ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Dicky Pride made waves on Sunday, winning his first PGA Tour Champions title since 2020 by beating three-time champion Padraig Harrington in a tie-breaking playoff on June 28 at En-Joie Golf Club in the final round of the Dick’s Open, taking the $330,000 earnings.
The 56-year-old Tuscaloosa-born titlist tucked his pink shirt in his Crimson Tide belt and briefly waved to fans after securing an 18-under finish, having never let up after getting his career-tying best of 63 in the first round, finally getting the “hot round” he’d been waiting for after falling to No. 37 in the Schwab Cup standings in October.
“After the Simmons Bank Championship last year, I called and said ‘we gotta get better, it’s gotta get better’, and I went to work the week after,” Pride said in a post-tournament interview.
Harrington, who entered the final round with 20 other golfers within four shots of taking his top spot, went 6-under-72 in the final round–just one above Pride, who finished with 65. Harrington won the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Dick’s Open titles and didn’t play last year due to a scheduling conflict.
Fans, who stepped out of their pockets of shade and into the sweltering sun to get a better view of the green, began to get excited once it became clearer that Pride would continue his bogie-free streak after the 15th hole to tie with Harrington.
Pride finished on par in the playoff, while Harrington missed the mark by a few feet, bogeying his title away in the sudden-death playoff for the second time this year (losing to Steven Alker in the Cologuard Classic).
Michael Block, who fans were keen to watch due to his animated nature, had an opening for the lead after rolling in his eighth birdie at the 16th, but butchered what would’ve been a media frenzy over a top-five debut after double-bogeying on the 18th hole to finish at 67.
Matt Gogel and Bo Van Pelt reached the top five on the leaderboard, with Gogel going 17-under to place third and Van Pelt tying with Freddie Jacobson of Sweden and Tim O’Neal for fifth with 15-under.
Take a look at where players finished on the leaderboard:
Final results
Playoff winner: Dicky Pride
T1 – Padraig Harrington, Dicky Pride -18
3 – Matt Gogel -17
4 – J.J. Henry -16
T5 – Tim O’Neal, Bo Van Pelt, Freddie Jacobson -15
8 – Richard Green -14
T9 – Michael Block, Miguel Ángel Jiménez -13
T11 – Darren Clarke, Mathew Goggin, Thongchai Jaidee -12
T14 – Greg Chalmers, Boo Weekley, Tommy Gainey, Paul Stankowski -11
T18 – Retief Goosen, Stephen Ames -10
T20 – Bernhard Langer, Ricardo Gonzalez, Jason Caron, Tim Petrovic, Charlie Wi, George McNeill, Rory Sabbatini -9
T27 – John Daly, Steve Stricker -8
T29 – Michael Wright, Tag Ridings, Vaughn Taylor -7
T32 – Ryan Armour, Heath Slocum, Steve Allan, Angel Cabrera, Alex Cejka -6
T37 – Ken Duke, Chad Campbell, Doug Barron -5
T40 – Rod Pampling, Brian Gay, Mark Hensby, Chris DiMarco -4
44 – Brett Quigley -3
T45 – David Toms, David Duval, John Rollins, Colin Montgomerie, Craig Hocknull, Y.E. Yang, Robert Karlsson, Scott Hend -2
T53 – Michael Allan, Joe Durant -1
T55 – Jay Haas, Scott McCarron, Paul Goydos, Kenny Perry E
T59 – Shana Bertsch, Notah Begay III, Kirk Triplett +1
T62 – Jeff Maggert, Ken Tanigawa +3
64 – Billy Andrade +4
T65 – Mark Wilson, Olin Browne, K.J. Choi, Fred Funk +5
69 – Rocco Mediate +6
T70 – Duffy Waldorf, Tim Herron +7
T72 – Corey Pavin, Woody Austin, Lee Janzen +8
75 – Steve Pate +9
76 – John Senden +10
T77 – Tom Pernice Jr., David Bransdon +13
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Dicky Pride takes the Dick’s Open title after an 18th-hole playoff win
Reporting by Aniya Sumner, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
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By Aniya Sumner, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin | USA TODAY Network
