Stonebrae and earned $108,000 to jump from 24th to eighth on the money list with $238,125. The top 25 after the final four regular-season events will earn 2014-15 PGA Tour cards.

Zack Sucher, the Midwest Classic winner last week in Kansas, had a 66 to tie for second with Fabian Gomez and Daniel Berger. Gomez, from Argentina, finished with a 68. He had a 60 in the second round. Berger also closed with a 68.

Cam Burke and Justin Shin shared the honours as top Canadians in the field, finishing tied for 21st and carding matching 70s in the final round.

Calgary – Yakima, Washington’s Brock Mackenzie ran away from the field with a final round 6-under 66 at Sirocco Golf Club on Sunday to capture the ATB Financial Classic, his second career PGA TOUR Canada win.

The 33-year old set the 72-hole scoring record for the PGA TOUR Canada era at 27-under 261 and moved to No. 3 on the Order of Merit, in position to earn Web.com Tour status at the end of the season.

“To be able to play this way, I’m so happy with myself that I was able to execute and do what I did,” said Mackenzie, who won by four shots over Order of Merit leader Joel Dahmen of Clarkston, Washington and Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Stephen Carney. “Winning out here provides a huge step for next year. The perks of winning and what comes with that is even more special.”

Mackenzie began the day with a two-shot lead over Milford, Iowa’s Brady Schnell, who carded a 59 on Friday, and Carney, but pulled away with a stead opening nine of 4-under 32. Despite some low scores from his chasers, including a 64 from Dahmen, Mackenzie pulled away from the field and didn’t let any of his pursuers have a chance to catch him.

“I tried to make it almost impossible for those guys to do anything,” said Mackenzie, who also won on PGA TOUR Canada at the 2010 Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist. “If they made a birdie, I made a birdie on top of them. That’s just kind of the way it was all day.”

“I limited the mistakes,” added the University of Washington alum, who said his solid ballstriking allowed him to keep the field at bay. “I was in play all the time and had good looks at birdies on almost every hole. I just didn’t make the mistakes that almost every other guy did.”

Despite the lead, which grew to as many as five shots after his seventh birdie of the day at the 14^th, Mackenzie said he never felt completely comfortable until the 18^th hole, where he made his 30^th birdie of the week to close the victory in style.

“I think I hit almost every fairway until the last couple of holes, and I still didn’t feel like I could breathe until I got into the fairway on 18 and hit the shot onto the green. Then, I was like ‘This is cool,’” said Mackenzie. “Those guys were firing birdies at me left and right. I never really felt that comfortable, and I was doing everything I needed to.”

The event will go down as a historic one, wiith Mackenzie’s 27-under par total setting the mark for lowest score to par since the launch of PGA TOUR Canada in 2013. Only one player in Tour history has ever gone deeper, with Brian Unk’s 28-under total at the 2009 Seaforth Country Classic holding the all-time mark.

“I honestly didn’t expect to shoot 27-under at the beginning of the week. On this Tour, 16-under’s usually a pretty good score; I don’t even know if that got in the top 15 this week [note: 16-under would have been solo 15^th]. I just had to keep the pedal to the metal, as they say, and it went my way.”

With a final round 64, Dahmen increased his commanding Order of Merit lead to $21,920 over second place Tim Madigan, while Carney’s career-best T2 finish moved him up 111 spots to 20^th. Victoria, British Columbia’s Cory Renfrew carded a final round 5-under 67, including a near hole-in-one on the par-4 11^th with a drive that finished inside a foot from the hole, to finish tied for fourth at 22-under along with Schnell.

At three-over par through seven holes, Airdrie, Alberta’s Riley Fleming was far from thinking he might set a PGA TOUR Canada era record on Sunday. A wild run that saw him play has final 11 holes in 11-under par changed his perspective dramatically, however, with his 8-under 28 on the back nine giving him the lowest nine holes of the PGA TOUR Canada era.

“The first seven, I couldn’t do anything right. Nothing was going my way. Then, I eagled eight and birdied nine to shoot even, and then everything was going in and the hole was looking like a bucket,” said Fleming, the youngest member on PGA TOUR Canada this season. From the eighth hole onward, Fleming went eagle-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-par-birdie and finished with an 8-under 64 to finish tied for 13^th.

“It was easy,” Fleming said of his round. “It was just crazy golf. You just try to keep making birdies. My caddie and I were like, ‘Let’s just get two more. Then, okay let’s get two more. Then, okay, let’s birdie 18.”

Fleming now sits 39^th on the Order of Merit, with his best finish a tie for seventh at the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by Sasktel.

With a final round 5-under 67, Victoria, British Columbia’s Cory Renfrew finished in a tie for fourth at 22-under to earn Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week Honours.

Renfrew, who earned a $1,500 prize, edged out Peterborough, Ontario’s Ted Brown by a shot, two weeks after Brown won over Renfrew in a tiebreaker to take the award at the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel.

Each week, Freedom 55 Financial recognizes the top Canadian on the leaderboard, with the top Canadian on the Order of Merit at season’s end earning Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week.

In the final round of the 2014 World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational, Sergio Garcia’s tee shot hits a spectator causing her to lose her diamond from her ring on the par-4 3rd hole…

Don’t worry folks, the diamond was found shortly afterwards. And, how great was Sergio? I have no doubt he would have replaced it for her if it was lost.

AKRON, Ohio – From links of Britain to the parkland of America, Rory McIlroy is on top of the world again.

In his first start since a wire-to-wire win at the British Open, McIlroy wiped out a three-shot deficit in only three holes and closed with a 4-under 66 on Sunday to win the Bridgestone Invitational and return to No. 1 in the world.

And just like at Royal Liverpool two weeks ago, Boy Wonder made it look easy.

Sergio Garcia had a three-shot lead going into the final round at Firestone. McIlroy fired off three straight birdies and already had the lead when he stood on the fourth tee. He took over the lead for good with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole, got some breathing room when Garcia made bogey on the 15th hole, and the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland cruised home to a two-shot victory.

Garcia closed with a 71, though his runner-up finish was enough to move him to No. 3 in the world.

McIlroy became the 13th player with a major and a World Golf Championship, and joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win them in consecutive starts.

Woods wasn’t around to see it.

Just four months after back surgery, and in his third tournament since his return, Woods injured his lower back when he landed with a thud in the stand from an awkward stance atop a bunker on the second hole. He withdrew after a tee shot on the ninth hole, bending over slowly and struggling to remove the tee from the ground.

It was not clear Woods could play in the PGA Championship next week.

McIlroy heads south to Valhalla with a full head of steam. After a brief celebration with the claret jug, he was determined to move forward and chase more titles over the final four months of the year. He backed it up with a powerful performance on a soggy Firestone course to take the top spot in the world from Adam Scott.

McIlroy finished at 15-under 265 and won $1.4 million, leaving him $765 short of Bubba Watson on the PGA Tour money list.

More important was the world ranking.

He lost the No. 1 position in March 2013 when his game was in a downward spiral as he was adjusting to a new equipment deal and going through another management change. But since winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth at May, his game looks as strong as ever.

“It feels like a long time since I lost that No. 1 spot, but it feels good to be back on top,” McIlroy said. “Hopefully, I can keep it for a while.”

Garcia was a runner-up to McIlroy for the second straight time.

The Spaniard had the daunting task of making up a seven-shot deficit at the British Open, and Garcia put up a great fight until finishing two shots behind at Hoylake. Staked to at three-shot lead at Firestone, it didn’t go much better.

Garcia missed a 6-foot birdie on the par-5 second hole with a putt that never looked as if it was going in. His lead down to one, Garcia pulled his tee shot into the gallery on the third hole, striking a woman on the hand and knocking the diamond out of her ring. The diamond was found, about the lone bright spot in his day. Garcia made bogey, and McIlroy rolled in another birdie putt to take the lead.

They were tied at the turn when Garcia made a 15-foot putt for his only birdie of the day, and McIlroy missed from 6 feet. But two holes later, with both players about 8 feet away for birdie, McIlroy made and Garcia missed, and the Spaniard never caught up.

Marc Leishman (67) finished alone in third.

Patrick Reed holed out for eagle on No. 17 in his round of 65 and gave him a tie for fourth, enough to move him up to No. 7 in the Ryder Cup standings and boost his hopes of making his first team with only the PGA Championship left in the qualifying period.

Phil Mickelson made 10 birdies for a career-best 62 at Firestone.

None of that could top McIlroy, who put on another exhibition with his driver that made Firestone look like child’s play.

“It’s the foundation of my game when I drive it like that,” McIlroy said. “I have a pretty good chance to win most weeks, and I’ve shown that the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, going into Valhalla in good form and I’ll try to get three in a row.”

BLAINE, Minn. – Kenny Perry got the “warmup” he was looking for heading into the PGA Championship in his home state of Kentucky.

Capped by a 15-foot putt, Perry scrambled for a birdie on the 18th hole Sunday to beat hard-charging Bernhard Langer by a stroke in the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship.

The 53-year-old Perry closed with a 7-under 65 for his second victory of the year and seventh overall on the 50-and-over tour. He finished at 23-under 193 at TPC Twin Cities.

“This was a warmup week for me to work on my short game,” Perry said. “From 100 yards and in this week I was better than I ever can remember in my career. I was hitting it around the pin and I was converting. I was making putts.”

But, to be successful at Valhalla, Perry knows he’ll have to drive it exceptionally well and successfully hit his hybrids.

“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Perry said. “Hopefully, I can carry some of this momentum over.”

Perry lost a playoff to Mark Brooks in the 1996 PGA at Valhalla, and helped the United States win the 2008 Ryder Cup at the course.

Langer, the Senior British Open winner last week by a tour-record 13 shots, shot 63. He overcame a four-shot deficit on the back nine and was tied with Perry going to the par-5 18th.

In the second-to-last group, Langer’s second shot just cleared the water hazard and landed in the tall grass. He chipped on from an awkward stance and two-putted for par.

“My goal today was to shoot 8 under thinking 21 under should have a chance to win. I shot 9 under, outdid myself, and still didn’t win,” he said. “What Kenny did this week is pretty exceptional.”

One group behind, Perry hit his second shot into the grandstand behind the green. After a drop, he pitched to about 15 feet and made the putt.

“It was an easy putt for me,” he said. “I don’t always make them, but I feel like I should make them and I knocked it right in the middle.”

Jeff Maggert, Gene Sauers and Marco Dawson tied for third at 20 under. Maggert and Sauers shot 65, and Dawson had a 67.

It was the eighth straight year the tournament’s winning score was at least 15 under, including three totals of better than 20 under. David Frost set the record at 25-under 191 in 2010. The scoring average of 69.609 is the lowest in the tournament’s 22-year history.

Perry, who also won the Regions Tradition in May, birdied four of six holes around the turn for a four-shot lead over Langer, Maggert, Dawson and Sauers.

But Langer, who won the event in 2009 and 2012, birdied five of the first six holes on the back nine, including a lengthy putt on No. 14, to get within one.

“I was just trying to make birdies, just trying to go deeper and deeper,” Langer said. “I looked at the leaderboard somewhere around the eighth hole and saw that I was four behind or whatever and I figured I got to go really low here if I want to have any hope.”

A birdie putt at 17 moved Langer into a tie less than a minute before Perry, who hadn’t been scoreboard watching on the back nine, made a par putt on No. 16.

“I was just cruising, thinking pars were good. I’m thinking if I par in it’s over, and then I look up on 17 and we’re tied,” said Perry, who finished second, third and seventh in the event the past three years.

He began the day with a one-stroke lead over Dawson. While Perry birdied Nos. 7 and 8 and made par on the par-4 ninth, Dawson went par-par-bogey to give Perry a three-shot cushion. Dawson’s tee shot on No. 9 found the weeds, forcing him to hit back into the fairway on his second shot.

Sixty-nine-year-old Hale Irwin bettered his age for the third straight day with a 68 to tie for ninth at 14 under. The last player to better his age three times in an event was Gary Player at the 2009 Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Wes Short Jr., who shot a 62 to miss the course record by a stroke, matched Irwin at 14 under.

Rob Spittle was the top Canadian, going 12-under to claim a top 20 finish. Jim Rutledge finished at 3-under to tie for 57th.