Padraig Harrington made four birdies on the front nine and held on to capture the inaugural Simmons Bank Championship on Sunday in Little Rock, Ark.
The Irishman won his third PGA Tour Champions event of the season and leapt seven spots to No. 4 in the playoff standings entering next week’s season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Harrington co-led the tournament entering Sunday with Steven Alker of New Zealand, then posted a 5-under-par 67 to finish at 17-under 199. He prevailed by two strokes over South Korea’s Y.E. Yang (final-round 65).
Harrington, 53, birdied Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 8 at Pleasant Valley Country Club to begin to pull away while Alker struggled to a 1-over-par front nine. After a birdie at the par-5 10th and a bogey at the par-4 14th, Harrington reached the green in two shots at the par-5 18th and came inches away from holing a long eagle putt, settling for his sixth and final birdie.
“The one thing I didn’t want was having a long second shot in here, or even a wedge (for his third shot) and having to make par, because you can spin it off into the water, you could have that 30-, 40-footer,” Harrington told the Golf Channel broadcast. “So I knew if I got a good tee shot away, it was my tournament, so that was it.”
The three-time major champion may have felt a rare case of nerves down the stretch.
“I felt I got quick through that middle part of the second nine,” Harrington said. “It was probably the first time in my golfing career that I had to keep telling myself to slow my practice swings down.”
Harrington now will be in the mix next week at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix. Ernie Els of South Africa, Alker and Stephen Ames of Canada held on to the top three places, respectively.
“I look forward to Phoenix, but good things have got to happen,” Harrington said. “… To win a tournament, it’s not as simple as, âI like the golf course, it should be good for me.’ You gotta play well, you’ve got to hole the putts.”
Yang will enter next week in fifth place after a busy final round in Little Rock. A double bogey at No. 16 interrupted a torrid stretch of golf, as he made six of his 10 birdies on the day on the back nine.
Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan and Jason Caron tied for third at 14 under after each shot a 68. By finishing their stellar weeks, both players leapt from the 50s in the Schwab Cup standings to Nos. 32 and 34, respectively, qualifying for the season finale. They also secured their tour membership for 2025.
“I’m playing as a senior and now I have a couple chances to play and getting used to it,” Fujita said. “I’m just happy to play in the U.S. and to get this opportunity.”
Australia’s Cameron Percy grabbed the 36th and final berth into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in dramatic fashion. He made a run at the lead by going 7 under par through his first 14 holes, with an eagle and five birdies. But he proceeded to bogey Nos. 15-17 and had to settle for a 68.
But by tying for fifth at 13 under with Stewart Cink (68), Percy moved up four spots to No. 36 in the points race.
Alker, meanwhile, slipped back to 11 under and tied for 12th despite opening the tournament with a 10-under 62.
