Joe Durant fired a 5-under 67 at The TwinEagles Club on Sunday to capture his third Champions Tour title at the Chubb Classic.
Durant, the overnight leader at 14 under, converted a one-shot lead into a four-stroke victory with an eagle and three birdies over his final six holes.
“I missed a couple of short putts early, but made a good birdie on 8 and birdied 9 and that kind of steadied me a bit. It was a roller coaster for sure,” said Durant.
“When it gets bunched like it was, anything can happen and I just kept telling myself if I could just hang in there, give myself a shoot at it with three or four holes to go, you never know what’s going to happen and fortunately I hit some really good shots down the stretch, other than 16, which is probably the worst shot I hit all week.
“But 17, 18, I played very well and fortunate to be here.”
The 53-year old Floridan finished his three rounds in Naples at 19-under par, four clear of the field.
Steve Stricker, who briefly held a one-shot lead on Sunday, signed for a final-day 70 to finish runner-up at 15-under par, alongside Billy Mayfair (64), David Toms (65), Tim Petrovic (64), and Lee Janzen (68).
“Joe hit it great — never was really in any trouble all day today and, you know, gave himself a lot of opportunities,” said Stricker, who was paired with Durant in the final round.
“Like I said, he didn’t make many on the front, but then he started hitting some really nice putts on the backside, and I think he shot 4-under on the back so he deserves to win.”
Scott McCarron posted 68 to finish at 14 under, one clear of John Daly who used an ace on the par-3 16th hole to card a 5-under 67.
First-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez struggled to an even-par 72 to finish solo-ninth at 12 under.
FINAL TOP 10
1 Joe Durant -19
2 Billy Mayfair -15
2 David Toms -15
2 Tim Petrovic -15
2 Lee Janzen -15
2 Steve Stricker -15
7 Scott McCarron -14
8 John Daly -13
9 Miguel Angel Jimenez -12
10 Tom Lehman -11
10 Rocco Mediate -11
10 Kevin Sutherland -11
PHOTO: THE TROPHY
The victory was worth $240,000, and moved Durant to No. 3 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
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“The stick-to-itiveness, and the intestinal fortitude. Like I said, I was nervous starting out, and I missed short putts early, but I kept grinding, kept telling myself that if I could just steady myself, hit some quality shots, the putts would start to go, and that’s what I kept doing and fortunately I did that, and then I made a few on the back that really helped me, made eagle on 13, which turned the corner a little bit.”
– Joe Durant
Credits: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images
