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COVERAGE: Els’s Firestone Triumph Earns First Senior Major Victory

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AKRON, Ohio — Ernie Els was able to hold his nerve at Firestone Country Club’s back nine, besting Y.E. Yang by a stroke to win the Kaulig Companies Championship on Sunday.

Els managed to secure his first PGA Tour Champions major despite hitting his second shot on the par-5 16th into the water, leading to a bogey that raised the drama more than he would’ve liked.

“This is going to still have to settle in a little bit,” Els said of this win. “It was quite a day. I was really, really good there at stages and then I had a really good front nine, got myself in the position that I wanted to be. Since playing the Champions Tour major here, I played much better here.”

This is Els’s first win in 32 years playing Firestone Country Club, which used to host a World Golf Championships event on the PGA Tour. Although in each of his five attempts on the PGA Tour Champions, Els has been in the top five.

“It’s all about driving for me on this golf course,” he said. “If I’m driving it half decent, I’m a pretty good iron player, and knowing that it’s going to be a tough scoring week, doesn’t feel like I have to shoot 64. I felt comfortable with my swing, especially the last three days.

“I was expecting Steve (Stricker) to come through a little bit more, but he had a bit of a slow day. I think the course played a lot tougher today.”

For the week, Els tied for second by hitting 55 greens, his 36 fairways ranked him third, as did his five sand saves in seven tries. Els also hit 1.73 putts per green, placing him fifth in the field.

Els hit his 36 fairways while tinkering with his driver shaft in preparation for the Open Championship next week.

Overnight one-stroke leader Stricker added to his advantage with a birdie on the opening hole, a familiar refrain for the two-time champion of this event.

The narrative would later take a sharp turn as that would be Stricker’s lone birdie of the front side.

Els answered with his birdie on the second and then tied the lead with his birdie on the par-3 fifth hole. When the eighth hole also yielded a birdie, the South African was in front on the leaderboard.

Not to be outdone, both Yang and K.J. Choi both were making Sunday charges

Two-time champion Jerry Kelly had a rough start, but a birdie on 11 led to his commentary on the situation and started a rally which led to a third-place finish.

Els’s lead reached two shots, but a lip out and a bogey, compounded by Stricker’s birdie on 11 left the two tied for the lead.

Stricker would fade for good with a bogey on 13 and an uncharacteristic triple bogey a hole later, lipping out a close-range putt for good measure.

While Stricker was making a mess of 14, Els made his 20-foot birdie, taking the lead, with Yang his closest pursuer.

Yang was one off of the lead, when Els hit his approach into 16. Based on his yardage from Saturday he aimed to hit his 4-iron at 95 percent and felt as if the number led to him being able to attack the hole.

Instead, he did not fully commit to the shot, failing to catch it cleanly as it hit the middle of the water hazard.

Els was aware of Yang’s rise in the scoreboard and made his decision expecting Yang to get to 11 under par.

“When you take a risk, you’ve got to think of the consequences, you know,” asked Els. “Obviously, you guys watch it on television, when you have a 4-iron as a pro, it’s definitely a go club, especially with nothing behind the green.

“Looking back now it was probably a mistake, it was, because Y.E. didn’t go to 11 under, he actually went to 9 under. I’ll take stock of that. There’s consequences that’s going to happen off of that, you’ve got to suck it up because you can only blame yourself. So, I kind of did that.”

It appeared that Yang would strike next on 17, but his close-range birdie putt lipped out. A hole later, he hit his drive into a tree, hooked his shot and could not get up and down, setting the stage for Els’s win if he kept a clean scorecard.

Yang’s round of 66 was the lowest on the day and allowed him to match his best finish on the PGA Tour Champions. He also tied for second place at the 2022 Ascension Charity Classic.

“Today (a) little difficult feeling, not much wind, but a little windy,” said Yang. “Yesterday was easier, but today is the last day and a little windy. Today just one shot, one shot, keep going and playing well.”

Els would do just that, also earning an exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2025 Players Championship in the process.

“Well, my record sucks there,” Els deadpanned of TPC Sawgrass. “I’ve only had two top-10s there at Pete Dye’s masterpiece, but I think I’ll probably go. Knowing myself, I’ll go have a go and see how we can go against the flat bellies. Looking forward to it.”

His celebration will be more muted than normal, as will the traditional Firestone Country Club bar tab the champion typically is responsible for.

As is, Els has doubled his win total as he came in with three PGA Tour Champions triumphs and now is the first on tour to win three times this season. He now moves to first in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

Els will be flying with Darren Clarke and their respective families to Royal Troon for The Open Championship.

“I played my very first Open there as an amateur in 1989, so I played there in ’89,” concluded Els. “I missed the cut by two shots, I remember that quite vividly, but I stuck around and watched (Mark Calcavecchia) win. I played in ’97, had a pretty good tournament, and then I lost in a playoff, the ’04 playoff, which still stings.

“This will be my fifth Open there, definitely my last one. I’m getting to the end on that side of things. I’m not sure how many more. I’d love to maybe, if I’m playing good enough, maybe get to Muirfield somehow. I don’t know what that is on our schedule, but that would be nice.”

KAULIG COMPANIES CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL LEADERBOARD

  1. Ernie Els -10

  2. Y.E. Yang -9

  3. Jerry Kelly -7

T4. K.J. Choi -6

T4. Steve Stricker -6

  1. Kenny Perry -4

T7. Steven Alker -3

T7. Robert Karlsson -3

T7. Mike Weir -3

T7. Michael Wright -3

19TH HOLE

With his tie for seventh place, Michael Wright has his new best finish on the PGA Tour Champions, and his most earnings in a single event this season.

Els’s victory comes at the nearly one-year mark with his caddie Rich Mayo on the bag. At Saturday’s press conference, Els explained how Mayo’s eyes have helped him all year and that certainly proved to be the case throughout the week.

“Rich has been really fantastic,” he explained. “At the Boeing Classic it will be a year since we started. He’s had a lot of success out there. He caddied for Scott McCarron for a long time and when they broke up, my caddie was very sick, so we started working at the Boeing Classic last year and I was thinking that if we get comfortable with each other.

“I love his demeanor, he’s calm, he’s confident and a great family guy.”

Next year’s Kaulig Companies Championship will be June 19-22.

COOP’S CORNER

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