Vijay Singh of Fiji collected his first win on the PGA Tour Champions in nearly five years after some late drama at the Ally Challenge on Sunday in Grand Blanc, Mich.
Not long after Singh signed for a 4-under 68 that boosted his 54-hole score to 14-under 202, Paul Goydos five-putted at the par-3 17th hole at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club.
After failing to convert a birdie putt, Goydos missed three more times from 3 feet to plummet from 15 under to 12 under. That left Singh in the lead for good, as Goydos could only par the final hole to finish two shots behind.
Four putts from 3 feet.
Paul Goydos' 1-shot lead became a 2-shot deficit after a triple bogey on the 17th hole @AllyChallenge. pic.twitter.com/KRRdp97iXo
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 27, 2023
Singh said he couldn’t believe it when Goydos’ name disappeared from the digital leaderboard near the 18th hole.
“I’m as shocked as anybody else,” Singh said on the Golf Channel broadcast.
Jeff Maggert placed second at 13 under after a final-round 69. Tim Petrovic (66), Harrison Frazar (70) and Canada’s Stephen Ames (70) tied with Goydos for third. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who shared the second-round lead with Goydos, shot a 72 and placed seventh at 11 under.
Singh made three birdies and a bogey on the front nine before rolling in three birdies in a row at Nos. 12-14. That pushed him to 15 under, but he gave one back right away with a bogey at No. 15 before parring the rest of the way.
Singh, 60, had won three times at Warwick Hills when it hosted a PGA Tour event, the now-defunct Buick Open. Singh’s last title came at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November 2018.
“It was a long time coming,” Singh said. “Whenever I tee it up here I always feel like I have a chance to win. But now it materialized. I’ve been working really hard. This year’s been pretty good to me.”
Singh began the day one stroke off the lead. The first two rounds were both played Saturday after flooding made the course unplayable on Friday.
–Field Level Media