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Sports

Funk wins Champions event on final hole

Associated Press
Published | Updated

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Fred Funk birdied the final hole to edge Tom Lehman and win the Champions Tour's Insperity Championship.

Tied with one hole left, Funk hit his approach on No. 18 to 2 feet. Lehman missed his birdie putt, and Funk tapped in for his seventh victory on the 50-and-over tour first since 2010. He finished with a 5-under 67 for a 14-under 202 total.

The 55-year-old Funk added one more good memory at the Woodlands Country Club, where he won the Houston Open in 1992 for the first of his eight wins on the regular tour. He met his second wife, Sharon, at a post-tournament event that year.

Funk is the first player in five years to win a regular tour and Champions Tour event on the same course. Tom Watson won the 1980 British Open and 2007 Senior British Open at Muirfield.

Lehman closed with a 68. He made three straight birdies on the back nine to build a two-shot lead, but then hit his approach to the par-5 15th over the green and settled for a par. Funk birdied the 15th and made a short birdie putt on the par-3 16th to tie for the lead.

Mike Goodes (70) finished third at 10 under, and Michael Allen (71) was in a group at 8 under. Allen, the season points leader, was seeking his third straight tour victory.

Lehman had a one-shot lead at the turn, but bogeyed No. 10 to fall back into a tie with Funk. Lehman knocked wedges close on Nos. 12 and 13 to start his birdie run, and hit a 4-iron to 5 feet on No. 14 to reach 13 under.

Lehman, sixth on the Champions Tour in driving distance, then hit his approach to the 521-yard 15th over the green and missed a 7-footer for birdie. Funk knocked his approach into the greenside bunker, but blasted out to four 4 for a birdie to cut Lehman's lead to one.

Funk then hit his approach within 6 feet on the par-3 16th and made the putt to tie for the lead.

Both made pars on No. 17 before Funk hit his approach to the par-4 18th to 2 feet. Lehman played next and his approach landed about 12 feet away.

Lehman, a three-time winner last season, thought he hit a perfect putt, but he said the ball hit a damaged spot near the cup and went offline. It just missed the right edge, and Lehman flipped his putter in the air in disbelief.

Funk then calmly tapped in and thrust his arms in the air, and Sharon was the first person to run onto the green and hug him.

The winner of the last 18 Champions Tour events has played in the final group in the last round.