Toledo, Faxon share Champions Tour lead in Quebec
QUEBEC CITY – Defending champion Esteban Toledo shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday for a share of the second-round lead with Brad Faxon in the Champions Tour’s Quebec Championship.
The 51-year-old Toledo, the only Mexican winner in the history of the 50-and-over tour, matched Faxon at 10-under 134 at La Tempete in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the area since 1956. Toledo won the then-Montreal Championship last year at La Vallee du Richelieu for his second Champions Tour victory.
“I went out there on the golf course today and enjoyed myself,” Toledo said. “That’s pretty much what I did. … I hit it great. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, I putted well and it seems like when I putt well, I get a lot of confidence.”
Faxon, also a two-time senior winner, had a 67.
“It was a good solid round of golf today,” said Faxon, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour. “I laughed at myself because I started thinking about how my rounds are usually miss the fairway, miss the green, chip it up, make a par, and this was on the fairway, on the green, make a putt and it was a nice round.
“Then when I started thinking about that, I hit a bad shot on 16 and made a bogey and then three-putted 17. But the birdie on 18 was a great birdie to make finishing in the dark, in the cold.”
Loren Roberts was third at 8 under after a 69. Jay Haas, Scott Simpson, Wes Short Jr. and Duffy Waldorf were 7 under. Simpson and Short shot 68, Haas had a 69, and Waldorf a 71.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, making his Champions Tour debut, was tied for seventh at 6 under after a 67. He turned 50 last week.
First-round leader Chip Beck followed his opening 65 with a 75 to drop into a tie for 23rd at 4 under.
Chip Beck takes Champions Tour lead in Quebec
QUEBEC CITY – Chip Beck eagled his final hole for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke lead Friday after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Quebec Championship.
The 57-year-old Beck, winless on the 50-and-over tour, hit his 3-wood approach from 256 yards to a foot to set up the eagle on the par-5 ninth hole.
“It’s time, isn’t it? I’m ready,” Beck said about winning on the tour. “I’m 58 next week and you know what, I’m just going to play. I’m going to give it all I’ve got and enjoy whatever happens.”
On the par-5 18th, Beck hit a 3-wood second shot to 10 feet and two-putted for birdie.
“Thank goodness the course dried out today and the extra roll allowed me to reach both of those par 5s in two,” Beck said. “I managed to hit two of the best 3-wood shots of my life.”
The four-time PGA Tour winner also had six birdies and a bogey at La Tempete in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the area since the 1956 Labatt Open at Royal Quebec.
“It’s a fun golf course with all the par 5s,” Beck said. “The course is playing great, the greens were really good and it’s amazing the transformation overnight with the smoothness of the greens and the dryness of the golf course, so the wind really helped us.”
Duffy Waldorf and Craig Thomas were tied for second. Thomas, a club professional at Metropolis in White Plains, New York, went through two stages of qualifying to get into the field.
“I’m extremely, extremely fortunate at the club that I work at,” Thomas said. “The members are very, very supportive and excited about both myself and my assistant, Colin Amaral, in our playing ability and our opportunities and the fact that we go out and represent the club. It couldn’t be a better situation for somebody like me. Without them I definitely couldn’t do it.”
Waldorf birdied four of the five par 5s.
“It was a good solid round,” Waldorf said. “I drove the ball really well, which helped. You kind of feel like you have to play the par 5s well out here and the four that I birdied I birdied fairly easily.”
Brad Faxon, Loren Roberts and P.H. Horgan III followed at 67. Esteban Toledo, the winner last year in the then-Montreal Championship at La Vallee du Richelieu, opened with a 68.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen had a 71 in his first Champions Tour round. He turned 50 last week.
Fred Couples wins Champions Tour’s Shaw Charity Classic
CALGARY – Fred Couples beat Billy Andrade in a one-hole playoff on Sunday to win the Shaw Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.
Couples chipped in for eagle from the back of the green of the par-5, 18th hole to set a new course record of 9-under 61.
Andrade then tapped in a short putt for an eagle on the 18th to card an 8-under 62 to pull into a tie with Couples at 15 under through three days of competition.
The pair then went back to the 18th tee for the playoff. Andrade went for the green in two and pulled his second shot right of the green and into the stands. After laying up, Couples chipped his third shot to within a foot of the hole.
After taking a drop, Andrade’s chip shot came up about 30 feet short of the hole. Andrade then missed his long putt to the left of the hole, before Couples tapped in his birdie putt and received a loud ovation from the large crowd surrounding the 18th green.
Steve Lowery and Joe Daley finished in a tie for third at 13 under, while Wes Short. Jr. shot a final round of 64 to earn sole possession of fifth place at 12 under.
Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., carded a final round of even par to finish as the low Canadian in a four-way tie for 47th spot at 3 under.
Victoria’s Jim Rutledge finished one shot behind Spittle after shooting a 5-under 65 on the final day of the Champions Tour event.
Meanwhile, Calgary’s Darryl James shot a respectable 69 on Sunday, but still finished in second last at 8 over.
Bob Tway shoots 63 for share of Shaw Charity Classic lead
CALGARY – It’s packed atop the leaderboard of the Shaw Charity Classic.
Bob Tway shot Saturday’s best round of 7-under 63 to finish in a three-way tie for first spot through two rounds of the Champions Tour event at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.
“I putted very well today – probably the best I’ve putted in 20-something years, so it was kind of fun,” said Tway, who’s tied for top spot at 10-under with Joe Durant and Joe Daley. “The greens are some of the nicest greens I’ve ever putted on. If you hit a good putt, they’re going in. Guys are making putts from everywhere.”
An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, Tway has yet to finish atop the leaderboard at a Champions Tour event.
“I know I can play better than I have,” said the 55-year-old resident of Edmond, Okla., who finished tied for sixth at the Senior Open Championship earlier this season. “I haven’t done it, but I keep trying to do it. If I just keep enjoying it, then it doesn’t really matter. I fully should play a lot better than I play, but I haven’t. You either keep working at it or go home and I’m going to keep working at it.”
Durant and Daley carded identical scores of 66 on Saturday and will play in the final group with Tway during Sunday’s third and final round on the 7,086-yard, par 70 course.
“I know there’s three of us tied, but by the time we get on the first hole there might be guys who have already passed us,” Durant said. “That’s how bunched it is. It will be quite a shootout tomorrow, and if the weather’s good there will be a lot of birdies flying.”
In order to contend for top spot, Daley said he’ll have to continue to play at the top of his game.
“You have to be very much on your game and even more so than you might even think,” Daley said. “But you also have to prepare in a lot of different ways in your mind and physically for what you have to go through to compete against these guys because these guys, well, they’ve been whooping me for decades.”
Gary Hallberg, Mark McNulty and David Frost finished tied at 9 under through two rounds.
Bernhard Langer, Doug Garwood, Woody Austin and Tom Pernice Jr. are in a four-way tie for seventh spot at 8 under.
“I would rather be chased than chasing but I don’t have that option,” said Langer, who has won five times this year on the Champions Tour and is leading the Charles Schwab Cup standings. “Hopefully your swing is good enough and your putting stroke allows you to do what you need to do.”
For the second day in a row, Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., finished as the low Canadian after carding a 1-under 69. Spittle is in an eight-way tie for 36th place at 3 under heading into the final round.
After shooting even par in the first round, Calgary’s Stephen Ames struggled on Saturday with a score of 3-over 73.
Victoria’s Jim Rutledge fared exactly the opposite of Ames as he bounced back with a round of 70 after going 3 over on the opening day of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Calgary’s Darryl James followed up a round of 74 with a 75 on Saturday to sit in second last spot at 9 over, just one shot ahead of Sandy Lyle.
Pernice, Bryant share Champions Tour lead in Calgary
CALGARY – Tom Pernice Jr. and Bart Bryant both tied the course record at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club to sit atop the leaderboard after the opening round of the Shaw Charity Classic.
Pernice and Bryant both carded scores of 8-under 62 on the 7,086-yard, par-70 course to tie Bill Glasson for the course record. Glasson also shot 62 in the final round of the inaugural Shaw Charity Classic one year earlier to finish in a tie for 10th spot with Bryant at the Champions Tour event.
David Frost fired a 63 to end up alone in third spot, while Joe Durant and Joe Daley shot 64 to finish in a tie for fourth spot.
Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., finished as the top Canadian after shooting a 2-under 68 to finish in a tie for 34th spot.
Calgary’s Stephen Ames shot even par to finish in a tie for 57th in just his second Champions Tour event.
Meanwhile, Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C., and Calgary’s Darryl James finished well back after shooting scores of 73 and 74, respectively.
Dunlap wins Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Scott Dunlap won the Boeing Classic on Sunday when he made a short birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff against Mark Brooks.
Dunlap set up his winning putt on the par-5 18th hole with an outstanding approach to the right of the pin that bounced past the hole, and then drew back downhill to within four feet. He missed his eagle try but made his next putt for his first Champions Tour victory.
“I couldn’t see anything (on his approach),” Dunlap said. “The cheers were letting me know.”
Dunlap, who has played multiple tours through his career with seven worldwide victories, did not win in his three stints – covering seven seasons – on the PGA Tour. His best finishes were three thirds. He won a couple times on the Web.com Tour, his last victory in 2008.
“It means the wait was worth it,” Dunlap said.
Brooks, who put himself in jeopardy by landing in a bunker on his drive, just missed a 30-foot putt on his fourth shot.
“That tee shot got me in a funny spot,” Brooks said.
It was the fifth playoff in the 10-year history of the tournament at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Brooks made a dramatic closing run on the back nine to earn his spot in the playoff. He had five straight birdies and six over his final seven holes to finish with a 7-under 65. He had a 6-under 30 on the back nine, one off the course record.
Brooks tied Dunlap at 16-under with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
Dunlap, in the final group on the last hole, put his approach shot into the left bunker. His pitch out rolled seven feet past the hole but he missed his putt to the left and had to settle for the playoff.
Brooks, the 1996 PGA champion, won seven times on the PGA Tour but has not had a victory in his four years on the Champions Tour. In his three previous appearances at Boeing, he had not finished better than tied for 57th.
Gene Sauers finish third at 14-under 202. Tom Pernice Jr. was fourth at 13-under 203.
Seven players were within a shot of the lead as they approached the turn when Dunlap eagled the par-5 eighth hole with a 45-foot putt over a ridge. That put him two shots ahead of the field at 13 under.
“I felt good at that point and then I played good sensible, what I felt, winning golf,” Dunlap said. “But not quite. Turns out I needed one more birdie.”
However, both Doug Garwood and Tommy Armour III birdied No. 8 to bring them back within one.
Dunlap and Armour then broke away. Both birdied No. 10 and Dunlap followed with a birdie on No. 11 for a two-shot advantage over Armour.
Armour had the misfortune of hitting the pin on his approach to the 12th green and the ball caromed back well off the green. He settled for a par but needed more. He bogeyed No. 13 and his pursuit was over.
Dunlap, wedging his approach on No. 14 to within three feet, dropped in his birdie putt to extend it to 16-under and a three-stroke lead at the time.
While others faded, Brooks slipped through the ranks. He birdied Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 to go 15-under, one behind Dunlap. He parred the par-3 17th before knocking in his birdie on No. 18.
Fred Couples, the hometown favorite, shot one of the best rounds of the day at 6-under 66. He finished with an 8-under 208 for 15th place.
Bernhard Langer, the overwhelming leader in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, also tied for 15th, finishing outside the top 10 for just the second time in 17 starts this season. His worst previous Boeing finish was tied for 11th twice.
Dunlap wins Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Scott Dunlap won the Boeing Classic on Sunday when he made a short birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff against Mark Brooks.
Dunlap set up his winning putt on the par-5 18th hole with an outstanding approach to the right of the pin that bounced past the hole, and then drew back downhill to within four feet. He missed his eagle try but made his next putt for his first Champions Tour victory.
“I couldn’t see anything (on his approach),” Dunlap said. “The cheers were letting me know.”
Dunlap, who has played multiple tours through his career with seven worldwide victories, did not win in his three stints – covering seven seasons – on the PGA Tour. His best finishes were three thirds. He won a couple times on the Web.com Tour, his last victory in 2008.
“It means the wait was worth it,” Dunlap said.
Brooks, who put himself in jeopardy by landing in a bunker on his drive, just missed a 30-foot putt on his fourth shot.
“That tee shot got me in a funny spot,” Brooks said.
It was the fifth playoff in the 10-year history of the tournament at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Brooks made a dramatic closing run on the back nine to earn his spot in the playoff. He had five straight birdies and six over his final seven holes to finish with a 7-under 65. He had a 6-under 30 on the back nine, one off the course record.
Brooks tied Dunlap at 16-under with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
Dunlap, in the final group on the last hole, put his approach shot into the left bunker. His pitch out rolled seven feet past the hole but he missed his putt to the left and had to settle for the playoff.
Brooks, the 1996 PGA champion, won seven times on the PGA Tour but has not had a victory in his four years on the Champions Tour. In his three previous appearances at Boeing, he had not finished better than tied for 57th.
Gene Sauers finish third at 14-under 202. Tom Pernice Jr. was fourth at 13-under 203.
Seven players were within a shot of the lead as they approached the turn when Dunlap eagled the par-5 eighth hole with a 45-foot putt over a ridge. That put him two shots ahead of the field at 13 under.
“I felt good at that point and then I played good sensible, what I felt, winning golf,” Dunlap said. “But not quite. Turns out I needed one more birdie.”
However, both Doug Garwood and Tommy Armour III birdied No. 8 to bring them back within one.
Dunlap and Armour then broke away. Both birdied No. 10 and Dunlap followed with a birdie on No. 11 for a two-shot advantage over Armour.
Armour had the misfortune of hitting the pin on his approach to the 12th green and the ball caromed back well off the green. He settled for a par but needed more. He bogeyed No. 13 and his pursuit was over.
Dunlap, wedging his approach on No. 14 to within three feet, dropped in his birdie putt to extend it to 16-under and a three-stroke lead at the time.
While others faded, Brooks slipped through the ranks. He birdied Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 to go 15-under, one behind Dunlap. He parred the par-3 17th before knocking in his birdie on No. 18.
Fred Couples, the hometown favorite, shot one of the best rounds of the day at 6-under 66. He finished with an 8-under 208 for 15th place.
Bernhard Langer, the overwhelming leader in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, also tied for 15th, finishing outside the top 10 for just the second time in 17 starts this season. His worst previous Boeing finish was tied for 11th twice.
Scott Dunlap has lead at Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Scott Dunlap leads the Boeing Classic after his second-round 9-under 63 Saturday.
Dunlap, in his first full season on the Champions Tour, birdied five of his final seven holes for a two-day 12-under 132 at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge course.
He leads by one stroke over Doug Garwood, who shot a 6-under 66 for a two-round 11-under 133.
Tommy Armour III and Mark Brooks are tied for third at 9-under 135.
Fred Funk, Woody Austin and Joe Durant are tied at 8-under 136, four behind the leader.
Six of the top seven players are seeking their first Champions Tour victory.
Dunlap has never led entering the final round in the PGA Tour, the Web.com Tour or the Champions Tour.
Asked if he can hang on to win Sunday, Dunlap said, “I know I can. It’s will I? For the past couple months, I’ve been playing better every week.”
In his 16th start on this Tour, Dunlap got his round going with an eagle 2 on the par-4 fourth hole. His 150-yard approach hit 30 yards to the left of the hole then found its way into the cup.
“We couldn’t see it from where we were,” Dunlap said. “It was a good sensible shot, but didn’t think I holed it. Good bumper-pool on that one.”
He saved par on the 10th and 11th, then started a three-hole birdie run. He finished with a 45-foot eagle putt on 18, just missing to the right for a seven-birdie bogey-free round.
Dunlap played seven seasons on the PGA Tour in three separate stints. He did not play on the PGA Tour from 2002 until he regained his card in 2012. During that time he toured the world.
“I’ve been to some places that you’d have absolutely no reason to go to if wasn’t for playing a golf tournament,” he said. “I think you mature much quicker than what you would otherwise.
“The globe-trotting is out of necessity. One, I needed to make a dollar. And, two, I don’t look back at any of that and think of disappointment. It’s been great.”
Garwood had a chance to tie Dunlap on the par-5 18th. His two-iron approach hit the pin and caromed 15 feet away. He missed his eagle putt, but earned his seventh birdie – against one bogey.
“I was telling a guy, I can hit the hole from 230 yards, but miss it from 15 feet,” Garwood said.
The closest Garwood has come to victory in his two seasons on the Champions Tour was in June when he lost in a playoff to Tom Pernice Jr. at the Principal Charity Classic.
Garwood said he gave up the game for most of the 1990s, working different jobs in the Los Angeles area. He returned to the game to qualify for the 1990 U.S. Open and has played since.
His father, Kelton Garwood, played a number of supporting roles in TV series during the 1950s and 1960s. His most prominent role was the undertaker on the TV series “Gunsmoke.”
“I take after my dad a lot,” Garwood added. “This is like my stage. When I’m out there, I’m acting like a professional golfer.”
Michael Allen began his round with a flourish, knocking in five straight birdies and briefly held the lead at 9 under. But he opened the back nine with a double bogey and faded to 7-under 137, five shots behind.
First-round leader Mike Goodes, an amateur player until he joined the Champions Tour in 2007, faded with a 3-over 75 and was tied for 16th place.
Two of the Tour’s most successful players, Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer, both struggled. Couples, the most popular player here playing in his hometown, was at 2-under 142. Langer, who had won three of the past five tournaments, was at 3-under 141.
Rod Spittle shot 69 for a share of 20th at the end of the second round.
Mike Goodes holds early lead at Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Mike Goodes shot an 8-under 64 on Friday for a one-stroke lead in the Boeing Classic.
Goodes, 57, got off to a fast start with an eagle on the first hole, knocking it in from a bunker. He then had six birdies in the first round of the Champions Tour stop at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Goodes, who maintained his amateur status until joining the Champions Tour in 2007, is looking for his second career win to go with the 2009 Allianz Championship. The last time he led any round in any tournament was the 2013 Insperity Open in Houston.
“I’m dying to win,” Goodes said. “That doesn’t necessary mean you will but I’d love to win again. It would mean a lot.”
In the previous nine Boeing tournaments, no first-round leader has gone on to win the title.
Mark Brooks was all alone in second after a 65. The 1996 PGA champion shot a 6-under 30 on the back nine, one short of the course and tournament record of 29 set by Scott Simpson in 2006.
“When you do it as long as I have … you deserve occasionally to have a nine like that,” said Brooks, who won seven times on the PGA Tour but not since his PGA title.
Mark O’Meara, Gene Sauers, Scott Hoch, Mark McNulty and Jeff Sluman are at 6 under.
Five players shot a 67, including Mark Calcavecchia. He shot a 5-under 31 on the front nine, matching the course record done 20 times, including by Calcavecchia in the opening round last year.
Goodes did not want to play on the PGA Tour. He ran a successful business and preferred to remain an amateur. He was convinced by his business partner and his wife to try the 50-over circuit in 2007. For his first two seasons, 2007 and 2008, he got into tournaments through the arduous Monday qualifying.
“I came really close to not doing it because I wasn’t sure it made sense for me to lose my amateur status to go chase Monday qualifiers,” he said. “But it’s been great.”
He has won more than $3.5 million on the Champions Tour with 20 top-10 finishes in 165 career starts.
“The money’s great but I love competing, like most people, and to be able to compete against Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk and Mark O’Meara, sometimes you beat on them and most of the time you lose to them, but to compete with them is living the dream,” Goodes said.
Langer, who has won three of the past five tournaments and is well ahead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 22nd. It ended his streak of rounds in the 60s at 10 straight. His bogey on No. 2 also ended his bogey-free streak at 66 consecutive holes.
Couples, a local favorite, finished at 1-under 71. Defending champion John Riegger shot a 73.
One of the more interesting pairings featured three players who have shot a 59 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Kevin Sutherland, the first Champions Tour player to shoot a 59 last week in the second round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, joined Paul Goydos and Chip Beck. Those two are among the six to do it in a PGA event.
Beck had the best round of the threesome with a 70.
Couples still seeking elusive hometown win
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – It will remain a sore spot with Fred Couples until he’s finally able to add the accomplishment to his resume.
For all the tournament’s won during his career, Couples has still never won in the Seattle area, where he grew up.
Not that he’s had many chances. With Seattle lacking a regular PGA Tour stop the most marquee events that Couples has participated were the 1998 PGA Championship and 2010 U.S. Senior Open, along with being a regular participant in the Boeing Classic since joining the Champions Tour in 2010.
Couples is back at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge this week trying to win that elusive hometown title in the 10th edition of the popular tournament.
“It’s really one of my favorite courses and not just because I’m from here, but it’s for a longer hitter,” Couples said. “It’s always in immaculate condition. The greens are perfect, the fairways are perfect. You get a good amount of people out there to watch.”
He’s come close to breaking through in his hometown in the past. Three times Couples has finished in the top three of events around Seattle. That included his runner-up finish to Bernhard Langer at the 2010 Senior Open played at nearby Sahalee Country Club. Last year Couples closed with a 66 on the final day of the Boeing Classic but was unable to catch John Riegger and finished third.
“For me personally, my first senior tour event was at Sahalee and I lost to Langer. It wasn’t the end of all ends, but I was trying to win hard and this is a tournament that I really would love to win,” Couples said. “I probably don’t have that many more chances, maybe another two or three years before I get too old to totally compete, but that is my goal.”
Although unlikely, Couples is hoping to give himself two chances to win in his home state in 2015. Couples said he plans on trying to qualify for the U.S. Open being played at Chambers Bay if he does not receive an exemption for the tournament.
Couples and Langer will be paired together for the first round on Friday. It will be just the second Champions Tour start for Couples since May, slowed by continued back problems. His only victory this season came at the Toshiba Classic in March.
Meanwhile, Langer is the clear leader in the Charles Schwab Cup points race. He’s won five times this season, including last week’s victory at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. He’s finished first, second and first in his last three starts and nearly caught Kenny Perry on the final day of the 3M Championship to make it three consecutive victories.
Also participating in the Boeing Classic for the first time will be Kevin Sutherland fresh off shooting the first 59 in Champions Tour history in last week’s tournament. Sutherland, who bogeyed the 18th or he could have posted a 58, will be paired with Paul Goydos and Chip Beck. Both Goydos and Beck shot 59s in their careers on the PGA Tour.