TUCSON, Arizona (News Wires) — Joe Durant made a highlight-reel eagle putt that provided the winning margin, as he went on to claim the Cologuard PGA Classic title by two strokes in Tucson, Arizona.
Durant, 59, won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour Champions and the first time since August 2021. As the tournament’s title sponsor is a screening test for multiple forms of cancer, this win carried an extra meaning to Durant.
Durant shot a final-round, 4-under 67 to go 13-under 200 for the three-day event. He staved off New Zealander Steven Alker (65), Jerry Kelly (67) and Kevin Sutherland (68), who tied for second at 11 under at La Paloma County Club.
“I tell you what really put things in perspective, and I’m sorry if I get emotional, but we lost my nephew, Lee Stewart, who was like my little brother, last August to cancer,” Durant said according to Reuters.
“I was thinking about him and I just want to make him proud.”
Durant birdied three holes on the front nine and had just picked up his only bogey of the day at No. 10 when he reached the par-5 11th. His second shot stopped a few feet shy of the green, which featured an awkward slope before the hole.
Rather than try to chip, Durant aimed a putt far to his left and lifted both hands to the sky as he watched his ball drop for eagle.
That got him to 13 under, and he made pars the rest of the way home while his competitors got no closer than 12 under. Sutherland needed a birdie at the 18th to force a playoff but bogeyed the hole.
“I’m always watching leaderboards, I just can’t help myself,” Durant said. “I knew I was going to have to finish strong.”
Alker, the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup winner, made a late charge with an eagle at No. 11 and birdies at Nos. 15 and 16, but he could get no closer than 11 under. His 65 matched the low round of the day.
Marco Dawson shot a 68 and tied Alex Cejka of Germany (69) for fifth at 10 under.
Stewart Cink, who opened the tournament with a 62 and led after each of the first two rounds, struggled to a 2-over 73 and tied for seventh at 9 under.
Durant was playing alongside Cink and Retief Goosen in the final grouping and knew exactly where he stood down the stretch.
Kevin Sutherland, a past Cologuard champion who was making his first start since September, closed within a shot after birdies at 16 and 17, but missed the green at the par-4 18th and made a bogey, allowing Durant to play the last with a two-shot cushion. He two-putted for par with a great lag putt from 30 feet.
He had gone 56 tournaments and more than two years, dating back to the summer of 2021, since his last victory. But down the stretch, Durant never flinched.
Dawson had played his way into contention with a red-hot stretch in the middle of the round that delivered four birdies in a six-hole stretch beginning at the sixth.
