Ken Tanigawa, of the United States, hits a tee shot on the eighth hole during the final round of the PGA Tour Champions golf event in Calgary on Aug. 18.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Waiting about 10 minutes to find out he won the 2024 Rogers Charity Classic didn’t bother Ken Tanigawa one bit.
After all, Tanigawa hadn’t experienced victory on the PGA Tour Champions circuit since winning the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in June of 2019.
“It has not sunk in, but it feels amazing,” said the 56-year-old American golfer, who was born in Japan but currently resides in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Every year that goes by, you’re not getting younger. You kind of wonder, sure, if you’ll ever win. You sprinkle hope out there. You hope you can and you keep working at your game.”
A day after tying the course record at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, Tanigawa had eight birdies during a round of six-under 64 on Sunday to finish atop the leaderboard at 17 under.
“I played an amazing round yesterday, but you just let it go,” said Tanigawa, who won US$360,000. “You’re starting all over from scratch again today.
“I didn’t think about it or carry on. Expectations to shoot low weren’t there – not to play good nor bad. Just go out and you do your best from the first shot on and see what you can shoot.”
Tanigawa had already finished his round when he found out his final score of 193 was good enough to beat second-place finisher Richard Green by two strokes.
“I was told that Richard bogeyed 17, so he needed to eagle 18 and I knew it was hard to get home in two,” Tanigawa said. “You never know. Weird things happen in this game, so it was nice that it was over.”
Tied at 16 under with Green through 16 holes, Tanigawa birdied the par-four, 17th hole. Playing in the last group, Green bogeyed the hole and then only managed to par No. 18 to finish alone in second place at 15 under.
“It’s just a shame that things just at the end there didn’t really fall my way,” said Green, who finished second for the third time this season. “I thought they were going my way there a little bit through the middle of the round, and probably my start today [with a bogey on the first hole] didn’t really help me very much.
“It’s nice to be competing and contending for golf tournaments. It’s fun. I enjoy being out there contending week in, week out, and I’ll keep rattling the cage.”
Darren Clarke and Jason Caron finished in a tie for third at 14 under, while Mario Tiziani was alone in fifth at 13 under.
Canadian Golf Hall of Famers Stephen Ames and Mike Weir both shot rounds of three-under 67 on Sunday.
Ames, a former Calgary resident, finished as the top Canadian at 10 under in a six-way tie for 10th place.
“It wasn’t the greatest ball striking, but I got it around,” Ames said. “I was able to capitalize on holes that I hit some good shots on and made birdies with it.
“Overall it was a bit up and down, but I think it was good that I was handling the bad shots and moving forward and not worrying about too much.”
Currently sitting second in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup money behind Ernie Els, who also finished at 10 under in Calgary, Ames received a nice ovation from the crowd when he walked up to the 18th green before tapping in his par putt.
“Every time I come back here I get that, so it’s wonderful,” Ames said. “No matter where I finish, you get that reward, which is nice. I think all our Canadian fellows get that.”
Weir finished the tournament in an eight-way tie for 20th at eight under.
“Overall, I felt like I played pretty good so hopefully that will be momentum [for] next week,” said Weir, who will tee it up at The Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Mich., from next Thursday to Sunday.
“It’s phenomenal here at this event. This is one of the premium events on the PGA Tour Champions. The fan support is incredible for myself, Stephen and all the other Canadians, so it’s a great place to play.”
Alan McLean of London, Ont., carded an even-par round of 70 on Sunday to finish one shot back of Weir in a tie for 28th spot.
Gordon Burns of Ajax, Ont., carded a two-under round of 68 on Sunday to finish the event in a tie for 73rd at four over, while Calgary’s Steve Blake shot 79 and finished well back of the leaders at 22 over.