Greg Chalmers blew a great victory chance and fellow Australian Richard Green finished second as LIV Golf player Richard Bland stormed home to win the Senior PGA Championship in his senior major debut.
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England's Bland shot a closing eight-under 63 to win by three shots from Green (65) at 17-under 267 at Harbor Shores in Michigan on Sunday.
After a hot start, two-time Australian Open champion Chalmers led with four holes to play but made bogeys on the last three holes as he shot 68 and had to settle for third place, a shot behind Green.
Anorther Australian, Scott Hend (66), tied for fourth at 12 under.
There was also disappointment for four-time major winner Ernie Els, still without a senior major tied. He was tied for the 54-hole lead with Chalmers but shot 70 to tie for sixth.
In a final round delayed by about an hour because of storms, Bland hit what amounted to the winning shot on the par-5 15th, an approach to six feet for eagle. That took him from one shot behind Chalmers to a one-shot lead when Chalmers could only manage a par.
The storms finally arrived, and the 51-year-old Bland returned to make three pars and claim his first victory since the 2021 British Masters.
"The British Masters was very special at 48. This is right up there. I couldn't be happier," Bland said. "I'm going to celebrate the hell out of this one."
Green finished second without ever having a serious of chance of winning.
Bland had to get past Chalmers in a terrific battle in which Chalmers was bogey-free with six birdies and Bland had eight birdies in 12 holes to offset two bogeys.
And then the Englishman surged ahead with the eagle on the 15th, and no one could catch him.
Chalmers missed the green to the left on the 16th and took two shots to reach the green in making bogey, and then dropped another shot on the par-3 17th when he couldn't save par from the bunker before he also bogeyed the 18th.
"Even though I didn't finish as strongly as I would like, I have to take solace in the fact that I was 3-over at the start of the tournament on Thursday and here I am, finished third outright," said Chalmers, who earned $US238,000 for his week's work.
"It's a great week in any first major, first real taste of being in the last group and seeing some things about what it takes and what I need to work on and improve.
"I take a lot of positives about it. I'm hopeful I can get another opportunity down the line.
"Ironically, I'm in the US Open and the British Open coming up, so hoping I'll get some chances to get in this position again."
Of the other Australians, Stuart Appleby shot 67 to climb into a tie for 14th while Michael Wright (68) enjoyed his best finish on the PGA Tour Champions with a tie for 17th and Cameron Percy finished tied 21st in his seniors debut.
Australian Associated Press
