NEWPORT, RI – Richard Bland shot a 4-under 66 in the final round of the US Senior Open, held off leader Hiroyuki Fujita after rain delayed the finish on Monday morning and hit the pin to beat him for fourth. playoff hole and win his second straight major.
The PGA Major champion lost five shots to Fujita in the final round, which was delayed by a thunderstorm Sunday afternoon with eight holes remaining. By the time the golfers returned to the 70-hole, 7,024-yard Newport Country Club on Monday, Fujita’s consistency — he hit 38 straight fairways before a rain delay — had left him.
After both posted 13 under in regulation and matched scores on two holes, a combined playoff and the first sudden-death hole, the golfers returned to the par-4, 466-yard 18th hole for the fourth time of the day. Bland’s shot from the green caught the pin and landed two inches from the cup; Fujita missed a 25-footer to extend the lead, and Bland chipped in for his second major in as many attempts.
“To get this one, to go two for two, is beyond my wildest dreams,” said Bland, who won the Senior PGA at Harbor Shores last month. “I was hoping to get into the PGA where I deserved to compete; I didn’t play against these guys. But to be here with two majors — I can’t even speak right now.”
Richard Green shot a 71 to finish third, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The 2019 champion and runner-up two years ago, Stricker shot 66 in each of the first three rounds but had a 73 in the fourth, making a bogey on the 72nd hole that left him tied for fourth. place.
Fujita had at least a share of the lead since he shot a 63 in the opening round and defended it like never before: He hit 54 of 56 fairways in regulation — the most ever at a US Senior Open. He returned to the course wearing the same style shirt he had on Thursday, but everything else had changed.
The 5-foot-6 two-time MVP on the Japanese tour hit his first tee shot Monday morning on a difficult course, making bogeys on three of the first four holes after a replay. Bland, who started the final round five strokes behind and trailed by three when he returned after a delay, took the lead with birdies at No. 14 and 15 to the 72nd hole with a chance to win in regulation.
But he drove his shot into a fairway bunker that would have been unplayable had it not been for the strong winds from the hot Narragansett Bay. He bogeyed, and when Fujita finished with a 71 they were 13 under for 72 holes.
“We’ve been chasing him all week. He’s been leading the way from phone to phone,” said Bland. “I made a good birdie on 15 to go but I tripped at the end.”
Bland will have more opportunities on the par-4, 466-yard 18th hole.
Another three, to be precise.
After both men went par-bogey on Nos. 10 and 18 in a two-hole play-off, they went back to the 18th tee; they kept coming back until it was fixed. On their fourth hole, Bland holed his way into the bunker on the side of the green but then saved par. Fujita folded his last turn just inside the coin that Bland had placed as a marker.
“I started the day leading with three goals. I didn’t play well and entered the playoffs,” said Fujita. “I’m definitely still playing well, and I put together a good performance. It would have been better if I won. It’s a little disappointing that I lost. However, I’m proud of myself.”
A member of the Saudi-sponsored LIV tour, Bland did not make it on the European tour until his 478 debut, aged 48. He earned a spot in the US Senior Open only by winning the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in the final. month. He earned his place in that by winning the 2021 British Masters.
He is now the third golfer to win his first two majors, along with Arnold Palmer and Alex Cejka. She also joined 1995 US Amateur champion Tiger Woods and 2006 US Women’s Open winner Annika Sorenstam in victory at Newport, one of five founding members of the USGA.
“To be in that bracket, I probably made a mistake, to be honest with you,” Bland said. “To be in that kind of bracket is very important, and something you can only dream of.”
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