DEARBORN, Mich. -- Bouncing between the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour paid off for Peter Jacobsen.

Jacobsen made a birdie putt out of a collection area on the 16th hole -- where he had a flashback to last month's U.S. Open -- then outlasted Hale Irwin by a stroke Sunday in the final round of the Ford Senior Players Championship.

"It didn't scare me because I did it all week at Pinehurst," said Jacobsen, who tied for 15th three weeks ago in the U.S. Open.

The 51-year-old Jacobsen won his second senior major in less than year, finishing at 15 under after closing with a 6-under 66 on the Tournament Players Club of Michigan.

After Jacobsen's remarkable putt, 14 feet up a steep incline, he two-putted from 80 feet for birdie at the 17th hole to surge past Irwin for the lead.

Jacobsen, who was three groups ahead of Irwin, could only wait and watch as the three-time U.S. Open champion tried to catch him.

Irwin came up inches short on a 13-foot birdie try on No. 17. Then, after a great approach on the final hole, the 60-year-old star narrowly missed a 12-footer.

"I expected him to make that putt, and we were going to go back down 18 for a playoff," Jacobsen said.

Irwin, who also lipped out a 4-footer for par on the 12th hole, finished with a 70 after shooting three straight 68s. He fell just short of his eighth senior major, a victory that would've tied Jack Nicklaus' record.

Irwin bemoaned missing five key putts after making the turn, but especially the near-misses on the last two holes.

"Those putts were no-brainers," he said. "Unfortunately, I guess I don't have a brain."

Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson (68) and Tom McKnight (71) tied for third at 12 under.

Dana Quigley (73) was among six players at 10 under in perhaps the final event of his ironman streak. Quigley, playing his 264th consecutive event and 278th straight in which he has been eligible, may end the eight-year run if a hip injury keeps him from competing in the Senior British Open.

Jacobsen, who won the 2003 Greater Hartford Open for the last of his seven PGA TOUR titles, won the U.S. Senior Open early last August at Bellerive for his only other victory on the Champions Tour.

Playing in just his 13th Champions Tour event in two years, he dropped to 9 under with a bogey on No. 5 before closing strong with six birdies in a 12-hole stretch to take the lead.

Peter Jacobsen took home his second Champions Tour title on Sunday (Shamus/Wire Image)

"I knew I had to be aggressive, so I was aiming for the pins," he said.

Jacobsen was proud about outlasting Irwin.

"There's nobody you'd rather beat than a great player," he said. "Hale has dominated the Champions Tour like no one else will."

The fan favorite earned $375,000 for his fourth top-six finish in four appearances in Champions Tour majors. Jacobsen, Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are the only players who won their first two senior events in majors.

Jacobsen has played 10 PGA TOUR events this year.

"I think that strengthens the Champions Tour, to have guys playing both tours," he said.

The Senior Players was the first of three straight Champions Tour majors. The Senior British Open is July 21-24 at Royal Aberdeen, followed by the U.S. Senior Open at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio.

"Those all come a distant second to next week when I walk my oldest daughter down the aisle," he said.

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