Woody Austin edges Jim Carter to win Tucson Conquistadores Classic

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Woody Austin holed out for eagle from a greenside bunker on the par-5 15th and held on to win the Tucson Conquistadores Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour Champions title.

 

"The greatest bunker week of my career, no question," Austin said.

 

The 52-year-old Austin bogeyed the par-4 final hole after driving left into the water and ended up beating Jim Carter by a stroke on Omni Tucson National's Catalina Course.

 

Making his 28th start of the 50-and-over tour, Austin finished with a 7-under 65 for a 16-under 200 total. His son Peyton caddied for him after son Parker fell ill.

 

"Parker wanted to caddie this week and that was the prelude to the whole thing," Austin said. "We all went on a really nice golf vacation at the start of their spring break week. We played Pebble last Sunday, we played Spyglass on Monday and Spanish Bay on Tuesday. So, I finally got in some golf, got to work on my game a little bit.

 

"Then we flew in here on Wednesday and unfortunately Parker got real sick and unfortunately couldn't caddie. But since we had done all that we did, we got the young one to pop in here and he took me right down the street."

 

Austin was 5 under on the four par-5 holes with the eagle and three birdies. He won the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship at age 49 for the last of his four PGA Tour titles.

 

Playing in the group behind Austin, Carter birdied the 18th for a 68. The 54-year-old Carter, playing on a sponsor exemption, won the 2000 PGA Tour event at Tucson National for his lone title.

 

"Brokenhearted and happy at the same time," said Carter, a former Arizona State player who lives in Scottsdale. "I did a lot of good things. I just got a little, maybe just a little bit tight."

 

Bernhard Langer was third at 14 under bogeying the final two holes for a 67. Playing alongside Austin, Langer three-putted the par-3 17th and drove into the right-side water on 18.

 

"That just killed the whole momentum," Langer said about the three-putt bogey. "I just made four birdies in a row. My goal was to birdie in, and to make that three-putt was just a killer."

 

The German star was coming off a victory Feb. 14 in Naples, Florida.

 

Stephen Ames (69) and 2015 winner Marco Dawson (70) tied for fourth at 11 under. Scott Verplank, the second-round leader after his second straight 66, shot a 74 to drop into a tie for sixth at 10 under.

 

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