Long-Awaited
Win For Pavin
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA | It has been a long
wait – two years, in fact – for Corey Pavin to
record his first victory on the Champions Tour.
And it took a playoff for it to finally happen.
Pavin birdied the first hole of a playoff to defeat
Peter Senior and win the Allianz Championship
Sunday afternoon.
Pavin, 52, had five top-four finishes in the
past two seasons on the Champions Tour but
had not been able to close the deal. At the
Allianz, Pavin had to hang on to the end to
even get into the playoff.
Pavin won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1995 U.S. Open. His last Tour victory was
the U.S. Bank Championship in 2006 at age 46.
Pavin completed 54 holes at 205, 11-under
par at The Old Course at Broken Sound, posting rounds of 64-70-71. Senior, also looking for
his first win on the Champions Tour, birdied the
par- 5 18th in regulation to force the tie. Senior
had rounds of 66-68-71.
The playoff hole was the 18th and the roles
were reversed from regulation play. Senior
could only manage par, while Pavin got up and
down from the fairway for birdie.
Pavin held a two-shot lead over the Aussie
Senior with two holes to play but a bogey at the
par- 4 17th reduced the lead to one and Senior
closed the gap on the final hole.
The playoff might not have been necessary had it not been for the collapse of Mark
Calcavecchia. Starting the day one shot behind Pavin, Calcavecchia wrapped two birdies
around a double-bogey at the par- 4 second.
Then, he went to work, firing off four straight
After a birdie at the par- 5 11th, Calcavecchia held a three-shot lead over Pavin. But
Calcavecchia went south in a hurry, making six
bogeys in his next seven holes to fritter away
the championship. Calcavecchia ended up with
a final-round 73 and slipped to a tie for seventh.
Sunday’s round was played in chilly, breezy
conditions and scores from the leading groups
were no better than a couple under par. Nick
Price went out early and shot a 7-under 65 to
get a back-door top 10, getting into that tie for
seventh with Calcavecchia and Gary Hallberg at
8-under 208.
Bernhard Langer, one shot back of Pavin
and Senior entering the final round, matched
the leaders’ 71 and tied for third at 10-under
206 with Michael Allen, who shot 69 on Sunday.
Jay Haas and John Cook tied for fifth at 207,
each shooting 69 in the last round.
