Senior rallies to win medalist honors at q-school

text size

PGA TOUR

2009 Champions Tour Q-school graduates Peter Senior, Joe Ozaki, Ronnie Black, Steve Haskins and Jim Roy with Champions Tour President Mike Stevens.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Australia's Peter Senior (Queensland, Australia), a winner of 18 tournaments in his home country, three events in Japan and four more titles on the European Tour, shot 5-under-par 66 to win medalist honors at the 25th Champions Tour's National Qualifying Tournament at TPC Scottsdale.

Senior shook off a double-bogey 7 at the par-5 9th hole, making five birdies over his final nine holes to triumph by three strokes over Joe Ozaki (Tokyo, Japan), Steve Haskins (El Paso, Texas), the event's 54-hole leader, and Ronnie Black (Tucson, Ariz.), a fourth-place finisher at last year's national qualifier in Florida. For Haskins, the son of the legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, it marked his first successful trip through a national qualifier after missing out 14 times in 17 years at the PGA TOUR's final stage.

Senior finished with a four-day total of 17-under 266 on the Champions Course, the lowest score in a 72-hole q-school since Bob Gilder's winning 19-under total on the Eagle Pines course at Walt Disney World in 2000.

"Getting in here has been an unbelievable thing," Senior said afterward. "I can now set my schedule and I'm excited about playing on the Champions Tour next year."

After pull-hooking his second shot at the par-5 9th and making double-bogey, Senior was outside the top five on the leaderboard. He then proceeded to make an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-5 10th, a 3-footer for birdie at the par-4 12th, a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 14 and a two-putt birdie from 20 feet at the par-5 17th. When he came to the 18th, Senior found himself tied with Black for the lead. He went on to seal the victory by rifling a 4-iron shot to eight feet and holing the birdie putt on the final hole.

Senior becomes the first Australian to earn medalist honors at the Champions Tour's National Qualifying Tournament and the eighth international player to seize top honors at this event. After turning 50 midway through 2009, Senior played three events on the European Senior Tour and finished 14th on the final Order of Merit. In 49 career starts on the PGA TOUR, Senior's best effort was a T2 at THE INTERNATIONAL in 1990. He earned $30,000 from the purse of $200,000 for his win today.

In addition to Ozaki, Haskins and Black, Jim Roy (Syracuse, N.Y.), a re-instated amateur, secured the final fully-exempt spot on the 2010 Champions Tour, making a 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole with Kirk Hanefeld (Acton, Mass.) and Bruce Vaughan (Hutchinson, Kan.).

Glenn Ralph (Camberly, England) had the low final round, a 7-under 64, and jumped 34 spots into a T24, the biggest move by any player in the field. Bobby Clampett (Raleigh, N.C.), made a hole-in-one on the par-3, 3rd hole, using a 7-iron from 179 yards. Clampett's ace was the first of his professional career.

The top-five finishers earned fully-exempt status for the 2010 season, while finishers 6-12 will be conditionally exempt. In addition, the top-30 finishers and ties will be eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events on the Champions Tour next year.