Padraig becomes a three time winner on the PGA Seniors tour as he lands the Ascension Charity Classic by one shot after leading from the gate on a course that the immortal Ben Hogan won on in 1946. He got off to a nice start with a couple of early birdies before a poor tee shot on the par three 4th hole cost him a double bogey. He immediately hit back with a birdie on the next hole and finished the front nine in style with two closing birdies to be out in 33 shots and in control. His power advantage off the tee came to the fore at the par four 11th hole, which he drove and two putted for birdie. But it is never easy to win from the front and he mixed three birdies with three bogies on the backside, albeit he knew he could afford a bogey on the last, so hit iron off the tee for safety, and won by one from Y.E. Yang who was in the clubhouse. The key moment was the 17th green where he holed a crucial seven foot putt for par which gave him a two shot cushion. He is now only $134K behind Steve Alker in the season long Charles Schwab Cup which awards a one million dollar bonus to the winner!
Padraig continues to lead at the Ascension Charity Classic with just one round to go. He went out in a flawless four under par but found it a bit tougher coming home as he dropped his first shot of the day at the par three 10th hole. He immediately hit back with a birdie at the 11th hole before finishing with three birdies and two dropped shots in his last five holes. He leads by one and will need another low round to get over the line from a bunched looking leaderboard.
Padraig opens strongly at the Ascension Charity Classic and is tied for the lead with a six under par round of 65. He picked up a couple of birdies early on by reaching the par five 2nd hole and two putting and then picked up another at the par four third hole. The putter went quiet then as he parred his way to the turn but he caught fire again on the back nine with four birdies to come home in 31 shots. All to play for at the weekend but with a bunched leaderboard, low scoring will be required to take home the spoils!
Padraig plays this week at the Ascension Charity Classic on the Senior PGA Tour. It is being played at the Norwood Hills Country Club in St Louis and is a par 71 that plays to nearly 7,000 yards. The fairways are undulating and the greens are quite contoured so all parts of your game need to be on point. Padraig trails leader Steven Alker, in the season long race known as the Charles Schwab Cup by just $300k so has skipped the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth to try and close that gap. David Toms is your defending champion.
Tee Times – Padraig tees off with Darren Clarke and Ernie Els at 10.02am Friday