ON HIS FIRST EVER trip to the US, Japanese golfer Kohki Idoki has pulled off a “major” surprise at the 2013 Senior PGA Championship in St Louis.
The 51 year old shot a flawless final round 6-under 65 to finish at 11 under and overcome what seemed an insurmountable lead by local favourite Kenny Perry.
“It is one of the greatest things to win in this game, so I cannot imagine more,” Idoki said through a translator. “I can’t believe that I am the champion.”
Winning a senior golf major in your first attempt isn’t a bad effort.
Idoki led the Japan PGA Tour in driving accuracy for a decade but has just four career victories. He won once on the Japan Senior Tour last year and won two titles on the Japan PGA Tour, in 1990 and ’93.
“I’ve never seen Idoki hit a shot or anything, so I don’t know much about him,” said Jay Haas (70), who shared second place with Perry (72). “But obviously he’s a hell of a player. A great round, and he did what he had to do.”
Perry looked to be cruising to victory earlier and couldn’t believe he had let another major tournament title slip away.
“Well, it was going good for the first 13 holes or whatever,” said Perry, who squandered a two-stroke lead with two holes to go in the 2009 Masters and also let victory slip away in the 1996 PGA.
Idoki erased a five-stroke deficit against a fading Perry with room to spare, charging to a two-stroke victory at the Bellerive Country Club.
Perry’s staggered to the line after a double bogey on the 13th dropped him to a share of the lead. He compounded the rout with two more bogies on 16 and 17.
Perry spoke briefly after trudging off the 18th green, saying he’d been “shell shocked” by his crucial double bogey and that he was “in jail the whole time.”
Senior finishes tied for 11th
Peter Senior finished the best of the Aussies, tied for 11th on 5-under.
The 53 year old had a very consistent tournament, opening with a 3-under 68 and was even in the final round with one birdie and a matching bogey.
Peter Fowler and Terry Price both made the cut but finished well back while Steve Elkington withdrew before the start of the event due to a migraine.
2013 Senior PGA Championship Leaderboard
Senior PGA Championship Leaderboard