SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (AP) - Brandt Jobe used his best round of the year to spoil what was supposed to be a day-long celebration for hometown favorite Fred Couples.
Jobe rallied from seven strokes down, shooting a final-round 9-under 63 Sunday to win the Boeing Classic for his second PGA Tour Champions title.
Jobe finished at 18 under, three shots ahead of Tom Pernice Jr., who shot a final-round 65. Couples, who held a five-stroke lead after the second round, shot 76 and finished in a tie for third at 12 under.
It was Jobe’s first victory since winning the 2017 Principal Charity Classic. The 63 was tied for his second-lowest round on the tour.
“I kind of thought we were going to be playing for second. If Freddy goes out and shoots 3, 4, 5 under like he had done the first two days that’s really what we were doing,” Jobe said. “I birdied the first five holes and thought, ’Well, at least that’s making a little noise.’”
Jobe made more than a little noise. He sped past Couples, leaving the Seattle native still looking for his first victory playing in his hometown event. It was the fourth time Couples has finished third in the event.
“Obviously if I would have won today it would have been unreal, but when you play bad you could be in Japan and it would not be much fun,” Couples said.
Couples started the day with a huge lead and a huge gallery following his every shot. He made a birdie on the first, but it was his only one of the round as he struggled throughout. He had two bogeys on the front nine and three on the back and shot a 4 over. He tied for third with Jerry Kelly (69).
Couples ran into trouble starting at the ninth when he dunked his tee shot in the water fronting the green, a day after making a hole-in-one on the par 3. Couples saved his bogey, but watched birdie putts slide by on Nos. 11 and 12. He made his third bogey of the round on the par-3 13th as Jobe was making a 10-footer for birdie on the 14th to take a two-shot lead.
Couples made zero bogeys in his first 41 holes and five in his final 13 holes.
“I didn’t drive it in very much trouble but I had a lot of in-between shots and I kept going with softer ones and I didn’t hit very many good ones,” Couples said. “Then I bogeyed every par 3. At the end, it was just like let me just finish and get the hell out of here.”
The 54-year-old Jobe charged into contention with seven birdies, a par and bogey on the front nine for a 30. On the back nine, he moved into the lead with the birdie at the 14th, rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt at the 17th and tapped in for another birdie at No. 18.
“Just a fun day when you can go out there and do what you’re trying to do and it happens it’s really gratifying,” Jobe said.
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