Four champions crowned at the 2022 Golfweek Player of the Year Classic
Tampa, Florida, has been given the moniker ‘Champa Bay’ in recent years thanks to the Lightning winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Buccaneers winning Super Bowl LV on their home turf and the Rays winning divisional and American League pennants.
The Golfweek Player of the Year Classic came to a close on Tuesday with four senior golfers earning their claim to ‘Champa Bay’ at Tampa Palms Country Club.
Lurking all week long, Miles McConnell stuck around the top of the leaderboard long enough to claim the top spot in the senior division (ages 55-64). McConnell was a co-leader following the first round and trailed 36-hole leader Billy Mitchell by three shots heading into the day.
McConnell got out of the gates quickly, carding birdies on three of his first five holes.
“I knew today particularly, I had to play well,” McConnell told Golfweek. “It was a challenge the whole way around [to] keep your composure and try to hit greens.”
McConnell felt that he had the tournament in hand by No. 16. After a front nine 4-under 32 and sitting two under through No. 16, McConnell was quickly reminded that golf is a humbling game. Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 led to a bit of sweat, but McConnell was able to piece together a couple more good swings to close out the tournament with a par on No. 18 for a final round 70 to take the Classic by two strokes.
Virginia’s Matt Sughrue took home second place at even par for the event with Bob Royak taking the final podium spot at 1-over par. Solo leader Billy Mitchell could not close out the tournament, posting a final round 78 to finish in fourth. 2021 Yancy Ford Award winner Gene Elliott finished fifth after an uncharacteristic week, posting 78/74/71. 2021 Golfweek Player of the Year Rusty Strawn nabbed a three-way share of eighth place at 11-over par.
Trailing by three strokes before the final round teed off, Duke Delcher held his own in the Super Senior division (ages 65-69). The Bluffton, South Carolina, native sandwiched a bogey on No. 4 with 14 pars.
Delcher watched the scoreboard on the back-nine after a six-shot swing between himself and overnight leader Mark Benefield. After a bogey on No. 16 and a birdie on No. 17, Delcher knew he had a five-stroke lead heading into the infamous par-4 18th.
“I made a triple on the hole yesterday,” Delcher said. “Today I drove it well but hit it into the left-hand bunker. I wasn’t going to fuss with the water… I made six but it was a good day even though I didn’t have a birdie.”
Despite the double bogey on the last, Delcher was able to post a tournament total of 14-over 230. Finishing second was Tim Vigotsky, two shots back of Delcher while Mark Benefield took third.
Finishing third in the 2021 Golfweek Player of the Year Legends standings (ages 70-74) Pete Allen took his first step towards improving on his 2022 ranking. Allen went wire-to-wire, coasting to the victory with his tournament-best, even-par 72. Missing just one fairway over the final 18, Allen lived up to his ‘Pipeline Pete’ nickname that John Daly gave him back in 1991.
Arkansas’s Bev Hargraves took solo second, eight shots back of Allen at 14 over. Georgia’s Don Marsh, finished third at 18 over.
After maneuvering his way past the first-round leaders on Monday, Super Legend Dennis Adkins never looked back over the final 36 holes. Holding a two-shot lead, Adkins used a final round 76 to grow his lead all the way to eight shots to claim the title.
Jim Pfrogner claimed second place with a 20-over 236. Defending Golfweek Player of the Year from the 75+ Super Legends division, Walt Martin, finished third at 21 over.
All four division winners, on top of their purse money, receive 1,200 Player of the Year points. The race for top dog has just begun, but the point totals from this week can go a long way into determining who is crowned Golfweek Player of the Year in 2022.
