LITTLE Rock, Ark. — Darren Fichardt of South Africa made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th gap for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot victory over Zach Johnson in the Simmons Bank Championship, his first PGA Tour Champions title to advance to the season finale.
Fichardt’s birdie-eagle end at Pleasant Valley on Sunday not only moved him 29 spots to No. 17 in the Charles Schwab Cup, he denied Johnson the lead on the factors record going into the closing occasion in two weeks.
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Johnson had a one-shot lead with two holes to play — no one else was notably close — when Fichardt drilled a 3-iron to about 8 toes away to a back pin for birdie to tie for the lead.
Then, Fichardt’s fairway steel bounced onto the entrance of the inexperienced at the par-5 18th, leaving himself about 10 toes away for an eagle.
Johnson’s second shot to the 18th was above the ridge, and that raced some 10 toes by the cup. He narrowly made that for birdie and a 64, forcing Fichardt to make his eagle putt.
Fichardt completed at 22-under 266.
“That’s something fairy tales are written about,” Fichardt said. “One of my concerns was to get into the playoffs and through nine holes I saw I had a bit of a gap. So just tried to free up a little bit and start making a few birdies and maybe have a chance at winning.”
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The high 36 advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix in two weeks. Ricardo Gonzalez tied for seventh and moved up 9 spots to No. 31 to advance, while Bo Van Pelt tied for tenth to go from thirty eighth to thirty fourth.
Mario Tiziani, Greg Chalmers and Jason Caron all fell out of the high 36.
Henrik Stenson was poised to claim one of the 36 spots. He was in a tie for third until a three-putt double bogey on the fifteenth gap, a bogey on the sixteenth, a birdie on the par-3 seventeenth and a three-putt bogey on the 18th. He fell to a tie for fifteenth and missed out by 4 spots.
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