Ernie Els added one other chapter to his already spectacular biography by capturing his first senior main title on the Kaulig Firms Championship, previously referred to as the Senior Gamers Championship.
The 54-year-old South African had 5 Champions Tour wins to his identify however had by no means beforehand managed to win one of many 4 main titles on the over-50s circuit – till now.
Els adopted up his third spherical 64 with a closing 68 on Firestone Nation Membership’s South Course to complete on 10 below par and pip 2009 PGA Championship winner YE Yang to the title by one shot.
Els, for whom this was his third win on the Champions Tour in 2024, stated: “This has been a very long time approaching this golf course. Thirty-two years in the past, I began enjoying right here at Firestone, however I by no means obtained to win right here. So this was actually nice.”
Jerry Kelly, a two-time champion at Firestone, overcame a sluggish Sunday begin to shoot 69 and end alone in third, one shot higher than KJ Choi (70) and Steve Stricker (73). Stricker, a six-time winner in 2023, began the ultimate day main by one and stretched the result in two, however he fell out of the match with a bogey at 13 and a triple-bogey at 14.
The win strikes Els into first place within the Schwab Cup standings and earns him a spot in subsequent 12 months’s Gamers Championship on the PGA Tour.
