It took four extra holes, but Tom Pernice Jr bested Jay Haas on Sunday to win the Champions Tour season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship played on the Cochise Course at the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
It was a fitting end to the season that the $2.5 million, 72-hole final event had to go extra holes, giving fans some extra play before the final closing.
The 55-year-old Pernice Jr, began the final round with a share of the lead with Kenny Perry. Pernice fired a three-under 67 to finish at 11-under 269, the same total as Jay Haas, who carded a 66 forcing extra holes.
But getting there wasn’t without its drama. Haas was playing on the penultimate group and when he reached the 18th hole (the final in regulation) tied at 10-under with Pernice Jr. His second shot on the par-5 18th found a waste area in front of the green. Netx up, his next shot just barely crept onto the fringe, but Haas drained the long birdie putt to get to 11-under as he flipped his putter into the air.
Pernice Jr, playing in the final group with Perry, found the back of the green well away from the hole with his second shot. His putt was wide to the right and ran about five feet past the hole. Having not three-putted all week, Pernice Jr sank the birdie-putt to force a playoff.
Perry eagled the 18th, but it was too late for him. On his previous 17 holes he only managed to fire one birdie and one bogey to close with a 68, missing out on the playoff by a shot at 10-under. He finished in solo third place.
Haas and Pernice Jr each got a birdie and a par on the first two playoff holes (also the 18th), then the two went to the 196-yard, par-3 17th, where they each got pars.
For their fourth extra hole, they went back to the 18th hole for the fourth time in the day. Haas found the waste bunker in front of the green with his second and wasn't able to put his third on the green. He chipped up short but made a 15-foot par putt.
Pernice Jr, meanwhile, found a greenside bunker with his approach. After splashing out to six feet, Pernice Jr rolled his birdie try into the hole for the winning birdie.
It was the second win for Pernice Jr on the year and fourth lifetime on the Chanmpions Tour. He had won the Principal Charity Classic earlier this year, and with this win he earned the $440,000 winner’s paycheck.
Bernhard Langer, who had wrapped up the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and the money title prior to playing this week, ended in a tie for fourth with Colin Montgomerie, who finished second in the race for the cup. Langer fired a five- under 65, while Montgomerie shot a 67.
With the top six finish, Langer set the record for earnings in one season with $3,074,190. His record-setting season included 18 top-10 finishes in 21 events this season
Olin Browne (67) took sixth place at 273. Defending champion Fred Couples (70) and Wes Short Jr. (69) tied for seventh at six-under 274, with Michael Allen and Gene Sauers - who both shot 70s - another stroke back.
The Champions Tour season is over, but the National Qualifying Tournament will begin on November 20. Wes Short Jr, who just finished tied for seventh in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and 20th on the Schwab Cup rankings, won the event last year.