Scott McCarron shot a final-round 8-under-par 64 to capture the American Family Insurance Championship by one stroke over hometown favorite Jerry Kelly.
McCarron entered the day sitting T6, and two back of 36-hole leader Esteban Toledo, but after cleanly navigating University Ridge Golf Course, carding eight birdies along the way, including three-straight on Nos. 14-16, it was McCarron who was alone on top at 15-under par.
“I drove the ball really well and I was hitting a lot of good iron shots, I hit a lot of greens. I think I made one bogey all week and that was early on on Friday,” said McCarron.
“Just missed a short putt, one of the par 3s and made bogey. Other than that, I really didn’t have any other opportunities to make bogeys. I just kept putting myself in play, putting it fairly close and I finally putted better this week.”
Kelly shot a final-day 65 to finish second in the money at 14-under par. One further back was tournament host Steve Stricker who bounced back from his first career over-par round (74) on Saturday to card a 7-under 65 and lock down a top-three finish alongside Colin Montgomerie (64) and defending champion Fred Couples (67) at 13 under.
The win was McCarron’s seventh of his Champions Tour career, and his first of the 2018 season. He earned $300,000 and will move to No. 3 in the Charles Schwab Cup race.
FINAL TOP 10
1. Scott McCarron -15 (70-67-64)
2. Jerry Kelly -14 (68-69-65)
3. Colin Montgomerie -13 (67-72-64)
3. Steve Stricker -13 (64-74-65)
3. Fred Couples -13 (69-67-67)
6. Paul Goydos -12 (69-68-67)
7. John Daly -11 (67-71-67)
7. Mark Calcavecchia -11 (69-68-68)
7. Kent Jones -11 (69-67-69)
10. Mike Small -10 (68-70-68)
10. Jay Haas -10 (70-68-68)
10. Stephen Ames -10 (70-68-68)
10. Bernhard Langer -10 (68-69-69)
TOP CHECK CASHERS
1st – $300,000 (McCarron)
2nd – $176,000 (Kelly)
T3 – $120,000 each (Stricker, Montgomerie, Couples)
6th – $80,000 (Goydos)
T7 – $64,000 each (Daly, Calcavecchia, Jones)
T10 – $46,000 each (Langer, Ames, Haas, Small)
WINNER’S STATS
Driving: 289.3 yards (9th)
Fairways: 30/42, 71.8% (43rd)
Greens: 46/54, 85.2% (9th)
Putts/GIR: 81 putts/1.761 (18th)
Scoring: 16 Birdies, 37 Pars, 1 Bogey
Par-3 Scoring: -4 (5 Birdies, 6 Pars, 1 Bogey)
Par-4 Scoring: -5 (5 Birdies, 19 Pars)
Par-5 Scoring: -6 (6 Birdies, 9 Pars)
VIDEO: FINAL-ROUND HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTABLE
“Today when I finished, honestly, I did not know what I had shot. I just kept seeing Steve Stricker, Jerry Kelly, Colin Montgomerie, all these guys making a bunch of birdies and I knew I just had to keep making birdies. I wasn’t even thinking about score, I was trying to think about birdieing the hole in front of me. When I do that, I usually play my best. I’m staying right in the moment and I certainly did that today very well.”
– Scott McCarron
