Scott McCarron won the Charles Schwab Cup and it’s $US1 million prize today while holding a glass of wine and watching on a clubhouse television. More precisely, Jeff Maggert won it for him.
“Are you kidding me?” McCarron said when he saw Maggert hole out his second shot from the fairway on the third playoff hole to defeat Retief Goosen and win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Had Goosen won the tournament, he also would have would the Schwab Cup. He would have been looking at a makeable putt for birdie had Maggert not delivered a hole-out eagle from 112 metres on the 17th hole at Phoenix Country Club.
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“He [McCarron] owes me some red wine or something,” Maggert said. “Congrats to Scott. He played some great golf this year. Hats off to him.”
No chance was the most likely chance that Goosen had of winning the season-long Schwab Cup, before the week began. He needed to win the tournament and for McCarron, the points leader going in, to finish in a three-way tie for 12th or worse and for Jerry Kelly, second in points, to finish tied for fifth or worse.
McCarron, who led the Schwab Cup points standings for most of the year, co-operated by finishing in a tie for 27th. So did Kelly, by tying for 12th. But Goosen’s putter and Maggert did not co-operate.
Goosen closed with a seven-under par 64 that included three birdies in his final four holes to get into a playoff. He could have won that playoff on the first extra hole, but missed a four-foot birdie putt for the victory.
With darkness encroaching and threatening to send the playoff to a Monday morning finish, Goosen hit his approach shot from a bunker to the 17th green to six feet.
Maggert’s approach landed a few feet short of the hole and the ball bounced into the cup, setting off a wild celebration in the clubhouse.
The celebration would soon be joined by Maggert, 55, who won for the first time since 2015. It was his sixth PGA Tour Champions victory.
“I’ve seen it happen but I never I thought it would happen to me in my life,” Maggert said. “Obviously, I didn’t make a lot of putts the past two days, but sometimes you don’t need the putter to win.”
McCarron’s reaction in addition to his clubhouse celebration?
“Jeff Maggert, my favourite player on the PGA Tour Champions.”
