GOLF NEWS - Kevin Sutherland finally broke through on PGA Tour Champions, taking the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship – and the topping the year-long competition, too, to earn the Schwab Cup.
Sutherland closed with a 5-under 66 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Vijay Singh and Lee Janzen at Phoenix Country Club, the tree-lined course hosting its first PGA Tour-sanctioned event since the Phoenix Open left for TPC Scottsdale in 1988.
"I don't even know. It's like a whirlwind thing. It's amazing," Sutherland said. "I mean, the names on this trophy are incredible. I've seen it, and to be on that list is just, I can't even put words to it, it's just amazing."
Bernhard Langer, the winner of the first two Schwab Cup Playoffs events, had a 64 to tie for 12th – five strokes back. Langer slipped to second in the points standings, missing a chance to win the Schwab Cup for the fourth straight year and fifth overall.
"It was meant to be playoffs," Langer said. "Everybody in the field was given a chance to win."
The 53-year-old Sutherland won for the first time in 78 starts on PGA Tour Champions. He entered the week fifth in the Charles Schwab Cup season points standings, the last spot where the player had to only win the tournament to take the $1 million annuity. He also earned $440 000 for the tournament victory.
