Tag: Regions Tradition

Doug Barron wins first PGA Tour Champions major at 2024 Regions Tradition

Steven Alker had the best round Sunday but no one was going to catch Barron.

Just before the start of the final round of the 2024 Regions Tradition, the first of five majors in 2024 on the PGA Tour Champions schedule, Steve Stricker withdrew from next week’s PGA Championship, the second major of the PGA Tour campaign. Stricker was in that field by virtue of his win in the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

He’s also the two-time defending champ of the Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, but a final-round 69 left him short of an eighth Champions tour major.

Sunday started with Doug Barron and Ernie Els, both chasing their first PGA Tour Champions major title, tied for the lead.

While Els could only spin his wheels, shooting a 1-under 71 to finish 14-under, Barron, who said he woke up at four in the morning but sounded like he didn’t mean to, took control of the event. He followed his third-round 66 – the best round of the day by three shots – with a bogey-free, final-round 68 to finish 17 under and win his first senior major by two shots.

“Today was just a dream come true, beating all these great players,” Barron told Golf Channel on the 18th green minutes after his victory. He was in the final group alongside Els and Padraig Harrington.

Barron, 54, earned $390,000 for the win. The total purse for the tournament was $2.6 million. He now has three victories on the senior circuit.

He praised his putting coach for his success on the greens all week.

“I got one of the best putting lessons from my coach back home last week, and I really got my putter going. I felt like I could make an 8-footer again,” he said. “It was huge because I didn’t hit any fairways. I hardly missed a fairway coming into today.”

Steven Alker was solo second after firing a 9-under 63 on Sunday, the best score of the week by two shots.

Stewart Cink finished tied for third with Stricker and Els. Charlie Wi and K.J. Choi tied for sixth. Bernhard Langer, in his second event back after recovering from Achilles surgery, tied for eighth with Kenny Perry. Padraig Harrington, Brian Gay and Stuart Appleby tied for 10th at 9 under. Harrington was in the final group but posted a final-round 74.

Steve Stricker defends his title at the Regions Tradition for his fifth major win on the PGA Tour Champions

Stricker won by six for his 13th PGA Tour Champions victory.

Steve Sticker loves the Regions Tradition.

The 56-year-old won it in 2019, lost in a playoff in 2021, won it again in 2022 and now adds his third Regions title to his resume after posting a 7-under 65 in the final round to win by six over Ernie Els and Robert Karlsson.

Stricker dominated Greystone G&CC in Birmingham, Alabama, all week, shooting scores of 68-68-64 in the first three rounds. He has now cumulated five major titles since joining the PGA Tour Champions. This is Stricker’s second win this season, with the first coming in January at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

Jerry Kelly finished solo fourth at 16 under while Marco Dawson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Paul Broadhurst and Padraig Harrington tied for fifth at 15 under.

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An aging Ernie Els went to lighter shafts — and now he’s got the 36-hole lead at a PGA Tour Champions major

The move to lighter shafts could help him in his quest to win his first major on the PGA Tour Champions.

The inevitability of growing older strikes all of us at some point. Even the Big Easy.

Now at the ripe age of 53, Ernie Els found himself looking for a little help when it came to his shafts, and he admitted after shooting a 66 during the second round of the Regions Tradition at Greystone G&CC in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday that he recently made a switch.

“I’ve got a kind of a new set in my bag, my clubs have new shafts and I’m getting used to them, but it feels good,” Els said. “I’ve been playing a lot golf lately so I know where my game is. I just want to get out there and do as best as I can, I’m in contention, and that is all you can ask for.”

Els hasn’t needed much of a boost, as he’s posted five top-10 finishes in seven starts on the PGA Tour Champions this year, including a win at the Hoag Classic in March. Sitting at 10 under after two rounds, Els has a one-shot lead over Paul Broadhurst and a two-shot edge over Stephen Ames, Steve Stricker and Tim O’Neal.

But the move to lighter shafts could help him in his quest to win his first major on the PGA Tour Champions. He has three victories on the senior circuit, but has yet to capture a major.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and then two weeks ago I started working on it and getting them into the bag, that’s fully fledged, every club is changed now,” he said. “It’s a little lighter shaft, I’ve been playing 140-range shafts and I went down to a little lighter shaft, I’m getting older.”

As for looking ahead to the final two rounds of play, Els knows there’s plenty of competition to face. Although Els has played well at this event before in two previous starts, he’s seen Stricker run away from the field both times.

This time, Els is determined to keep it simple.

“I just managed myself around the course well. I hit some shorter clubs off the tee to make sure I got it in the fairway, then the greens are putting beautifully and I made some putts, so it was a nice day to stay in it,” he said. “I felt like guys were going to shoot low today because of the rain we had last night so I wanted to get it somewhere in the 60s and that’s what we did.”

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Tim O’Neal, an alternate in the first PGA Tour Champions major of 2023, is tied for lead

O’Neal was one of five golfers who earned a 2023 PGA Tour Champions card at Q-School last December.

Tim O’Neal was one of five golfers who earned a 2023 PGA Tour Champions card at Q-School last December.

Five months later, he’s bidding to claim his first senior major.

At the senior circuit’s first major of the year, the Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, O’Neal shot a 5-under 67 and is tied for the lead with Billy Andrade and Paul Broadhurst.

O’Neal, who had his best Champions finish, a tie for 10th a week ago, posted eagles on No. 18 – he played the back nine first – and then a second eagle two holes later on No. 2. Both holes are par 5s.

“I was able to hit 4-iron into the 18-green to about five feet for eagle. Then the other eagle was on the first par 5 on the front 9, hole 2. I was able to hit 8-iron in there and made about a 12-footer for eagle,” he said. He added that putting was the key for him on Thursday.

“I was finally able to start making some putts and hopefully I can continue doing that.”

He had three birdies and two bogeys along the way before closing with five straight pars.

There are four golfers at 4 under, a shot back of the lead, including defending champion Steve Stricker. He’s joined by Ernie Els, Ken Duke and Padraig Harrington.

Bernhard Langer is among six golfers two shots back at 3 under.

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Steve Stricker takes Sunday stroll to PGA Tour Champions major title at Regions Tradition

Steve Stricker cruised to a six-shot win at the Regions Tradition.

Steve Stricker, playing a third week in a row on the PGA Tour Champions after being knocked down for six months due to mysterious illness, is back in the winner’s circle.

Stricker led the Regions Tradition by three shots after 54 holes at Greystone Golf & Country Club and never let up Sunday.

After a birdie on No. 17, he stood on the 18th tee box at 20 under, five shots clear of the field. He would tack on another birdie on the par-5 closing hole to get to 21 under and win by a whopping six shots.

It’s the fifth major championship on the senior circuit for Stricker, who has a tie for second and a tie for 10th to go with this latest win in his last three weeks of competition.

Stricker was runner-up in this event a year ago to Alex Cejka, but Cejka was disqualified following his third round Saturday. According to the tour, he was found to be using a “yardage book that had not been approved for the competition by the PGA Tour Champions Rules Committee.”

Also DQ’d this week: John Daly got the boot after the second round Friday after he failed to sign his scorecard.

Padraig Harrington birded his last two holes to earn a solo second finish at 15 under.

Steve Alker, who had two wins and a runner-up finish in his last three starts before this week, bogeyed the 18th to fall into a five-way tie for third at 14 under. Alker now has 14 top-10s and 10 top-5s in just 17 starts since joining the Champions tour last summer.

Ernie Els, Rodney Pampling and Stuart Appleby also tied Alker at 14 under.

The Champions tour is off next week and returns to action May 26-29 with the KitchenAide Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

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Alex Cejka disqualified from Regions Tradition, won’t defend at PGA Tour Champions major

Alex Cejka is the second player in two days to get bounced from the PGA Tour Champions major.

A year ago, Alex Cejka won his first major on the PGA Tour Champions in his third start on the circuit at the Regions Tradition. It was the first of two major wins in three weeks in 2021.

Cejka won’t defend his title at the Regions, however, after he was disqualified after the third round for breaches of Model Local Rule G-11, Restricting Use of Green-Reading Materials.

According to the tour, he was found to be using a “yardage book that had not been approved for the competition by the PGA Tour Champions Rules Committee.”

Cejka had just finished shooting a round of 66 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama. He was 7 under, tied for 14th before getting bounced.

In 2019, he was disqualified from the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic for using “greens-reading materials that did not fit the new scale allowed.”

Cejka was the second golfer in two days to get the heave-ho from the Regions. On Friday, John Daly was DQ’d after he failed to sign his scorecard.

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Steve Stricker is one round away from claiming his fifth PGA Tour Champions major victory

This comeback story would be one for the record books.

What we’re seeing in Birmingham, Alabama, is straight out of a redemption movie.

Just weeks after leading the U.S. Ryder Cup team to a victory at Whistling Straits, Steve Stricker fell ill, a sickness that is still a mystery to this day.

Now, after three rounds at Greystone Golf & Country Club, Stricker leads the Regions Tradition by three shots and is just 18 holes away from winning his fifth major championship on the senior circuit.

After back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, the 55-year-old added another circle to the card on No. 8 to turn with a 3-under 33. A misstep on 10 pushed him back to 2 under for the day, but he would rebound with birdies on 13, 14, 15, and 18.

Stricker sits atop the leaderboard at 17 under.

Steve Stricker lines up a putt on the eighth green during the third round of the Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf and Country Club on May 14, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Steve Alker, who’s compiled two wins and a runner-up finish in his last three starts, is the closest competitor to Stricker sitting at 14 under for the tournament after a Saturday afternoon 7-under 65.

Alker opened with birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, then added another on No. 8 for a front-side 33. Four more birdies on the back to complete the bogey-free effort.

Miguel Angel Jiménez is at 12 under for the tournament, five shots back of the lead. Stuart Appleby and Padraig Harrington are 11 under while Ernie Els and Glen Day sit at 10 under.
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Steve Stricker leads, John Daly DQ’d at 2022 Regions Tradition

Steve Stricker holds the lead but John Daly won’t be around for the weekend at the PGA Tour Champions major.

Scott McCarron shot a 65 to post his best score in two years.

Steve Stricker continues to make a remarkable return from a mysterious illness.

And John Daly was disqualified after failing to sign his scorecard.

It all made for an interesting second round at the first PGA Tour Champions major of the 2022 season, the Regions Tradition.

Daly shot a 68 on Thursday which marked just his second sub-70 in 19 rounds so far this year. Friday he played the back nine first alongside Steve Flesch and Rocco Mediate and he was 4 under through 11 holes. But he double bogeyed the par-3 seventh and then finished his round with another double on the par-4 ninth for a 72. His 4 under score after two days had him in a tie for 16th before the DQ. It’s the first time he’s been DQ’d from a PGA Tour Champions event.

Stricker, the first-round leader at the Regions Tradition, battled an illness that is still a mystery about six months ago that put him in the hospital for 11 days. The winning Ryder Cup captain is playing in his third tournament in three weeks since his return and has a tie for second and a tie for 10th so far. A win this week would be his fifth major title on the PGA Tour Champions. His second-round 68 has him in the lead again, two shots ahead of McCarron and Padraig Harrington.

For McCarron, this week also marks the return to contention as he had surgery on his left ankle last year. After opening with a 70 on Thursday, he fired a 65 on Friday to tie Stricker for low round of the week so far at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

Playing the back nine first, McCarron had four straight birdies on Nos. 12-15 and then had another on 17 before a bogey on his ninth hole. The 65 is his best score this season by four shots.

This is his ninth event in 2022 and his best finish is a tie for 34th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in January.

Ernie Els is solo fourth at 8 under after back-to-back 68s. Miguel Angel Jimenez is tied for fifth with Stuart Appleby and Steven Alker at 7 under.

Seeing Alker in the mix is no surprise. Since joining the senior circuit in August of 2021, Alker has 13 top-10s and nine top-5s in just 16 starts. He has also pushed his career earnings on the senior circuit above the $2 million mark.

The New Zealander has two wins and a tie for second in his last three starts. He didn’t play last week so that he could attend his son’s high school graduation but he’s back, doing what he does, climbing leaderboards.

Last week’s winner, Flesch, is in a large group of golfers at 6 under, tied for eighth.

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Steve Stricker is at it again, leads first major of PGA Tour Champions season at Regions Tradition

Playing in his third event in three weeks, Steve Stricker is contending in a PGA Tour Champions major.

To think where he was health-wise just six months ago, Steve Stricker has done anything but ease back into things.

Playing in his third event in three weeks, Steve Stricker is contending at the first PGA Tour Champions major of 2022.

Stricker made a birdie on all five of the par-5s at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama. He had seven birdies in all and kept his card clean and walked off the course to sign for a 65. He leads by two over Miguel Angel Jimenez and Wes Short, Jr., after 18 holes.

It was a few weeks after leading the U.S. to a resounding win in the 43rd Ryder Cup in September that he was struck with an illness that remains a mystery. Stricker, 55, said he lost considerable weight while suffering from a condition that caused inflammation around his heart. He spent 11 days at the University of Wisconsin Hospital with an ailment that simply started as a cough.

In his first round back 13 days ago, he fired a 67 at the Insperity Invitational outside Houston. He followed that up with scores of 65 and 70 and finished tied for second.

Last week, he shot 68-73-70 at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Atlanta en route to a T-10 finish.

Since his return, in seven rounds of competition consisting of 126 holes, Stricker has 36 birdies and just 10 bogeys.

Stricker won the Regions Tradition in 2019 and he has four majors on the senior circuit, seven Champions wins in all.

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Alex Cejka ends six-year winless drought with major at PGA Tour Champions Regions Tradition

Alex Cejka has joined Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Lydia Ko and Mike Weir in ending prolonged victory droughts.

Alex Cejka has joined Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Lydia Ko, Mike Weir and Rory McIlroy in ending prolonged victory droughts.

Cejka, making his third PGA Tour Champions start, outlasted third-round leader and defending champion Steve Stricker in a playoff at the Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

It’s Cejka’s first win in 2,254 days.

He got in the field for the Champions tour major as the first alternate after Jay Haas withdrew. Cejka’s last win—and lone PGA Tour win—was in the 2015 Puerto Rico Open when he outlasted four others in a playoff. He now has a Champions major in just his third start on the circuit.

Cejka did collect a couple victories 13 months ago on the Outlaw Tour in Arizona, including one in which he rallied to win from six strokes back with six holes to go, when the major golf tours paused during the pandemic.

On Sunday, he had three straight birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14 to take a two-shot lead.

Stricker, the 2021 Ryder Cup captain for the Americans, had four birdies on the front nine then stalled with a pair of bogeys on the back. But he got clutch when he needed to, making birdie on 16 to cut the lead to one and draining a 15-footer for another birdie on 18 to tie for the lead at 18 under. Cejka then made his par putt from two feet to force a playoff.

Leaderboard: Regions Tradition

On the first playoff hole, despite a wayward second shot, Cejka drained a 15-footer for birdie, his first birdie on the 18th hole all week. Stricker then faced a birdie putt of his own to extend the playoff but he pushed it right of the hole.

Robert Karlsson finished solo third at 14 under. Ernie Els and Jerry Kelly tied for fourth at 11 under. Bernhard Langer and David Mackenzie tied for sixth at 9 under.

Two weeks ago on the PGA Tour Champions, Cejka finished tied for second at the Chubb Classic. His senior circuit debut came in Tucson, Arizona, at the Cologuard Classic in February, where he tied for 38th.

The tour next heads to the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia, May 14-16.

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