Kevin Stadler eagled the final hole for the third straight day Sunday, capturing the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Nick O’Hern.
Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to avoid a playoff, the Kent Denver graduate hit a stunning 3-iron approach from 200 yards that caught the right side of the large green and rolled within a foot of the hole.
“I don’t know what happened there,” Stadler said. “It was obviously the best shot I hit all week.”
Stadler, the 26-year-old son of 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler, had a 20-under 268 total. He earned $365,340 for his first European Tour title in the event sanctioned by the European, Australasian and Asian tours.
O’Hern birdied the final two holes for a 68. Fellow Australians Robert Allenby shot a 66 and Richard Green had a 71 to tie for third at 16-under.
Stadler won the Argentine Open in December after finishing 168th on the PGA Tour money list last year and losing his tour card. He also won two Nationwide Tour events in 2004.
Now Stadler is faced with a choice of where to play this year, because the victory earned him a full exemption on the European Tour.
“I had planned on playing the full Nationwide Tour,” Stadler said. “To be honest, I have no idea what I’m going to do. There are plenty of spots I’d love to see (in Europe), let alone go and play.”
Stadler got off to a fast start with birdies on Nos. 1-3, but dropped three strokes with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 5-7. The former Southern California star pulled ahead with birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 and had seven straight pars before making an eagle on the 18th for the third straight day.
Stadler shared the lead on the opening day and stayed near the top of the leaderboard while Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell and Colin Montgomerie missed the cut. Defending champion Adam Scott and American Fred Couples faltered as Stadler stood firm.
South Korea’s K.J. Choi (72) was fifth. Scott shot a 69 to match England’s Ian Poulter (69) and Italy’s Francesco Molinari (72) at 14-under.
PGA Tour: Arron Oberholser was shaky down the stretch until a big break turned into an unlikely birdie, allowing him to coast the final three holes and win the Pebble Beach (Calif.) National Pro-Am.
Oberholser enjoyed a proud, peaceful walk up the 18th fairway on his way to an even-par 72 and a five-shot victory, matching the largest margin in the 77-year history of the tournament. Sweeter still was capturing his first tour event on a course he has played countless times since he was a kid.
Mike Weir, tied with Oberholser going into the final round, went out of bounds on the second hole and was five shots behind after three holes. The former Masters champion staggered to a 78 and tied for third. Oberholser finished at 17-under 271, five shots ahead of Rory Sabbatini (70).
It was Weir’s worst final round as a co-leader since he shot 80 in the PGA Championship playing with Tiger Woods. It fell apart early when Weir hooked his approach on the par-5 second, off the road and out of bounds for a double bogey. He followed that with a wedge over the third green for another bogey, and never got closer than four shots the rest of the way.
