Triplett, Broadhurst win Bass Pro Legends in dramatic fashion
Photo: Champions Paul Broadhurst and Kirk Triplett will take home the #BassProLegends trophies and are joined for a photo by Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Parson, and Bass Pro Shops founder and Chief Fishing Office Johnny Morris!
From www.PGATOUR.com
RIDGEDALE, Mo. – Kirk Triplett holed out from a bunker for birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday in the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge to lift himself and partner Paul Broadhurst past Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman.
“Well, you’re trying to make it, but you know realistically it doesn’t go in very often,” Triplett said. “You’re trying to give your partner a free run at it. You don’t want to hit it up there 20 feet past or do something silly. I’m just trying to hit it the right distance and get it on the right line.”
Langer and Lehman took it in stride.
“You kind of learn to expect it,” Lehman said. “These guys out here are so good and Kirk Triplett is a magician around the greens. The odds of making that shot are probably not good, but you certainly expect him to hit a great shot and he did and it went in.”
Lehman and Langer missed birdie putts after Triplett holed out.
“I kind of felt like we both hit pretty good putts, misread them, both of them,” Lehman said. “I hit mine probably too hard and Bernhard’s was too soft, but you have to hand it to the guys who hit the shot when they have to hit it.”
Broadhurst and Triplett closed with a 6-under 48 on the Top of the Rock par-3 course to match Langer and Lehman at 24 under. Langer and Lehman had a 47, playing the front nine in alternate shot and the back nine in better ball.
The 56-year-old Triplett won his sixth PGA TOUR Champions title.
“That’s a big roller-coaster — three good shots and mine, right?” Triplett said. “I’m feeling a little dejected walking down that fairway there, a little sheepish. To knock it in it just reminds you, this game, you know, crazy stuff.”
“I don’t get too emotional, but that was something special,” the 52-year-old Englishman said.
Spanish stars Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal had a 48 to tie for third with 2017 winners Vijay Singh and Carlos Franco. Singh and Franco, the third-round leaders, shot 50.
Mark Calcavecchia-Woody Austin (48), John Daly-Michael Allen (49), Steve Stricker-Jerry Kelly (50) and David Toms-Steve Flesch (52) tied for fifth at 20 under.
Paul Broadhurst / Kirk Triplett
• Down the stretch, Broadhurst birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to keep his team tied with defending champions Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh. Triplett’s birdie on No. 15 moved the team to 24-under, and they parred the final three holes en route to a 6-under final round and a 24-under total.
• The team played all 67 holes without a bogey. They were 18-under in 49 holes of best ball (18 at Buffalo Ridge, 13 at Mountain Top, 18 at Top of the Rock), and 6-under in 18 holes of alternate shot (Top of the Rock).
Paul Broadhurst
• All three of Broadhurst’s PGA TOUR Champions wins have come in his tournament debuts (The Senior Open Championship, PURE Insurance Championship, Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge).
• Last year, he won twice on the Staysure Tour (formerly the European Senior Tour), the most recent coming at the Paris Legends Championship in September 2017.
• Entering this week, Broadhurst was T22 in Par 3 Birdie or Better (14.29%), and T20 in Par 3 Scoring (3.08).
• Prior to this week, his best finish was T10 at the Boca Raton Championship. With the win, he earns fully exempt status through the 2019 season, and he moves to No. 12 in the Charles Schwab Cup.
Kirk Triplett
• For Triplett, it is his sixth career victory on PGA TOUR Champions and first since the 2016 American Family Insurance Championship.
• Before Sunday, Triplett had never been in a playoff on the PGA TOUR (501 starts) or on PGA TOUR Champions (135 starts before this week).
• The win comes in his sixth start at this event, and his previous best finish was third with Craig Stadler in 2014.
• Entering this week, Triplett was T11 in Par 3 Birdie or Better (16.67%) and T13 in Par 3 Scoring (3.01 average).
• Triplett’s tournament-winning bunker shot runs counter to his season trend, as he ranks 64th on Tour in Sand Saves (34.48%).
• Prior to this week, Triplett’s best finish was fifth at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. With the win, he moves to No. 9 in the Charles Schwab Cup.
Playoff Notes
• It was the seventh playoff in tournament history, and sixth in the team format.
• 1988 – Bruce Crampton/Orville Moody def. Tommy Aaron/Bruce Devlin with a birdie (sixth hole)
• 1998 – Charles Coody/Dale Douglass def. Hugh Baiocchi/David Graham with a birdie (second hole)
• 2007 – Jay Haas def. Tom Kite with a par (first hole)
• 2009 – Bernhard Langer/Tom Lehman def. Jeff Sluman/Craig Stadler with a par (second hole)
• 2010 – Mark O’Meara/Nick Price def. John Cook/Joey Sindelar with a par (second hole)
• 2011 – David Eger/Mark McNulty def. Kenny Perry/Scott Hoch with a par (second hole)
• 2018 – Paul Broadhurst/Kirk Triplett def. Bernhard Langer/Tom Lehman with a birdie (first hole)
Other notes
• Defending champions Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh finished T3, one shot shy of the playoff. Singh holed a bunker shot on No. 12 to take a one-shot lead, and they were tied for the lead through No. 14 after Franco made a birdie putt from off the green. They went on to par the last four holes and finished at 23-under.
• Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly finished T5 at 20-under and they remained the Nos. 1 and 2 players in the Charles Schwab Cup. This team is also scheduled to compete together at next week’s Zurich Classic, and it will mark their 12th start together in team competition since 2008.
• John Huston made a hole-in-one on the 127-yard 14th hole with a 9-iron. It was the second ace of the tournament, and ninth since the tournament moved to Big Cedar Lodge in 2014. Huston and his partner Mark Brooks finished T26 at 11-under.