Justin Leonard found the finishing push he needed by birdieing five of his last seven holes to win the Chubb Classic on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Leonard, who entered the day with a one-stroke lead, polished off a 4-under-par 68 to finish the tournament at 15-under 201, four ahead of Billy Andrade. It is Leonard’s first win on the PGA Tour Champions and his first professional win of any kind since 2008.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve won, and I tell myself all the time that I have won,” a tearful Leonard said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “But it’s easy to kind of forget a little bit and say, ‘Well, is it going to be?’
“I mean, last year was so bad, it was good. It was good for me. I made some changes with my golf swing and I’ve got a great situation with (his coaches) … It’s just so fun to finally be here. Because I always felt like I would be, but it’s nice to finally get it done.”
Leonard had a birdie-bogey start to his round, and when he settled for bogey at the par-3 10th he was 1 over for his round. Things could have gotten worse when he missed the fairway off the 11th tee, but he managed to save par.
“I felt like after bogeying 10, if I make bogey there, it’d be a tough sled coming in,” Leonard said. “That was a big momentum-booster … to save the week.”
The 52-year-old went on to roll in birdie putts at Nos. 12, 13 and 14 to secure the lead for good. He added birdies at Nos. 17 and 18 for good measure.
“I just kept telling myself that I was still in it and I felt like my best golf was ahead of me,” Leonard said. “… I kept telling myself to own the last six holes, the last seven holes.”
Andrade had six birdies in his round of 68, including four straight at Nos. 11-14, but he never climbed higher than 12 under for the tournament and went 1 over for his final four holes.
Andrade was happy to have old friend Mike “Fluff” Cowan as his caddie for the week.
“We jelled really well this week,” Andrade said. “That was so much fun. And, hey, I made a little run on the back nine and I didn’t finish it.”
Northern Irishman Darren Clarke (68) placed third at 10 under, and Fred Couples (66), Australian Richard Green (68), Heath Slocum (70) and Paul Stankowski (71) tied for fourth at 9 under.
–Field Level Media
