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Ernie Els. (Photo by Warren Little / Getty Images)
South African golfer Ernie Els won the SAS Championship from the PGA Tour Champions.
Els birdied the last two holes to stop Scotsman Colin Montgomerie.
It is the second PGA Tour Champions title for the 50-year-old Els.
South African star golfer Ernie els has won his second PGA Tour Champions title after a one-shot victory in the SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in North Carolina.
Els birdied the final two holes, running 40 feet in the rain on the last, for a 6-under-par victory at 66 and a hit over Scotsman Colin Montgomerie on Sunday.
The 50-year-old made the long putt at par 4 18 three weeks after missing a 2-foot putt on the final hole of the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach to end a playoff shot.
“It’s a crazy game,” Els told the PGA Tour champions. official website. “A couple of weeks ago I missed a very short putt to get into a playoff and today I hit a 40-foot shot. Think about that.”
American Jim Furyk missed his chance to become the first player to win his first three PGA Tour Champions events, closing with a 70 to tie for ninth place, 8 less than four strokes behind Els. Furyk won at Warwick Hills and Pebble Beach.
Els won for the second time in his first 10 PGA Tour Champions starts. The South African star, a four-time Major League Baseball champion with 19 regular PGA Tour titles, finished 204 under par at Prestonwood Country Club. He drew the help of fellow player Mark O’Meara.
“I happened to see him on the green the other day and we started chatting a bit,” Els said.
“He uses the same putter as me, so we started talking a little bit and I was like, ‘Hey, look here.’ Obviously, I didn’t have a great experience at Pebble a couple of weeks ago. “Knowing a man for so long, he gave me good support. He told me what he felt I should do and here I am. So I owe Mark O’Meara.
Els tied with Montgomerie, playing three groups behind, with the birdie on par 5 of 17 and took the lead at 18.
“I had 64 in mind,” Els said. “Especially in the final round the guys, there were so many guys grouped together. It was coming from 6 under, I figured 14 under was maybe a good score, but then the conditions helped and it got really tough. So 66 just screamed there.”
Montgomerie, tied for the second-round lead with Darren Clarke and Woody Austin, stopped the final four holes, giving himself little chance at 18 as he hit his 190-yard approach 50 feet to the left. Shot a 70.
Vijay Singh (70) was third with 10 under. Austin (72) was 9 under with Gene Sauers (67), Robert Karlsson (68), Kirk Triplett (69) and David Toms (71). Clarke (74) tied for 11th with 7 under.
