Michael Allen went extra holes on Sunday to take down Duffy Waldorf and win the Allianz Championship played at The Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida.
Allen dazzled on Friday as he opened the tournament with a Champions Tour record-tying 60. Allen was the ninth player to shoot a 60 on the Champions Tour. Of those nine, only Craig Stadler at the 2005 Blue Angels Classic and Jay Haas in the 2012 Charles Schwab Cup Championship failed to take home the trophy.
He certainly didn’t want to join that list. “I didn’t want to be known as the guy who shot the lowest round on the Champions Tour and didn’t win,” Allen said.
But after an up-and-down three-under-par 69 on Saturday that featured a one-over 37 on the front nine, he got a lot more company at the top of the leaderboard than he did when the day began. He led by one starting Sunday and had a chance to win in regulation, but missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.
They each birdied the 18th in regulation and on the first extra hole. The third time proved a charm for Allen. After he holed out on the par-5 18th, Waldorf had a chance to extend the playoff, but missed an eight-foot birdie putt after finding the front bunker in two.
That gave Allen the win and the $240,000 paycheck that comes with it. For Waldorf it was another close call; last year he had the most Top-10s on the Champions Tour (12) without a victory.
With his three-under 69 on Sunday, Allen finished at 18-under 198 along with Waldorf, which gave both the tournament record, on The Old Course at Broken Sound. The old record of 199 was set in 2010 by Bernhard Langer and John Cook, then matched in 2013 by Rocco Mediate.
Taiwan’s Chien Soon Lu closed with a three-under 69 to take solo third place at 17-under. Tom Lehman, the 2011 winner, shot 68 on Sunday to grab solo fourth at 16-under 200.
Jay Haas (69) and Brad Bryant (68), the 2007 and 2008 runners up, shared fifth place at 15-under.
Bernhard Langer, the 2010 champ, and Mark Calcavecchia had the low round of the day at eight-under 64. Calcavecchia had seven consecutive birdies, one off the Champions Tour record. He set the PGA Tour record with nine straight birdies in the 2009 Canadian Open.
Langer and 2013 winner Rocco Mediate (66) tied for seventh at 14-under 202. Calcavecchia finshed tied for 15th at 10-under 206. Rounding up the Top 10 were Jeff Hart (69) in solo ninth at 13-under 203, followed by Colin Montgomerie (67) and Wes Short Jr (71) sharing 10th place at 12-under 204.
Kenny Perry, 2013 Charles Schwab Cup winner and Player of the Year, shot a one-over 73 and finished tied for 24th place.
John Cook was forced to withdraw from the tournament before the start of his second round with bruised ribs. On Friday, World Golf Hall of Fame member Nick Price was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a back injury after playing 11 holes.
The Champions Tour’s next tournament is the ACE Group Classic to be played at the Twin Eagles Golf Club’s Talon Course in Naples, Florida. Bernhard Langer is the defending champ and all the top players, with the exception of Fred Couples, are confirmed to play.