John Daly Ends 13-Year Winless Drought Soaked In Champers After Maiden Champions Title … Video.

9 years ago by Comments Off on John Daly Ends 13-Year Winless Drought Soaked In Champers After Maiden Champions Title … Video.

Double Major winning John Daly ended a 13-year winless drought to capture a maiden Champions Tour title with victory in the Insperity Invitational in Houston, Texas.

Daly, 51 has won some smaller events in the intervening period including the 2014 Open in Turkey, but this victory in the northern suburbs of America’s fourth largest city is the first of note since winning the PGA Tour’s 2004 Buick Invitational.

Finally he had ended that long drought with victory on The Woodlands where strangely he had made his his Champions Tour debut 12 months ago.

And in the process Daly was absolutely soaked to the skin in champers …. See the video.

“It wasn’t pretty at the end,” he Daly.  “But I got it done and that’s all that matters.”

Decked out in American flag pants, Daly shot a three-under 69 to finish at 14-under 202 and pocket a welcome $322,500 first prize cheque.

He had opened with rounds of 68 and 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Perry into the final round, and with Perry shooting a 69, and Armour had a 67.

John Daly wins 2O17 Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands club in Houston, Texas.

Daly eagled the par-5 first, and appeared to be cruising to victory, up to 17 under through the 15th hole to lead by two shots. Poor tee shots on the final three holes led to mistakes that Perry and Armour could not take advantage of in trying to chase down Daly.

There was an emotional moment at the last when Daly knelt and kissed the large, colourful umbrella printed on the fairway to honour the late Arnold Palmer.

When Daly tapped in the winning putt, he pumped his fist. Moments later friends and colleagues including players Esteban Toledo and Michael Allen ran out to spray their pal with champagne. Daly closed his eyes, leaned back and soaked it all in.

“A win is a win, man,” he said. “And I didn’t think it would come this soon.”

He later took to Twitter to acknowledge his fans and called the victory “sweet.”

Daly has had his moments at The Woodlands. He had four top-10 finishes in 15 appearances when the Shell Houston Open was played at the course, including a playoff loss to Vijay Singh in 2005. Daly tied for 17th at his first PGA Tour Champions event last May.

The two-time major champion becomes the 12th member of the senior tour to record a win on all three PGA Tour circuits.

“Now, I can say I’m a champion on the Champions Tour, which is really cool,” Daly said. “Hopefully, I can keep this confidence going.”

Perry looked like he might run down Daly until his approach to No. 17 landed in the water. “I had my opportunities to flip the scores on holes but I never could do it,” Perry said. “But good for him. That first win is always special.”

Armour, too, said he gave away his chances to win. He finished with two bogeys, one on the 17th after also hitting into the water.

“What can I do. I kind of threw away the tournament,” he said.

 



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