West Des Moines, IA – Jay Haas didn't have much trouble securing a win Sunday at the Principal Charity Classic, using a five-under 66 to take a five-stroke victory.
Haas finished at 16-under par 197, matching the tournament record set by Gil Morgan in 2006. He earned his 16th Champions Tour title and first this year.
Kirk Triplett fired a nine-under 62 to set the course record, but it wasn't enough to get him close to Haas. Triplett finished at minus-11 and shared second place with Larry Mize (68).
Fred Funk (66) and Tom Lehman (68) tied for fourth at 10-under.
Haas had won this tournament in 2007 and '08, and was in good position to take another title Sunday, which he began with a three-stroke lead.
That advantage was never seriously threatened during the final round, when Haas played mostly clean golf and none of his close competitors put together a big run.
Haas carded birdies at two and seven to move to 13-under, and Mize got within two strokes of that score after draining three birdies in a row from the eighth.
But Mize didn't make another birdie, allowing Haas to simply pull away. He converted a birdie chance at 11, then sank three consecutive birdies from the 14th to reach minus-17.
A bogey at 17 prevented Haas from setting the tournament record, but he parred the last to set the tournament mark for margin of victory.
Triplett made nine birdies during his round, but had shot a 73 on Saturday.
NOTES: Haas earned $262,500 for the victory...He became the 16th player to win a Champions Tour tournament at least three times...Next week, the Champions Tour heads to Shoal Creek, Alabama for the Regions Tradition. Lehman was the winner last year.
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