By ,
Published November 20, 2014
Roger Chapman had his worst round of the week on Sunday, but still won the Senior PGA Championship by two strokes.
Chapman bogeyed the final two holes to shoot one-over 72 and beat John Cook by two shots for the wire-to-wire victory.
The Englishman finished at 13-under 271 at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores and was the first European to win this title since Scotland's Jock Hutchison in 1947.
Cook closed with a two-under 69 to end alone in second at minus-11.
Hale Irwin, who has won this title four times, posted a three-under 68 to grab third place at 10-under 274.
Chapman entered the final round with a five-stroke lead and did all he needed to do in the first seven holes. He parred his first three before opening a commanding lead.
The 53-year-old birdied the fourth to go to 15-under and back-to-back birdies from the sixth pushed his lead to nine strokes.
Chapman struggled over the final 10 holes, but he had a big enough lead that it wasn't an issue. He dropped shots on the ninth and 14th.
"I made a bit of a mistake at nine, and then I saw the leaderboard and people were making a bit of a move," Chapman said in a televised interview. "I was trying to keep my emotions in check and everything. It was hard work."
After a pair of pars, Chapman was four ahead with two holes to go. He bogeyed the final two holes to cut his winning margin to two.
"I hit quite a good shot into 17. Unfortunately, I three-putted. And then the wait on 18, I tried to pace up and down to keep calm and keep relaxed," Chapman said on TV.
Cook stumbled out of the gate with bogeys on the second and fourth, but got those strokes back with an eagle on the fifth. Cook dropped another stroke on the seventh, then birdied the ninth to make the turn at even-par for the day and nine-under overall.
The 54-year-old, who won three times last season, birdied the 13th and 14th to cut Chapman's lead to four, but he couldn't do any more. Cook parred the final four holes to end at minus-11.
"It was an interesting day. I felt really good warming up. I felt fantastic," Cook admitted, "I just thought that if I could put a little pressure on early, you never know what would happen."
Irwin dropped a pair of shots on the front nine, but carded three birdies and an eagle on the back to rally to take third place. The 66-year-old picked up his first top-three finish since taking second at the 2007 First Tee Open.
Recent Hall of Fame inductee Sandy Lyle bogeyed the final two holes, but still fired a seven-under 64 to share fourth place with Peter Senior (63), 2008 runner-up Bernhard Langer (65), Joe Daley (64) and 2010 runner-up David Frost (67) at nine-under 275.
Kenny Perry fired a nine-under 62 to end alone in ninth at minus-eight. The 62 set a new 18-hole tournament record, breaking the mark that Buck White set in 1961 and Arnold Palmer matched in 1984.
NOTES: Chapman is the third Englishman, and seventh international player, to win this title...It was just Chapman's 17th Champions Tour start and he became the eighth first-time winner at this championship...Chapman became only the sixth 54-hole leader to win this event since 2000...His win marked the 19th consecutive Champions Tour event in which the winner came from the final group...The tour heads to Iowa next week for the Principal Charity Classic, where Bob Gilder is expected to defend his title.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chapman-hangs-on-to-win-senior-pga