It was one of the most dramatic finishes to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in recent memory, with the 2021 Ryder Cup captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington squaring off in playoff and with Stricker coming out on top.
Stricker, who has now won the first two majors on PGA Tour Champions this season, shot a 3-under 69 in the final round. Harrington shot a 2-under 70 and managed to force a playoff with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.
Harrington was looking to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship since Rocco Mediate in 2016 but it was not to be on this day.
All of Stricker’s major triumphs on the over-50 circuit have been, miraculously, by six shots. This time, however, he came from behind after erasing a five-shot margin in the final nine holes of Saturday’s third round to set up the Sunday duel.
Stricker, with daughter Izzi making her caddie debut for him this week, finished at 18 under to claim his third win of the season.
Here’s everything else you need to know from the final round of the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
CINK HAPPY WITH HIS DEBUT
Stewart Cink has only been 50 for a week, but his debut on the PGA Tour Champions has spurred his confidence on before he becomes a bit more of a regular.
“I shot, what? 16 under par. And this is no pushover golf course. You’ve got to play good golf to shoot 16 under par somewhere. I’m taking a lot of confidence down the road from here,” Cink said. “I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t looking forward to my next PGA Tour Champions (start).
“I love playing with those guys. This has been fun this week. I definitely got my feet wet and I'm looking forward to playing more of these.”
Congratulations to our Co-Low PGA Professionals at the @seniorpgachamp: Mark Brown from @MetropolitanPGA & Tim Weinhart from @GeorgiaPGA! 🏆
— PGA of America (@PGA) May 28, 2023
What a week by the entire @CorebridgeFin PGA Team 👏#CorebridgexPGA #SrPGAChamp pic.twitter.com/2J1eRM9cGA
BROWN, WEINHART EARN LOW COREBRIDGE FINANCIAL PGA TEAM HONOR
Mark Brown and Tim Weinhart tied for 55th and were tied for the low member of the Corebridge Financial PGA Team this week.
Weinhart, who is the PGA Director of Instruction at the Heritage Golf Links in Georgia, shot a final-round 72. Brown, a PGA Teaching Professional The Yacht & Country Club, shot a Sunday 74.
Weinhart only got the call saying he was in the field about 7 p.m. on Monday and couldn’t believe he had earned such an honor by the end of the week – he was halfway through a hamburger when he got notified.
Brown made a bogey on the penultimate hole of the championship and then he made double on the par-5 18th to fall back into a tie with Weinhart.
Still, there were plenty of positives for Brown to take away from this week.
“For us club pros that are working a lot, it means a lot. You come here for a week and play with the best players in the world and, first of all, make the cut. And then you compete against, I think 11 club pros made it this week,” Brown said. “So, it's kind of cool that everyone's stepping up their game.”
HARRINGTON HELPS A FAN
Padraig Harrington fell just short of winning this year’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, but while he’s earned a legion of fans over his multi-decade career, he had special moment with one particular Texan on Sunday.
On the 16th hole Harrington hit a spectator in the head with his drive. It bounced back into the fairway and the spectator was fine. But it wasn’t just a signed glove Harrington would give the gentleman, he also gave him $300 and told him to take his wife out for dinner.
“It never really seems adequate to give a guy a glove. He's a grown man, like what's he want with a glove with my signature? So I thought – he said his wife was inside – ‘Please take your wife out for dinner on me’ was the sort of thing,” Harrington said. “I don't know, I hope I gave him enough for dinner.”
He certainly did, and a lasting memory to boot.
