Parel tied the tournament record at 17-under 196 on the par-71 course, holding off Bob Estes by two shots.
NAPLES, Fla. – Scott Parel lost two opportunities at victories last year in playoffs. He wasn’t going to take that chance Sunday in the Chubb Classic.
Parel, 54, birdied six of the first 12 holes to come back from five shots off the lead and went on to win at The Classics Country Club at Lely Resort for his third PGA Tour Champions victory. Parel tied the tournament record at 17-under 196 on the par-71 course, and won $240,000 out of the $1.6 million purse.
Parel finished with an 8-under 63 to beat Bob Estes (64) by two shots.
“I think it’s really important for me,” Parel said of getting a win after being in contention. “You know you’re not going to win every time you’re in contention and you start to wonder how many more times are you going to get in contention? So for me to be in contention and to finish the job, very happy.”
2019 Chubb Classic winner Miguel Angel Jimenez also came from five behind, and won in a playoff.
Sunday, Parel vaulted up the leaderboard with birdies on four of his first seven holes, then took the lead with birdies on Nos. 10 and 12 when Bernhard Langer had back-to-back bogeys on No. 9 and 10.
Last year, Parel, who did not play on the PGA Tour and didn’t turn professional until he was 31, lost in playoffs both times to Kevin Sutherland at the Rapiscan Systems Classic and the Principal Charity Classic. One was in a seven-hole playoff, and in the other, Sutherland shot a 62 to come from eight behind.
“I was hoping to avoid a playoff because I haven’t had much luck in those lately,” Parel said.
Parel doesn’t have a major championship pedigree as far as tour golf goes, but he still has one in a sense. He’s lived in Augusta, Georgia, since he was 7 or 8, and usually goes to the Masters. He even worked the scoreboard there when he was in high school.
“I worked on the eighth scoreboard there, so that was the first time I got on the grounds and it was quite a place. Still is,” Parel said.
He also met his wife, Mary, in Augusta, and she was able to see her husband win in person for the first time.
“I won twice in 2018 and she wasn’t here, and not only her but a lot of friends and family that were here this week,” he said. “To have them there so they can enjoy it, it was very special.”
Langer also shot a 196, at 20 under, in 2011 at The Quarry and Kenny Perry was the same in 2012 at TwinEagles.
Parel, who missed a short birdie putt at No. 13, nearly made a long one on No. 14, but did on No. 15. He added an easy one on the par-5 No. 17. Estes birdied Nos. 15 and 17 to stay within two, but Parel played the 18th safely, and Estes didn’t get his 20-foot birdie chance to fall.
“I was just trying to match birdies with his birdies,” Estes said. “But I was, I think, three back at one point. So it was going to be tough to catch him if he made a few more birdies, and he did.”
Langer, who was going for his record fourth win in Naples, birdied three of his first six holes to take the lead. But Langer lost momentum with the bogeys and didn’t make a birdie on the back until the par-5 17th. He finished tied for third with Sutherland at 13 under.
Fred Couples hovered around the lead, but never made a run, and bogeyed the final two holes to finish eighth at 11 under. Couples, who had won twice in Naples and finished second in his other appearance, birdied Nos. 5 and 9, but couldn’t get it going on the back nine until a birdie at No. 14.
Parel won twice in 2018, at the Boeing Classic with a final-round 63 to rally from five back to win by three, and at the Invesco QQQ Championship by a shot over Paul Goydos.
Parel, who shared the first-round lead with Doug Barron after a 64, finished first for the week in putts per green in regulation at 1.537, and 24.67 putts per round, also best in the field. He tied for fourth in greens in regulation.
“My speed was great today,” Parel said. “When you make that 12-footer on the first hole, it gives you a little confidence. And chipped it on the second hole. So, I mean, my putting was really good.”
