A level par 72 on Friday was enough for Welshman Mark Mouland to secure one of five US PGA Champions Tour cards

A level par 72 on Friday was enough for Welshman Mark Mouland to secure one of five US PGA Champions Tour cards for the 2013 season at the National Qualifying Tournament at TPC Eagle Trace in Florida.

Mouland, who won his first European Senior Tour event at the Belas Clube de Campo Senior Open de Portugal last year, was in second place heading into the final round after a flawless best-of-the-day 66 on Thursday propelled him into the qualification spots, as American Gene Jones opened up a four shot lead at the top thanks to a four under par 68.

It was a lead that Jones would not relinquish as he rubber-stamped his first place finish with a two under par 70 in the final round.

Currently in 14th place in the Senior Tour Order of Merit with the MCB Tour Championship to come, Mouland has played in 11 Champions Tour events over the past two seasons but has never been fully exempt in America. He has earned conditional-exempt status in the last two Q-School finals but went one better this week, eventually finishing in third behind Jones and America’s Jeff Brehautm six shots back on seven under par.

Anders Forsbrand, who claimed a maiden Senior Tour triumph at this year’s SSE Scottish Senior Open, will also feature more prominently on the US PGA Champions Tour in 2013 after his tied eighth finish on five under par handed him conditional exemption for next season. The Swede shot a two under par 70 on Friday to secure the lucrative spot.

Australian Peter Fowler, winner of the 2011 John Jacobs Trophy, finished on four under par for the tournament, with last season’s Senior Tour Number Two England’s Barry Lane a further shot back after both men shot level par 72s in the final round.

But with the top 30 finishers and ties eligible to compete for spots in Open Qualifiers at all co-sponsored events on the Champions Tour in 2013, both men will take something away from their week in Coral Springs.

Funk wins Greater Hickory Classic on final hole

- Fred Funk made a two-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to edge Duffy Waldorf by one stroke for the Greater Hickory Classic title on Sunday.

The 56-year-old Funk shot a 3-under 69 in the final round at Rock Barn Golf and Spa's Jones Course for a three-day total of 15-under 201.

It was the second Champions Tour victory this season for Funk, who won at The Woodlands in Texas in May. Funk now has eight career wins on the 50-and-over Tour.

Waldorf, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR who became eligible to play Champions Tour events in August, climbed into contention with a 66 in the final round.

Mark Wiebe, who won last year's tournament in a three-hole playoff, also birdied No. 18 to move into third at 10 under. He had a 70 on Sunday.

Blake wins Boeing Classic in a playoff

 Jay Don Blake watched his putt lip out and figured his best shot at winning was over.

Mark O'Meara just doesn't miss putts inside 8 feet, in a playoff nonetheless.

"I've got my hand out of my pocket waiting to shake his hand is what I was kind of doing," Blake said. "I didn't expect him to miss it."

But O'Meara watched his putt slide to the right on the first playoff hole and Blake had another chance that he took advantage of with a birdie Sunday to win the Boeing Classic for his third career Champions Tour title.

Playing the par-5 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, Blake tapped in for birdie after O'Meara's 15-foot birdie attempt missed on the low side of the hole. Blake and O'Meara also birdied the hole in regulation for matching 4-under 68s that left them tied at 10-under 206. They missed short birdie putts on the first extra hole.

"I wasn't calm. I was churning inside quite a bit," Blake said.

O'Meara has finished second four times since his last Champions Tour title in 2010.

"I would say that it's been disappointing to finish second this many times out here on the Champions Tour," O'Meara said. "I take pride in my wins on the regular tour and the way I performed in the majors. Not to close the deal, it's a little bit frustrating."

Blake won twice last year on the 50-and-over tour, taking the Songdo IBD Championship in a playoff that included O'Meara in South Korea and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Blake's third title came thanks to a solid back nine, and four good shots in the playoff.

Playing No. 18 for the third time, O'Meara pulled his second shot on the 498-yard, uphill hole, into the rough left of the green and his pitch checked up short. Blake went into the rough behind the green with his second shot, but his pitch nearly went in, leaving him with a tap-in birdie attempt.

"I do feel like I belong. I feel like I can compete when I get things going well, playing well," Blake said. "Not in an arrogant way, but I don't' really feel like I'm that intimidated by the players out there."

The playoff marked the fourth time in eight years that the event has gone to extra holes.

Willie Wood, coming off his first Tour victory last week in New York in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, had a 70 to finish a stroke back. Michael Allen and defending champion Mark Calcavecchia followed at 8 under.

Tom Jenkins was 9 under and two shots ahead entering the day in a bid to become the oldest winner in Champions Tour history. But the 64-year-old made four bogeys on the front nine and had a 78 to tie for 21st at 3 under.

O'Meara recovered from an opening 74 with a 64 on Saturday to get into contention. He birdied three of his final five holes, recovering from a double bogey on No. 11, his only blemish during the round.

Blake also had just one hiccup in his round. His bogey on the par-3 13th gave O'Meara the opening he needed to pull even. O'Meara nearly won on the final hole of regulation, but his long eagle putt curled around the high side of the cup.

Blake also had an eagle chance in regulation, but his putt from off the green slid past the edge of the hole while O'Meara watched from the fairway. O'Meara played his second shot on the par 5 to the middle of the green, content to take his chances with a 35-footer that nearly found the cup.

On the first playoff hole, Blake missed a short birdie putt first, giving O'Meara a chance at the title. But his 8-footer slid right of the hole and sent the duo to a second playoff hole.

This week was O'Meara's third event since coming back from a rib injury that cost him four months and forced him to miss the Masters and the British Open.

"At least I'm moving in the right direction," O'Meara said. "This year's been a tough year just with the injury and everything and being away from the game for so long."

Calcavecchia back in the lead at Boeing Classic

Defending champion Mark Calcavecchia eagled the par-5 eighth hole and finished with a 7-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the Boeing Classic.

Calcavecchia, a playoff winner over Russ Cochran last year at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge for his first Champions Tour title, made a 20-foot putt on No. 8 after his 4-iron approach sailed over the flag.

"Had that not gone in, I still would have made birdie and been 4 under," he said. "It went in, which is great. Then, like I always do, I tried to stay aggressive, keep making birdies and shoot low as I could."

Calcavecchia birdied two of the first three holes on the back nine and got to 8 under. But on the par-5, 498-yard 18th, he found the sand twice and took a bogey 6.

"Taking a 6 on an easy 5 kind wrecked an otherwise great day," he said. "I had a great score but you hate doing that. All in all, I played great, hit a lot of great shots."

Calcavecchia won the Montreal Championship in June for his second victory on the 50-and-over tour.

Steve Pate, Jeff Sluman, Joe Don Blake, Eduardo Romero and Kirk Triplettwere tied for second at 68.

Fred Couples withdrew because of back problems on the first hole. The Seattle player won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in March and Senior British Open last month.

"I didn't feel very good warming up," Couples said. "I hit the tee shot at No. 1 and then my lower back really locked up when I walked down to my second shot.

"It was like a bomb went off in my lower back. I think it's time to rest. I'm sad I won't be able to play in this year's event. For this to happen in Seattle, this is a rough one."

Calcavecchia saw Couples being taken off in a cart.

"It's too bad. Tough break for the tourney. He's our star," Calcavecchia said. "Everybody loves Fred, especially here in Seattle. I was sorry to see that."

Calcavecchia's three-stroke lead is the biggest after the first round in the eight-year history of the event and the largest on the Champions Tour this year.

Also, the first-round leader in tournament history never won the title.

"My first rounds lately haven't been very good," Calcavecchia said. "So I rectified that situation at least a little bit."

Willie Wood, coming off his first victory in 16 years last week at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, was in a group of six at 69.

Bernhard Langer shot an even-par 72. He won in 2010, shooting 66-63-69 to match the tournament record at 18 under.

PGA TOUR winners Duffy Waldorf and Gene Sauers made their debuts on the Champions Tour. Sauers opened with a 71, and Waldorf shot 75.

      

Round 2, Dick's Sporting Goods Open

• Defending champion John Huston finished off a 7-under-par 65 in the morning and then added a 67 in the afternoon to take a one-stroke lead overBrad Faxon into the final round of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Upon resumption of his first round at 7:30 a.m., Huston pitched in from 30 yards for an eagle at the short par-4 16thhole, his second eagle of the round. He then waited two hours to begin Round 2 but responded with six birdies and a bogey in the afternoon to move into the lead. Faxon, a two-time winner at En-Joie on the PGA TOUR who is making his first appearance in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, shook off a double bogey at No. 10 with eight birdies, including four straight on the front nine, to post 66 in the afternoon. Faxon closed out his first round in the morning with three birdies over seven holes for a 67.

• Playing in the final grouping for the first time since last year's SAS Championship...Bidding to join Tom Lehman (Regions Tradition) as the second player to successfully defend a title on the Champions Tour in 2012. Seeking to join Fred Funk as the second player this year to win a PGA TOUR/Champions Tour event at the same venue. Funk won the Insperity Championship earlier this season at The Woodlands, the venue for his 1992 Shell Houston Open title. . Open qualified on Tuesday and is seeking to become the first open qualifier to win on the Champions Tour since Rod Spittleat the 2010 AT&T Championship

• Tomorrow's winner will earn 270 Charles Schwab Cup points. Tom Lehman, the current Schwab Cup leader, is T7 through 36 holes this week. Bernhard Langer is currently in second place in the standings, 104 points back of Lehman. He is T13 after two rounds this week.. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most Charles Schwab Cup points will receive a $1 million payout.

• The Dick's Sporting Goods Open champion has shot 65 on Sunday the last two years and the average Sunday score by the eventual champion in tournament history is 65.6

• Second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Open twice and not sinceEduardo Romero in 2008. Overall on the 2012 Champions Tour, players leading/co-leading heading into the final round have won 11 times in the previous 17 tournaments.

• Jeff Hart's 66 in Round 2 was a nine-stroke improvement over his opening-round score and moved him up 40 places in the standings, the biggest move from the first round to the second... Tom Kite and Peter Senior both have made 15 birdies through the first 36 holes this week...Tom Lehman, David Peoples and Eduardo Romero have all played the four par-5s through three rounds in a cumulative 7-under...Larry Nelson and Joe Daley have totaled just 52 putts...Steve Pate has 34 of 36 greens in regulation...Nine different players have missed just one fairway off the tee through two rounds.

• Yesterday's suspension of play was the fourth on the Champions Tour in 2012 and the first since the Senior PGA Championship in late May. It was the first time since the first round of the 2009 event that the Dick's Sporting Goods Open was delayed.

• Jim Thorpe was disqualified from the tournament when he failed to show for the resumption of his first round this morning at 7:30 a.m. Under the Rules of Golf, there is a five-minute window for a player once a round resumes and Thorpe wasn't able to make it back to the course in the allotted time.

• Nick Price withdrew during the round with a sore left elbow. Price was out for three months with ligament damage in his left elbow and returned at the 3M Championship two weeks ago.

• Hale Irwin made his 394th appearance on the Champions Tour this week and now has 1,053 combined-career (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) starts, moving him into a tie for fourth place with Arnold Palmer on the all-time list.Miller Barber is the all-time leader among players with more than 1,000 combined-career starts, totaling 1,292 tournaments.

• Bogey-free Rounds:

R1 (5): Kenny Perry (65), Fred Funk (67), Brad Faxon (67), Andy Bean (69), Corey Pavin (70)R2 (5): Brad Bryant (67), Peter Senior (67), Willie Wood (68), Bill Glasson (69), Joey Sindelar (71)

• Scoring Averages:

Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative 2011 Cumulative Friday 35.950 35.100 71.050 ----------- 71.600 Saturday 36.595 35.177 71.772 71.409 71.224

• Brad Faxon's 13 birdies through two rounds leads all players...John Huston is the only player with two eagles and they both came in the first round...Willie Wood, Fred Funk, Peter Senior and local favorite Joey Sindelar one bogey this week...Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman have both his 25 of 28 fairways (89.29%)...Bernhard Langer has hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation...Brad Faxon has just 49 putts after 36 holes (1.538).

Langer ends victory drought

A beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and high temperatures only reaching the mid-70s. Winds were from the WNW at 10-15 mph.

• Bernhard Langer shot 10-under 62 and outdueled David Peoples to win for the second time in four years at the 3M Championship. Trailing Peoples by four strokes at the turn, Langer birdied four of the first six holes on the back nine, catching Peoples with a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 15. Langer then seized the lead for good when Peoples made bogey at the par-4 16th. He missed the green with his second shot, pitched 15 feet past the hole and failed to convert on his par effort. Langer then closed out the tournament in style, hitting his second shot on the par-5 finishing hole with a hybrid club to within eight feet of the flag. His two-putt birdie at No. 18, coupled with Peoples' bogey from the sand at the par-3 17th temporarily moved the margin to three shots and ended any further suspense.

• Langer wins the 3M Championship for the second time in four years (2009) and joined Hale Irwin (1997, 1999, 2002) as the only other multiple winner of this Minnesota stop on the Champions Tour. In 2009, Langer shot 16-under 200 and won by one thanks to an eagle on the final hole.

• Langer won for the first time on the Champions Tour in over 17 months (2011 ACE Group Classic) and claimed his 15th career title on the circuit. When he won here last year, it was Jay Haas' 15th career victory on the Champions Tour.

• Langer also ended a victory drought of 24 events since his last win on the Champions Tour. Prior to today, his longest previous drought without a victory was 11 tournaments (2010 Boeing Classic-2011 ACE Group Classic).

• Langer came from six strokes back to win today, the largest final-round comeback in tournament history. The last time a player came from that far back to win on the Champions Tour was when Jeff Sluman rallied from six down on Sunday to win the 2009 Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

• Langer's final-round 62 was one-stroke off the Champions Tour record for lowest Sunday score by a winner. It was the best Sunday round to win since Gary Hallberg won the 2010 Ensure Classic at Rock Barn with an 11-under 61 in the final round.

• Langer became the 15thdifferent winner on the Champions Tour this year and now has claimed at least one Champions Tour event in six straight seasons.

• Langer earned 263 Charles Schwab Cup points and now is in second place with 1,840 points on the season.Tom Lehman still leads the 2012 Schwab Cup race with 1,944 points. Roger Chapman who was idle this week has 1,756 points.

• Langer's check for $262,500 moved him to the top of the 2012 Champions Tour money list with $1,411,336.

• Langer also ran his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to nine straight and he now has 12 top-10s this year in 14 starts on the Champions Tour. Langer has not been out of the top 10 since he was T17 at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in late March. The all-time Champions Tour record for consecutive top-10 finishes is 36 by Don January from 1980-1984.

• Just like Jay Haas last year, Langer registered one eagle and 18 birdies. It marked the fifth consecutive year that the 3M Championship winner had at least one eagle en route to victory.

• An alternate at the start of the week, David Peoples runner-up effort was the best of his Champions Tour career. By being the highest non-exempt player to record a top 10 this week, Peoples earned a spot in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in two weeks and his check for $!54,000 increased his 2012 earnings to $206,723 (90th to 43rd).

• With his T3 today, Kenny Perry has now finished among the top-3 in each of his two appearances in the 3M Championship. Last year, Perry finished T2 in the event, one stroke back of Jay Haas. He's a cumulative 30-under par over his six total rounds on the TPC Twin Cities course.

• Olin Browne matched his best finish of the 2012 campaign with a T3 today. He also finished third last month at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. This week, Browne registered 21 birdies, the most by a player in the field.

• In their first events back on the Champions Tour after four-month layoffs, two-time major championship winner Mark O'Meara finished T8 while World Golf Hall of Fame member Nick Price was T39. O'Meara had been out of action since early April with a rib injury while Price was out of action with a left elbow injury.

• In his 11th start on the Champions Tour, Joel Edwards registered his first top-10 finish with a T5 today at the 3M Championship. Edwards' previous-best effort on the circuit was a T12 at the Senior PGA Championship.

• After 49 players broke par in Round 1, 51 players were under par in Round 2 and Round 3. Today's stroke average for the field was 70.272 compared with 70.667 yesterday and 70.765 on Friday. Overall, the cumulative stroke average this year was 70.568 versus 70.332 last year. For the third straight year, the hardest hole in the tournament was the par-4 9th (4.342 in 2012 vs. 4.350 in 2011). The par-5, 18th hole was the easiest for the third straight year. Overall this year there were 17 eagles made and 981 birdies, the most in tournament history, surpassing the 980 birdies made in the 2008 event. It's the fourth most birdies ever recorded in a 54-hole event on the Champions Tour.

• In his 17th consecutive appearance at the 3M Championship, Hale Irwin, a three-time winner of the event in Minnesota, bettered his age for the first time in his career. After matching his age on five other occasions, the 67-year-old Irwin carded a 7-under 65 today. Irwin's round included an eagle at the par-4 9th hole, a first in tournament history at the TPC Twin Cities, and a run of six straight birdies (Nos. 11-16), matching the Champions Tour's best birdie streak this year. Irwin's 65 today was also his best round in a stroke-play event on the Champions Tour since he posted a 65 in Round 1 of the 2010 AT&T Championship in San Antonio.

Peoples' string of birdies ties mark

Weather: Over an inch of rain fell Friday evening as a cool front moved through the area overnight. Temperatures were in the low-80s on Saturday with winds from the WNW at 10-20 mph.

BLAINE, Minn. -- David Peoples carded 10 birdies, including six straight on the front nine, and posted a 62 to surge to a three-stroke lead over Argentina's Eduardo Romero after 36 holes of the 2012 3M Championship. Peoples' round was his best score on the Champions Tour and eclipsed the old tournament record as the best second-round score in event history. Peoples' 62 today also matched his lowest round on the PGA TOUR. After making eagle to end his first round on Friday, Peoples started on Saturday three strokes off the lead. He opened with two pars, but then began his run of birdies on No. 3. After turning in 30, one shot off the front-nine record, he then added four more birdies on the back nine.

• Peoples' streak of six straight birdies on the front nine (Nos. 3-8) today, matched not only the best birdie streak of the season on the Champions Tour but also the best run of birdies in event history. Fred Couples (Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic), Mark Wiebe (Principal Charity Classic) and Bob Tway (Montreal Championship) all made six straight birdies during a Champions Tour event earlier this year. In the second round of the 2006 3M Championship, Craig Stadler made six straight birdies (Nos. 2-7).

• Peoples is not only bidding to win his first official TOUR event since the 1992 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic, he 's also trying to become the second player in the last three years to win his first Champions Tour title at this event (David Frost, 2010). Coming into this week, he's gone 303 starts on the PGA TOUR and 50 appearances on the Champions Tour since his last victory. Peoples started this week as the first alternate into the event and got in on Monday afternoon whenRuss Cochran withdrew with a back injury.

• Peoples is also trying to become the fifth first-time winner on the 2012 Champions Tour and the third in the last five events. Corey Pavin (Allianz Championship), Roger Chapman (Senior PGA Championship and later the U.S. Senior Open), Joe Daley (Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship) and Kirk Triplett (Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach) are the other first-time winners this year.

• Peoples' three-stroke advantage after 36 holes this week matches the largest 36-hole lead in 3M Championship history. In 2005, Tom Purtzer was up by three strokes after two rounds and hung on to win by one. One year after that, Curtis Strange was up by three strokes after two rounds, but David Edwards rallied from three back to win. In 2008, R.W. Eaks was up by three strokes after 36 holes and cruised to a six-stroke triumph.

• Prior to today, Peoples had not been leading/co-leading heading into the final round of a TOUR event since he was tied for the lead through three rounds of the 1990 Buick Southern Open and eventually finished T4.

• Tomorrow's winner will earn 270 Charles Schwab Cup points. Tom Lehman, the current Schwab Cup leader, is T16 through 36 holes this week. Bernhard Langer is currently in third place in the standings, 367 points back of Lehman. He is T6 after two rounds this week and could cut into Lehman's lead. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most Charles Schwab Cup points will receive a $1 million payout.

• Second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the 3M Championship 11 times in the previous 19 years and the last time it happened was David Frost in 2010. Overall on the 2012 Champions Tour, players leading/co-leading heading into the final round have won 11 times in the previous 16 tournaments.

• Tomorrow will mark Eduardo Romero's first appearance in a final grouping since the 2009 Dick's Sporting Goods Open (T15). His last of five career victories on the Champions Tour came at the 2009 Toshiba Classic and he's gone 58 events since last winning. This week is also his first appearance in the 3M Championship.

• Bob Tway and Lance Ten Broeck made the biggest moves of the day. Both players jumped 35 spots in the standings after carding 7-under 65s. For Ten Broeck, the 36-hole leader at the recent U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood, the round moved him from T41 into a T6. Tway's 7-under score today was 12 strokes better than his first round and moved him from T78 into T43.

• After three bogey-free rounds yesterday (Gil Morgan (65), Willie Wood (67) and David Frost (67)), there were 11 today (David Peoples (62), Joe Daley (67), Joel Edwards (69). Lance Ten Broeck (65), Loren Roberts (66), Jeff Sluman (69), Don Berry (69), Steve Lowery (69) Jim Thorpe (68), Bob Tway (65) and Bob Gilder (69)).

• Tom Kite and Peter Senior both have made 15 birdies through the first 36 holes this week...Tom Lehman, David Peoples and Eduardo Romero have all played the four par-5s through three rounds in a cumulative 7-under...Larry Nelson and Joe Daley have totaled just 52 putts...Steve Pate has 34 of 36 greens in regulation...Nine different players have missed just one fairway off the tee through two rounds.

• After 49 players broke par in Round 1, there were 51 scores below par in the second round. Today's stroke average for the field was 70.667 compared to 70.765 on Friday. The par-3 17th hole yielded just six birdies and was thd most difficult on Saturday (3.235). The par-5 3rd hole played as the easiest (4.531), giving up one eagle and 40 birdies.

Round 4 notebook, U.S. Senior Open

 Roger Chapman is Pure Michigan. Seven weeks after claiming the Senior PGA Championship in Benton Harbor, Chapman surged from four strokes back with a final-round 66 to claim the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club by two strokes over a quartet of major championship winners on either the PGA TOUR or the Champions Tour. Chapman took the lead for good with a birdie at No. 8 just after Bernhard Langer, the 54-hole leader, made bogey at No. 7. Langer had held a four-stroke advantage at the start of the day but got off to a rough start, making double-bogey at the par-4 2nd hole after an errant drive and a skulled bunker shot. Chapman increased his lead to two strokes midway through the final round after a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 14. However, his lead was briefly cut to one when Chapman made bogey at No. 16, 20 minutes after Tom Lehman had two-putted for birdie at the par-5 15th to get to 8-under for the tournament. Any chance his pursuers had was short lived when Chapman responded a career shot on the par-3 17th, rifling a 5-iron to within six inches of the hole for a kick-in birdie that moved his margin back to two strokes for good.

• Chapman becomes the eighth player to win the U.S. Senior Open in his first appearance, joining Roberto DeVicenzo (1980), Arnold Palmer (1981), Dale Douglass (1986), Lee Trevino (1990), Larry Laoretti (1992), Don Pooley (2002) and Peter Jacobsen (2004).

• Chapman claimed his second victory on the Champions Tour in his 21st career start on the circuit and joinsMichael Allen as the second multiple winner on the Champions Tour in 2012.

• Chapman becomes the third foreign-born player to win the U.S. Senior Open in the last five years and the seventh overall. Here's a list of the other foreign-born U.S. Senior Open champions:

Year(s) Player Country 1980 Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina 1987, 1988 Gary Player South Africa 1994 Simon Hobday South Africa 1997 Graham Marsh Australia 2008 Eduardo Romero Argentina 2010 Bernhard Langer Germany

• Chapman becomes the first player since Bernhard Langer in 2010 to win two majors in a season on the Champions Tour and the fourth to win both the Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. Senior Open in the same year, joining Gary Player (1987), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Hale Irwin (1998).

• Chapman becomes the first male English USGA champion since Tony Jacklin claimed the U.S. Open Championship at Hazeltine Golf Club in 1970.

• Chapman becomes the fifth player to earn his first two victories on the Champions Tour in majors:
Arnold Palmer, 1980 PGA Seniors Championship, 1981 U.S. Senior Open
Jack Nicklaus, 1990 Tradition at Desert Mountain, 1990 Mazda SENIOR PLAYERS Championship
Peter Jacobsen, 2004 U.S. Senior Open, 2005 Ford Senior Players Championship
Mike Reid, 2005 Senior PGA Championship, 2009 JELD-WEN Tradition

• Chapman equals the third biggest comeback in the final round in U.S. Senior Open history:

Deficit Player Score Year Course 9 strokes Allen Doyle (71-67-73-63) 2005 NCR Country Club, Kettering, Ohio 5 strokes Brad Bryant (71-72-71-68) 2007 Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wis. 4 strokes Bruce Fleisher (69-71-72-68) 2001 Salem Country Club, Peabody, Mass. 4 strokes Roger Chapman (68-68-68-66) 2012 Indianwood G& CC, Lake Orion, Mich.

• Chapman posted four rounds in the 60s and he became just the sixth player in U.S. Senior Open history to record four straight sub-70 scores. Here's a list of the other five players who have posted four straight sub-70 scores:

Year Player Scores Venue 2010 Bernhard Langer 69-68-68-67--272 Sahalee Country Club 2009 Fred Funk 68-67-68-65--268 Crooked Stick Golf Club 2006 Allen Doyle 69-68-67-68--272 Prairie Dunes Country Club 1995 Tom Weiskopf 69-69-69-68--275 Congressional Country Club 1987 Gary Player 69-68-67-66--270 Brooklawn Country Club

• Chapman's victory earned him a check for $500,000, the largest amount on the Champions Tour, as well as 1,000 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. He now has 1,756 total points and is in second place in the season-long race. Tom Lehman and Bernhard Langer both earned 355 points after finishing T2 this week. After 15 official events in 2012, Lehman, the 2011 Schwab Cup winner, leads with 1,877 points and Langer is now third with 1,470 points.

• Chapman's final-round 66 was the lowest score by a U.S. Senior Open winner since 2009 when Fred Funk carded a final-round 65 at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind.

• Chapman's win earns him a berth in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• This year marked the first time in five years that the winner of the U.S. Senior Open did not come from the final group. After 23 consecutive winners from the final grouping, the last two Champions Tour events have been won by players coming from outside the last pairing on Sunday.

• Bernhard Langer has now finished T2 in the last two majors he has played (T2-2012 Regions Tradition) on the Champions Tour and has been among the top 10 in his last five senior majors.

• Tom Lehman has now finished first or second in each of the last three majors on the 2012 Champions Tour. After finishing T29 at the Senior PGA Championship, Lehman successfully defended his Regions Tradition title and then finished second at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship.

• Olin Browne finished T36 in defense of his title.

Field scoring averages at the U.S. Senior Open since 2000:

Year Course Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Rd. 4 Cumulative 2012 Indianwood G&CC 73.310 73.584 70.800 71.569 72.777 (+2.777) 2011 Inverness Club 73.955 74.000 70.383 71.966 73.212 (+2.212) 2010 Sahalee CC 76.727 76.493 72.985 72.463 75.373 (+5.373) 2009 Crooked Stick GC 74.397 75.371 72.532 71.935 74.117 (+2.117) 2008 The Broadmoor 75.083 75.694 72.000 73.148 74.589 (+4.589) 2007 Whistling Straits 76.289 75.475 75.389 76.014 75.828 (+3.828) 2006 Prairie Dunes CC 74.917 75.266 71.328 70.902 73.968 (+3.968) 2005 NCR CC 74.245 74.209 72.625 72.500 73.739 (+2.739) 2004 Bellerive CC 75.155 74.092 72.267 72.383 73.981 (+2.981) 2003 Inverness Club 77.961 76.810 73.983 73.283 76.336 (+5.336) 2002 Caves Valley GC 76.799 75.474 73.175 72.651 75.200 (+4.200) 2001 Salem CC 76.622 74.869 72.984 73.469 75.014 (+5.014) 2000 Saucon Valley CC 74.619 75.129 72.388 72.224 74.099 (+3.099)

• The most difficult hole for the week at Indianwood was the par-4 12th hole, playing to a stroke average of 4.482. It now ranks as the second most difficult hole on the Champions Tour, topped only by the par-4 15th hole at TPC Tampa Bay (4.524). This week, No. 12 yielded just 36 birdies but also produced 156 bogeys, 40 double-bogeys and four others.

• There were 19 sub-par scores today versus 23 sub-par scores in the third round on Saturday.