Retief Goosen birdied the final two holes to win the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship on Sunday at Firestone Country Club for his first PGA TOUR Champions title.
The 50-year-old Hall of Famer from South Africa broke a tie for the lead with a 15-foot putt on the par-4 17th and made a 10-footer on the par-4 18th for a 2-under 68 and a two-stroke victory over 65-year-old Jay Haas and Tim Petrovic.
‘It’s been 10 years since I last won a tournament,’ Goosen said. ‘The nerves were there, and to have those nerves a little bit again in the last few weeks, you know, you’ve just got to put yourself in a position all the time to get used to it again and that’s what I’ve done and it finally paid off this week.’
Three strokes ahead after opening rounds of 69 and 62, Goosen dropped a stroke behind Scott Parel on Saturday with a 75.
‘Played great the first two rounds and then didn’t play all that bad yesterday, just let the course get the better of me,’ Goosen said. ‘And today it was playing tough again. It was tough to get close, tough to make birdies, but managed to finish with four birdies in the last six holes or seven holes, so it was nice to pull it off.’
The two-time US Open champion rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 first with an eagle on the par-5 second, then parred the next eight. He offset a double bogey on the par-4 11th with birdies on the par-3 12th and par-4 13th, but dropped another stroke on the par-4 14th. Firestone is a longtime PGA TOUR venue, hosting the World Golf Championships event and previously the World Series of Golf.
‘It’s an unbelievable course,’ Goosen said.
‘It’s a golf course that hitting the fairways is the No. 1 priority, and even if you’re on the fairway, sometimes you struggle to get close. It’s a great golf course. This week it played tough with the way the wind blew.’
Haas, trying to become the oldest winner in tour history, closed with a 67. Petrovic shot 68. Parel had a 73 to tie for fourth with Kent Jones (71) at 2 under.
