Bruce Vaughan holed a 20-foot putt to beat John Cook in a playoff and win the Senior British Open, his first tournament victory either as a senior or a regular PGA Tour player.
In a dramatic turnaround at Royal Troon on Sunday, Cook squandered a three-stroke lead after 10 holes and went to the 72nd still leading Vaughan by one. But he fired his tee shot right into the rough and then played his third well short of the green. He still decided to putt, but left it 15 feet short for a bogey 5 to finish with an even par round of 71.
Vaughan made par for a 70 to leave both on 6-under 278, and the two Americans returned to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff — the championship’s third in the last four years.
PHOTO: AP
Vaughan pitched to the center of the green and then holed his putt. Cook, however, missed his putt from 12 feet and the former firefighter from Hutchinson, Kansas, collected his biggest ever paycheck of US$312,258.
“Money is great but until you win, you’re just another player. It’s all about winning. You only get a few of these,” said Vaughan, whose mother Maxine died in a car crash seven weeks ago after returning from watching him play a tournament in Iowa.
Eduardo Romero finished third after failing to make the playoff by missing an 8-foot putt at the last hole. He made a 70 to finish at 5-under 279, one shot ahead of Bernhard Langer (68). Greg Norman also made a 68 for a share of fifth place with Gene Jones (68) and three-time champion Tom Watson (70), all at 2-under 282.
Vaughan, who has had six operations on his left knee, celebrated his first tournament triumph and one that gets him into the field for next year’s British Open at Turnberry. But it was something of a repeat disaster for Cook, who missed a short putt at the 1992 British Open at Muirfield and finished second to Nick Faldo.
But he defended his decision to putt from at least 10 yards short of the green at the last hole.
“I just felt the putter was a better play and I’ve been doing that all week,” he said.
At one stage, it appeared that Cook was cruising to the title.
He made birdies at the third and fourth holes and then seven and eight to reach the turn at 10 under overall, with a three-shot lead over Vaughan. But that slipped to one at the 11th where he drove his ball into some bushes and wound up missing a five-foot putt to settle for a double bogey six.
“I tried to convince myself for the last two-and-a-half hours but I couldn’t get it done,” Cook said.
“Bruce played his heart out. He battled yesterday and battled through the first nine today. You know, that’s just the way it is,” he said.
At age 53, Norman nearly became the oldest winner of a regular major last week at the British Open.
He maintained that form at Troon, even though he now considers himself a part-time golfer because of his various business interests and recent marriage to tennis great Chris Evert.
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