Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff LUTZ, Fla. -- Tom Watson claimed his first victory in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in the state of Florida on Sunday at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, ending a 0-93 winless drought. During the winless drought in Florida, Watson had four runner-up finishes in his PGA TOUR career and five runner-up finishes on the Champions Tour.  After a winless 2006, Tom Watson has won early in 2007. (Kevin C. Cox/WireImage)
• The victory was Watson's first Champions Tour victory since the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup Championship and ninth official win since turning 50. • With his victory, Tom Watson became the seventh major champion to claim the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in the 17 years it has been played at the TPC Tampa Bay. He joins Dave Stockton (1995), Jack Nicklaus (1996), David Graham (1997), Larry Nelson (1999), Hale Irwin (2005) and Jerry Pate (2006). • With Watson's victory, five of the last six Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am winners have come from behind on Sunday. • Watson earned a check for $240,000 and collected 240 Charles Schwab Cup points. At the end of the season, the player with the most Schwab Cup points will earn a $1 million annuity. Watson won the season-long points race in 2003 and 2005. • Through four official events in 2007, Jay Haas now leads the Schwab Cup race with 353 points, followed by Loren Roberts with 349 points. Hale Irwin is third with 290 points, Watson moves to fourth with 288 points and Tom Kite rounds out the top five. • Watson's 54-hole total of 4-under-par 209 was the highest winning score at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am since 1996, when Jack Nicklaus won with a three-day total of 2-under-par 211. Watson's winning score was the highest in relation to par in a 54-hole Champions Tour event since Dana Quigley won the 2002 Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley at 4-under-par 212. • Tom Watson's final round 1-under-par 70 was the highest by a winner at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am since Jim Albus also carded a 70 in 1998. • Jay Haas (T2) and Brad Bryant (T14) fired the day's low rounds, 2-under-par 69s. Bryant moved up 28 spots from T42 to T14 with the 69. • Only five players finished the tournament under par, the lowest number of players to finish in red figures in this event since 1996 when there were only two. • In the pro-am portion of the event, the team of Scott Simpson and Bill Murray earned a one-shot victory over the team of Hale Irwin and Hugh Connerty, Jr. Simpson and Murray posted a three-day total of 21-under-par 192. • Throughout the course of the final round, Bill Murray charged professional autograph seekers $50 per autograph and collected more than $800, which he donated to Outback Steakhouse Chairman and co-founder Chris Sullivan. The proceeds will be given to the Blooming Place For Kids, an intervention/prevention summer program for kids ages 8-15. • Loren Roberts extended his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to six with his T4 finish. His streak dates back to last year's AT&T Championship and he is the only player to notch top-10 finishes in each of the first four Champions Tour events of 2007. • Roberts led the Champions Tour with 18 top-10s in 2006. He also extended his streak of rounds at par or better to 26 with his even-par 71. • The final-round scoring average of 75.17 was the highest final-round scoring average since the tournament moved to the TPC Tampa Bay in 1992. The overall tournament scoring average of 74.07 was the highest since 1996, when the field averaged 74.79. • The most difficult hole was No. 15 with an average score of 4.520 (+.520). The easiest hole was No. 7 with an average score of 4.742 (-.258). There were five eagles and 69 birdies in the three-round event. • Mark O'Meara finished T38 in his Champions Tour debut with a 54-hole total of 11-over-par 224. • Larry Nelson withdrew prior to the final round with a stiff neck. Nelson was at 11-over-par 153 (T67) through 36 holes. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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