Maggert wins Champions Tour's Dick's Sporting Goods Open

Jeff Maggert ( Associated Press ) 

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By John Kekis, AP Sports Writer

ENDICOTT, New York State. – Playing with the poise of a champion, Jeff Maggert chalked up yet another win on the Champions Tour on Sunday.
Maggert won the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on Sunday for his fourth victory of the year, closing with a 6-under 66 to beat Paul Goydos by two strokes.
Maggert started the final round two shots off the lead and had caught up at the turn after a flurry of five birdies in the first nine holes.
"A great win," said Maggert, who finished at 14-under 202. "I played just like I wanted to on the front nine, tried to put some distance between me and the rest of the guys and let 'em try to catch me.
"Not so many birdies on the back nine, but I kind of hung in there, didn't make any mistakes and finished it off."
Maggert won the Regions Tradition in May and the U.S. Senior Open in July, both major championships, and took the Shaw Charity Classic three weeks ago in Canada. Sunday's victory vaulted him into the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, 119 points ahead of Colin Montgomerie, who skipped the tournament because of commitments in Europe.
The 51-year-old Texan's second straight 68 on Saturday put him in good position for another triumph, and he took advantage in a big way with six birdies in a bogey-free round. The win was worth $285,000 and boosted Maggert's earnings for the year to $2,094,976.
Goydos shot a 68. Corey Pavin (69), David Frost (64), Peter Senior (65), Jerry Smith (67) and Ian Woosnam (70) tied for third at 10 under.
Bernhard Langer, the winner last year and third in the Schwab Cup, failed to earn any points. He tied for 20th at 6 under after a 68.
Second-round leader Rod Spittle (74) of Canada, bidding for his second career victory, couldn't keep the magic going that had placed him atop the leaderboard after rounds of 68 and 66.
Fifty-year-old Scott McCarron (75), who had a 64 on the second round and was tied for second with John Huston to start the day, faltered in his fourth Champions Tour event. He made only two birdies and a triple-bogey 7 at the 15th hole put a damper on his day. Huston finished at 9 under after a closing 72.
As usual, the ninth edition of this tournament came down to the closing holes. Trailing by one shot on a warm, humid afternoon, Goydos hit his tee shot into the large water hazard that lines the left side of the fairway at the difficult par-4 15th hole and had to take a penalty as Maggert paused to watch.
Goydos recovered to make bogey and lose just one shot, then missed a birdie putt inside 8 feet at No. 16 after driving over a cart path to the right of the green.
"That kind of opened a small crack in the door," Maggert said. "I had a two-shot lead with three (holes) to play. I just tried to finish it off. I was driving the ball well enough to shoot a low score today. I just needed the putter to cooperate. I kind of pulled it all together."
And Goydos didn't, especially with his putter. He had 30 putts on each round, negating his strong play off the tee.
"The reality is I just didn't make enough putts to compete with Jeff," Goydos said. "I'm not going to look back on this week and say, 'Man, that drive at 15 killed me.' "
Pavin tied Goydos at 12 under with a brilliant pitch for birdie from off the fringe at the par-3 17th. Moments later, the smile on Pavin's face disappeared when he hit his tee shot into the water hazard at No. 18. He then walked the fairway with head down, frustrated at a lost opportunity.
Maggert stayed out of trouble over the final three holes and was home-free when Goydos missed a birdie putt at No. 18.
Maggert, two shots behind Spittle at the start of play, birdied the first three holes to reach 11 under and added two more before the turn. He chipped to a foot at the par-5 eighth hole and rolled in a 10-foot putt at No. 9.
The surge continued at No. 10 when Maggert rolled in a 40-foot putt to reach 14 under, two shots clear of Goydos.
Goydos, who began the day tied for fourth with Maggert, Woosnam and Stephen Ames, also started with a flurry of five birdies on the front side, but he, too, faltered at No. 7, making bogey. A birdie at the par-5 12th had Goydos back within one of the lead at 13 under.
Now, the Champions Tour takes a three-week break before the final push to the Schwab Cup Championship, and that means more golf for Maggert — with 11-year-old son Jake.
"It's going to be tough the last five tournaments," Maggert said. "Those two guys (Montgomerie and Langer) play well every week. This three-week break is going to be good, a little bit of a rest."

FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY
 

1	Jeff Maggert	68	68	66			202	$285,000
2	Paul Goydos	66	70	68			204	$167,200
T3	David Frost	71	71	64			206	$96,900
T3	Peter Senior	68	73	65			206	$96,900
T3	Jerry Smith	71	68	67			206	$96,900
T3	Corey Pavin	71	66	69			206	$96,900
T3	Ian Woosnam	67	69	70			206	$96,900
T8	Scott Dunlap	71	68	68			207	$52,250
T8	Larry Mize	72	67	68			207	$52,250
T8	Bob Friend	68	70	69			207	$52,250
T8	John Huston	67	68	72			207	$52,250
T12	Michael Allen	69	73	66			208	$36,480
T12	Joe Durant	74	66	68			208	$36,480
T12	Lee Janzen	69	69	70			208	$36,480
T12	Stephen Ames	72	64	72			208	$36,480
T12	Rod Spittle	68	66	74			208	$36,480
T17	Fred Funk	72	70	67			209	$28,500
T17	Kevin Sutherland	69	71	69			209	$28,500
T17	Jose Coceres	70	68	71			209	$28,500
T20	Bernhard Langer	71	71	68			210	$21,692
T20	Lance Ten Broeck	73	69	68			210	$21,692
T20	Duffy Waldorf	72	68	70			210	$21,692
T20	Brad Bryant	71	68	71			210	$21,692
T20	Willie Wood	68	69	73			210	$21,692
T20	Scott McCarron	71	64	75			210	$21,692
T26	Jesper Parnevik	70	74	67			211	$15,461
T26	Scott Hoch	72	71	68			211	$15,461
T26	Bart Bryant	71	70	70			211	$15,461
T26	Bob Gilder	71	70	70			211	$15,461
T26	Steve Jones	68	71	72			211	$15,461
T26	Jeff Sluman	73	67	71			211	$15,461
T26	Marco Dawson	71	68	72			211	$15,461
T26	Gene Sauers	66	72	73			211	$15,461
T34	Dan Forsman	70	74	68			212	$10,374
T34	Mike Goodes	74	70	68			212	$10,374
T34	Tommy Armour III	76	68	68			212	$10,374
T34	Joey Sindelar	71	72	69			212	$10,374
T34	Tom Byrum	73	70	69			212	$10,374
T34	Mark McNulty	69	73	70			212	$10,374
T34	Grant Waite	76	67	69			212	$10,374
T34	Wes Short Jr.	69	72	71			212	$10,374
T34	Steve Lowery	73	67	72			212	$10,374
T34	Neal Lancaster	69	70	73			212	$10,374
T44	Chien-Soon Lu	74	70	69			213	$7,410
T44	Greg Kraft	70	73	70			213	$7,410
T44	Morris Hatalsky	69	73	71			213	$7,410
T44	Esteban Toledo	69	73	71			213	$7,410
T44	Jeff Hart	70	71	72			213	$7,410
49	Jay Delsing	69	72	73			214	$6,270
T50	Carlos Franco	71	76	68			215	$5,320
T50	Peter Jacobsen	71	73	71			215	$5,320
T50	Loren Roberts	72	71	72			215	$5,320
T50	Brian Henninger	70	72	73			215	$5,320
T54	Mark O'Meara	73	71	72			216	$4,275
T54	Tom Purtzer	74	70	72			216	$4,275
T54	Tom Kite	70	73	73			216	$4,275
T54	Wayne Levi	73	69	74			216	$4,275
T58	Bob Tway	71	75	71			217	$3,515
T58	Bobby Gage	75	71	71			217	$3,515
T58	Kenny Perry	70	75	72			217	$3,515
T58	Woody Austin	77	68	72			217	$3,515
T62	John Riegger	71	76	71			218	$2,755
T62	Mark Calcavecchia	75	72	71			218	$2,755
T62	Tom Pernice Jr.	74	71	73			218	$2,755
T62	Olin Browne	71	73	74			218	$2,755
T66	Larry Nelson	76	73	70			219	$2,185
T66	Mark Brooks	73	71	75			219	$2,185
T68	Jay Don Blake	76	74	70			220	$1,672
T68	Craig Stadler	78	70	72			220	$1,672
T68	Jim Thorpe	74	73	73			220	$1,672
T68	Gary Koch	69	77	74			220	$1,672
T68	Jay Haas	72	72	76			220	$1,672
T73	Mark Wiebe	72	75	74			221	$1,292
T73	Sandy Lyle	74	73	74			221	$1,292
T75	Scott Simpson	79	72	74			225	$1,140
T75	Guy Boros	76	71	78			225	$1,140
77	Steve Pate	79	73	74			226	$1,026
78	Fuzzy Zoeller	73	75	81			229	$950
79	Nolan Henke	83	76	80			239	$874
80	Russ Cochran	73	WD
81	John Cook	78	DQ