Kirk Triplett bags the first Champions Tour victory of his career at the Nature Valley First Tee Open
Kirk Triplett bagged the first Champions Tour event of his career after firing six-under par 66 in the final round of the Nature Valley First Tee Open, at Pebble Beach Golf Links, on Sunday, July 8, 2012.
Triplett, who started playing the 50-and-over tour this March after turning 50, recorded a 10-under par tournament score to take a two-stroke victory over Mark McNulty.
“To win anywhere is special,” Triplett said. “But to win at Pebble Beach is extra special. To do it in my first Champions Tour try is great”.
While entering the final round, he was four strokes behind the overnight leaders, Tom Kite and Brad Bryant.
An eagle-birdie streak, starting from the second hole, threatened his rivals on top of the leaderboard. Thereafter, he succeeded in recording another four birdies against a lone bogey to outshine his opponents in California.
With this win, he joined the league of Olin Browne, Ron Streck, Keith Fergus, Tom Lehman and Gary Hallberg, all of whom have won at least once on each of the PGA, Champions and Web.com tours.
In 2006, he registered the last of his three PGA Tour victories at the Chrysler Classic. He, then, won the News Sentinel Open in 2011 to become the oldest winner in the Web.com Tour’s history. This year, he had three top-10 finishes prior to raising the
trophy on Sunday.
“I really hadn't been playing that well,” said Triplett, who has four top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour. “But I'm doing a lot better lately and feeling more comfortable out there”.
According to the golf commentators, the main reason for his success in the tournament was his game off the tee.
Right from the start of his career on the Champions Tour, he has been amazing with his drivers and ranks at the 16th position, with 74.06 per cent accuracy.
In addition to that, he is ranked 11th in the 2012 Champions Tour greens in regulation percentage list, after hitting 351 of 486 greens in 27 rounds that he has played so far.
Brad Bryant, Jay Haas and Bill Glasson shared the third spot on the leaderboard after carding a six-under par tournament score.
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