Golf Update: Fred Funk takes the Jeld-Wen Tradition trophy home
Fred Funk has once again won the Jeld-Wen Tradition with a swooping 69 in the final round of the event.
This is the second time Fred funk has won the championship in 3 years, which is the fourth of the Champions Tour's five biggest majors. However, it seems like the love affair of the 54-year-old and Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Golf Club in central Oregon is coming to an end, as the venue of the championship has been changed from next season onwards.
Fred Funk closed the final round of the championship on Sunday with a 3 under 69, followed by Michael Allen and Chien Soon Lu, which meant he had a 1 stroke lead over them. Although, the difference between the three was negligible but at the end of the day what they say holds true that winning is winning whether it is by an inch or second.
The interesting part of the last round was that 8 contenders were stuck in a tie for the lead at the back nine of the event, which happens to be the second last senior major of the year. However, out of all the 50 plus year olds, it was only Fred Funk who had nerves of steel and remained calm and consistent in a spot so crucial like this. To make a difference, he delivered a 15-foot enormous birdie putt on the 598-yard, par-5 16th hole after which he putted the 18th hole and wrapped up the game with 12-under 276 at the Sun river Resort's Cross water Golf Club. As a token of remembrance, Fred Funk's 276 net aggregate is the highest winning score at the Tradition since 2002. Before him, it was Jim Thorpe who won at Desert Mountain with an 11-under 277.
However, this finish did not decide the winner as other than him Michael Allen and Chien Soon Lu were also standing at the same spot with a 12 under. According to the media reports, the result could have been different if Chien Soon Lu would not have missed the 40 -foot birdie chip at the 18th green.
Moving forward , the leader of the previous round Tom Lehman finished in the 4th spot with a score of 10 under after finishing the last round with a one-over 73 while, another player Mark Calcavecchia also finished 2 shots back with a 66. One more prominent name Bernard Langer from Germany scored a 73 to finish with 8 under, which meant another tie at the 10th spot. However, Bernhard Langer wanted to be the second player to win three consecutive majors on the championship tour, unfortunately it could not become possible.
Coming back to the performance of the winner, Fred Funk started the final round with a two shots lead in his bag of clubs. He made three birdies in his first seven holes, however, his back nine was not as glamorous as the front half .Fred attempted a birdie putt at the 9th hole but the shot turned out be short of driving distance. The result was a bogey posted on the score card despite that Fred birdied the 16th hole and later pared the last two. At the end of the day, even Fred Funk was surprised with his score of 12 under, which is the highest score at the traditions so far.
If one goes in the past then it was back in 2008, when Funk won the tile on this course and according to the winner, this is one of his most favourite courses. This is obvious from his second victory at the same venue. News has flooded the greens that Jeld-Wen is ending its sponsorship title with the event, hence the Champions Tour has to finalize some other name and that will be done by the end of this week.
On the whole, Jeld-Wen Tradition that was taking place at the Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Golf Club in central Oregon has ended and Fred Funk has once again won the title by scoring a 69 on the leader board.
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