The ACE Group Classic: Final-round notebook

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NAPLES, Fla. -- Loren Roberts won his ninth career event on the Champions Tour and triumphed in Naples for the second time (2006), joining Lee Trevino (1990-91), Mike Hill (1993-94), Hale Irwin (1997, 2002) and Gil Morgan (1998, 2001) as two-time winners at this event.

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A missed birdie on the final hole left Don Pooley tied for third.

Inside the Numbers

Final Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Loren Roberts 209 -7 2. Gene Jones 210 -6 T3. Ben Crenshaw 211 -5 T3. Bernhard Langer 211 -5 T3. Don Pooley 211 -5 T3. James Mason 211 -5 T7. Nick Price 213 -3 T7. Joey Sindelar 213 -3 T7. Mike Goodes 213 -3 T7. Brad Bryant 213 -3

• Roberts also became the third player to win two events in Naples at different venues. Both Irwin and Morgan also claimed their titles on different courses here in Southwest Florida.

• Sunday's victory was Roberts' fifth overall in the state of Florida. On the PGA TOUR, Roberts claimed the 1994 and 1995 Nestle Invitational and in addition to his two victories in Naples, he also won the 2007 Boeing Championship at Sandestin.

• Roberts' final-round 68 Sunday included birdies on three of the last four holes. Despite having four three-putts this week, the "Boss of the Moss" now has recorded 12 consecutive sub-par scores at this event.

• Roberts earned a check for $240,000 and also picked up 240 Charles Schwab Cup points. A winner of the Charles Schwab Cup in 2007, Roberts now has 305 Schwab Cup points on the season and is in second place. After three official events, Bernhard Langer continues to lead the season-long race with 525 points. Mike Goodes is third with 304 points. At the end of the official season, the player with the most Schwab Cup points will earn a $1 million payout from Charles Schwab.

• Gene Jones' runner-up effort this week in Naples matched his best career finish on the Champions Tour. At last year's Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, Calif., Jones finished a distant second to Andy Bean.

• Ben Crenshaw, Don Pooley and James Mason all tied for third in Naples this week. For Crenshaw, it was his best effort on the Champions Tour since a tie for third at last year's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. Pooley's performance this week was his best since 2006 when he tied for third at the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic. For Mason, this week's performance was his best since he tied for third at the 2002 3M Championship in Minnesota.

• Roberts' narrow victory over Jones marked the 12th time in the 22-year history of the event that it was decided by either a playoff or one stroke. It also marked the 12th time in tournament history that a player came from behind to win. The winner of the ACE Group Classic has now come out of the final group in each of the last nine years.

• Bob Gilder's 9-under 63 (10 birdies, 1 bogey) in the final round was the low score of the tournament and matched his career-low score on the Champions Tour. Gilder had shot 63 on three other occasions but not since the final round of the 2003 Emerald Coast Classic near Pensacola, Fla.

• Gilder's round Sunday matched the best final-round score in tournament history. In 1994, Mike Hill shot 9-under 63 at The Vineyards en route to his second consecutive title in Naples. Gilder had posted an 83 on Saturday and the 20-stroke differential matched the second-largest scoring swing from one round to the next.

• The field scoring average for the tournament was 73.648, the highest for an event in Naples since 1998 at Bay Colony Golf Club (74.057). Last year's stroke average at Quail West was 70.954.

• Langer has now started the 2009 season with a win in Hawaii (Mitsubishi Electric Championship), a third-place effort at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, and a third-place effort this week at the ACE Group Classic.

• Hal Sutton, the player consultant on the TPC Treviso Bay course design, was forced to withdraw with a pulled muscle in his back. Sutton was playing his eighth hole of the day at the time of the withdrawal.