By John Strege
PGA Tour Champions events are only 54 holes, often resulting in dramatic finishes, and Darren Clarke provided one in the Sanford International at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Sunday.

Clarke holed a birdie putt of more than 60 feet on the 18th green that enabled him to join Steve Flesch and K.J. Choi in a playoff that he won on the second extra hole with another birdie. The victory was the first for the Northern Irishman since he won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January and the third of the extended senior tour season that includes 2020 tournaments.

Clarke shot a five-under par 65 in the final round that allowed him to overcome a four-stroke deficit to the leader Choi, who had a 69. They, along with Flesch, completed 54 holes in 12-under par 198.

“It’s nice to win again,” Clarke said. “I won at the end of last year in Boca and then the first tournament this year in Hawaii, so it’s been a little bit of time since then. It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle again. In the playoff you never know what’s going to happen, anybody can make birdie and luckily it was my day today.”

Flesch was eliminated on the first playoff hole, the 18th, by making a bogey five. Clarke and Choi returned to the 18th hole, the second of the playoff, and Clarke won with a birdie, while Choi hit a tree left of the fairway with his tee shot, taking birdie out of play.

“I’ve been working so hard,” Clarke said. “I had a chance at the one that I really, really wanted in the middle of the summer there, the British Senior Open, and didn’t quite get it done. It’s nice then to come along to win again. I have two weeks off down in Abaco [the Bahamas], down-home. Sit in front of my TV, I’ll watch every shot of the Ryder Cup, I’ll really enjoy it, and I may have a beer or two to go along with it.”

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By John Strege
Steve Flesch can talk a good game, but he still has one, too, as he demonstrated at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic on Saturday.

A golf analyst for Fox Sports, and before that GolfChannel, Flesch, 50, defeated Bernhard Langer and Scott Parel in a playoff to win at the TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga., on Saturday. It was Flesch’s first PGA Tour Champions victory in his 22nd start.

“I have such good memories of playing here on the regular tour,” he said, recalling the BellSouth Classic. “I just am kind of comfortable here. I played great all day yesterday and mostly today. I’m just thrilled to death.

“I’ve been playing great. I’ve just been a little cautious, a little too conservative at times. Today I took a few more chances.”

Flesch birdied the par-5 18th hole three times within a span of about 45 seconds late on Saturday afternoon, the first to get into a playoff, the second to remain in a playoff and the third to win.

The final round was scheduled to be played Sunday, but tour officials, citing an unpromising weather report, elected to have the field play the final 36 holes on Saturday. Flesch had rounds of 71-68 to complete 54 holes in 11-under par 205.

Langer, 61, was seeking to extend his streak of years with a victory to a 12th straight year, but he bowed out of the playoff after one hole when he was unable to hole his birdie putt.

Parel, 52, in pursuit of his first senior win, birdied the 18th to complete a round of eight-under-par 64 and get into the playoff. He then birdied the first playoff hole. But on the second extra hole, the 18th again, he hooked his second shot and it bounded off a green-side bank and back into a pond fronting the green. He eventually tapped in for a bogey.

“Second one I just was in between clubs a little bit,” he said. “I had like 209, which is probably about as bad a yardage that I can have, so I had to kind of choke up on a hybrid a little bit and couldn’t hit it too hard. If I hit it right, a normal shot’s going to be in the bunker, which is no bargain. So I just didn’t hit it as crisply as I needed to.”

Flesch, meanwhile, hit his second into a back bunker, then hit an exceptional bunker shot to with 2 ½ feet of the hole and won when he tapped in for a birdie.

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It’s been quite the opposite so far this week at the Senior British Open, taking place at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales. The elements have been the story in the first two rounds, with winds reaching well over 25 mph and rain pouring. It’s been so brutal that 13 over will make the cut, and two players posted rounds of 94 and 96 on Friday.

Despite the weather, an illness and questions about his putting stroke, Bernhard Langer finds himself in a position he’s often in at the top of the leader board. The two-time Masters champion holds a share of the lead at one-over 143 after posting a three-over 74 on Friday. He’s looking for his second Senior British Open victory, the last coming in 2014 at Royal Porthcawl by 13 strokes.

Tom Lehman, who carded a one-over 72, is also at one over for the championship. The 1996 British Open winner has made the cut in all seven of his Senior Open Championship appearances, but has finished no higher than T-10. A victory this week in Wales would give him his fourth senior major championship.

Steve Flesch, Billy Mayfair and Mauricio Molina are also at one over through 36 holes.

Four shots back at five-over 147 is Colin Montgomerie, who shot a five-over 76 in his second round. While the Scotsmen has won three senior major championships, he’s yet to win a Senior British Open.

Tom Watson is six back at seven-over 150.

Those looking for more carnage will certainly get it over the final two days. More rain and high winds are on the way on this weekend at Royal Porthcawl.

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