Darren Fichardt of South Africa sank a tournament-clinching eagle putt at No. 18 to win the Simmons Bank Championship for his first title on the PGA Tour Champions Sunday in Little Rock, Ark.
With the win, Fichardt vaulted from No. 46 to No. 17 in the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs after the second of three legs. He qualified for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship two weeks from now in Phoenix, where only the top 36 players in the points race will compete.
Fichardt’s eagle gave him a one-stroke victory over Zach Johnson, who remained second overall in the season-long race behind Stewart Cink. Johnson will head to the season finale as the main threat to catch Cink for the Cup.
Fichardt entered the day with a one-shot lead over Johnson after a sterling second-round 61 at Pleasant Valley Country Club. Both men shot 64s, but Fichardt needed a birdie-eagle finish to surpass Johnson and wrap his week at 22-under-par 194.
First, Fichardt made a short birdie putt at the par-3 17th to match Johnson at 20 under. At the par-5 18th, Johnson’s slow-rolling birdie putt dropped to set the lead at 21 under. Fichardt had two putts from the front of the green to force a playoff, or one to win in regulation.
The relatively straight putt curled in from the left side, and Fichardt gave himself a subtle fist pump before tossing his hat to the ground in celebration.
“That’s something fairytales are written about,” Fichardt said. “You know, one of my main 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.”
Fichardt, 51, spent most of his playing career on the Sunshine Tour in Africa. But he also collected five European Tour titles and had won twice on the European Senior Tour before grabbing his first victory stateside.
“It means so much,” Fichardt said. “I won a lot around the world, but to win here on this tour, win my first one, I said to my wife walking down the last, I said, ‘This is it, this is the start of our senior journey now, now we can get going.'”
Jerry Kelly (67) was a distant third at 14 under, eight behind Fichardt.
Cink shot a 66 and tied for 10th at 11 under. After Cink and Johnson, New Zealand’s Steven Alker, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and South Africa’s Retief Goosen round out the top five of the season-long standings.
David Toms slipped four spots to No. 36 but snuck in as the last man into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship field. Mario Tiziani, despite a fine T21 showing in Little Rock, dropped three places and was the first man to miss the playoff cut.
