This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Englishman Paul Broadhurst grinded out an even-par 72 at Pebble Beach Golf Links to win the PURE Insurance Championship on Sunday in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Broadhurst opened the day with a five-shot lead on the field after firing a round of 64 on Saturday. He made key par saves down the stretch to finish the week at 14-under 202, three ahead of Germany’s Alex Cejka, whose 64 was the round of the day.
It marked the seventh victory of Broadhurst’s PGA Tour Champions career. After ending a winless drought dating to 2018 at the Invited Celebrity Classic in April, Broadhurst has two wins under his belt this season.
Broadhurst’s only birdies Sunday came at the par-4 fourth hole and the par-5 18th. He converted 14 pars, remaining steady on the back nine despite bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.
“I’ve never been in that position before, having a five-shot lead,” said Broadhurst, 59. “I just went out and just tried to play solid, and felt like I did for nine holes. I was reasonably comfortable and just hit a couple of poor shots to the right on 12 and 13, and then you start thinking a little bit.”
Broadhurst missed the green at the par-3 17th, but he chipped on and made a tricky par putt to stay two in front of Cejka.
“It was massive,” Broadhurst said of the putt. “… I didn’t want to shoot over par and win. My kids would be giving me stick back home if I shot over par.”
Cejka made five birdies over his first 10 holes before holing out for eagle at the par-4 13th and birdieing the last hole, getting to 11-under 205 to set the clubhouse lead that Broadhurst had to beat.
Rocco Mediate (69), Doug Barron (70) and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (71) tied for third at 10 under.
The unique event had 80 PGA Tour Champions pros play one round at Pebble Beach Golf Links and one round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course before the low 50 and ties advanced to Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach.
The pros also played alongside amateur and junior players who competed on separate leaderboards. Daniel Ferguson won in the First Tee boys’ division, and Nicole Iniakov captured the title in the First Tee girls’ division. The team of John Vegas and Ryan Harrington won the pro-am competition.
–Field Level Media
