Kirk Triplett carded a bogey-free four-under 68 on Sunday to successfully defend his title at the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
Triplett has now won twice in 37 starts on the Champions Tour. Both victories have come at Pebble Beach, including Sunday’s two-shot triumph on a spectacularly sunny day on the Monterey Peninsula. He is the first player to defend his title since Lehman won back-to-back Regions Traditions in 2011 and 2012.
"Last year was a dream come true to win a golf tournament at Pebble Beach," said Triplett. "It's one of my most favorite places in the world, and to do it again I'm just a little bit overwhelmed. Last year I was just so excited and this year I'm almost teary eyed just thinking about it."
Triplett was the only player to go bogey-free on Sunday and his 68 let him finish at 11-under 205, good enough for a two-shot win over Doug Garwood and Dan Forsman who shot matching three-under 69s to share second place at nine-under 207, while second-round leader Tom Lehman tripped to a two-over 74 to finish in fourth at eight-under.
Russ Cochran (74) sat alone in fifth at seven-under, a shot ahead of Willie Wood (69) and John Cook (72).
Lehman entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Cochran, and four ahead of Triplett, but that advantage quickly stretched to two after Cochran bogeyed the first to fall to eight-under.
Lehman birdied the second to claim a three-stroke lead, but then bogeyed the third to fall back to 10-under.
Triplett pulled within a shot of the lead with a pair of birdies at the second and third before Lehman regained his two-stroke cushion with a gain at the fourth.
Triplett answered with a birdie at the sixth to again move within a shot of the lead. Lehman then tripped to a bogey at the sixth to fall into a tie with Triplett and Cochran, who birdied the fourth and sixth to reach 10-under.
Cochran fell off the pace with a bogey at the eighth before Lehman also dropped a shot at the ninth to hand the outright lead to Triplett.
Opening round leader, Bernhard Langer, briefly grabbed a share of the lead with his third birdie of the day at the 11th, but he followed that with a bogey at the 12th and a double bogey at the 13th to drop well behind and out of contention.
Lehman kicked in a short birdie effort at the 13th to again join Triplett atop the leaderboard at 10-under.
The tournament turned on No. 14, the daunting uphill Par-5. Triplett and Lehman were tied for the lead when they arrived at the hole one group apart. Triplett stuffed his pitching-wedge shot to one foot for an easy birdie and Lehman found trouble left of the green and made bogey. That quickly, Triplett led by two.
No one would get closer than that for the remainder of the day, even though Lehman had one last chance to make a charge, after a good tee shot on No. 17. But he three-putted to essentially fall out of contention.
This allowed Triplett to par his final four holes to secure the victory.
Sunday’s conditions tested Triplett and other Champions Tour players chasing the $270,000 winner’s check. The wind was tricky and the fairways and greens were fiendishly firm, making it difficult to hold approach shots.
But Triplett had it all down and made all the right calls. “We’re playing the First Tee Open and the U.S. Open breaks out,” Triplett said. “I just have a great affinity for this place,” Triplett said. “I know how the course is going to play.”
Triplett and Palo Alto teenager Michelle Xie (pronounced She-ah) also teamed to win the pro-junior competition at 18-under. Xie, 15, is a junior at Palo Alto High, a 4.0 student and owner of a Plus-1 handicap.
But she only played Pebble Beach for the first time last week. Xie didn’t complete her practice round there, so Saturday’s second round marked her first full, 18-hole experience on the storied links.
Not surprisingly, she battled nerves all weekend. “It’s scary – so many holes are next to the ocean,” Xie said. “I hit it in plenty of bunkers, but no ocean.”
Fred Couples (76) and Nick Price (75) both finished back in the pack and then bolted for Ohio, where they will be opposing captains in this week’s Presidents Cup.