Final-round notebook – Transitions Championship
* Brett Quigley recorded his second consecutive T2 on the PGA Tour. Last week at the Puerto Rico Open, Quigley was T2 along with Jason Day, one stroke back of Michael Bradley. In 342 career starts, Quigley has never won on the PGA Tour. He was also T2 at the 2001 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic and 2004 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
* Charles Howell III’s T2 this week was his best effort on the PGA Tour since winning the 2007 Nissan Open in Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Howell finished fourth at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Howell’s previous-best here at Innisbrook was a solo sixth in 2007.
* Retief Goosen, a winner here at Innisbrook in 2003, joins K.J. Choi (2002/2006) as the only other multiple champion of this event. A native of South Africa, Goosen’s win marked the fifth time in nine years that an international player has won the Transitions Championship.
* Retief Goosen’s seventh career win on the PGA Tour Sunday comes 3 years, 7 months and 15 days (62 starts) after his last win on the circuit at The INTERNATIONAL in 2005. Sunday’s win is his first in a stroke-play Tournament since the 2004 Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola. The win Sunday was his 29th title worldwide.
* Retief Goosen became the third winner on the 2009 PGA Tour over the age of 40 (Kenny Perry/FBR Open/48 years, 4 months, 23 days, Michael Bradley/Puerto Rico Open/42 years, 7 months, 28 days). He also became the third player over 40 to claim the Transitions Championship (Mark Calcavecchia, age 46 in 2007, Vijay Singh, age 41 in 2004).
* Retief Goosen earned 500 FedExCup points for winning the Transitions Championship Sunday and moved up from 37th place into fifth position in the overall standings. Through Week 11 of the 2009 PGA Tour season, here are the current standings for the top five:
1. Geoff Ogilvy 1204 points
2. Phil Mickelson 1153 points
3. Nick Watney 1028 points
4. Kenny Perry 868 points
5. Retief Goosen 759 points
* Retief Goosen’s win Sunday means the Transitions Championship victor has come from the last grouping in three of the last four years and five times in the nine-year history of the event.
* Here is a capsule of Retief Goosen’s victory record on the PGA Tour:
Event Standing After 54 Holes Details of Victory
2009 Transitions Championship 1 stroke back of Tom Lehman 1 stroke ahead of Quigley/Howell III
2005 The INTERNATIONAL 9 points behind Brandt Jobe 1 point ahead of Brandt Jobe
2004 Tour Championship 4 strokes back of Haas/Woods 4 strokes ahead of Woods
2004 U.S. Open 2 strokes ahead of Els/Mickelson 2 strokes ahead of Mickelson
2003 Chrysler Championship 2 strokes ahead of Briny Baird 3 strokes ahead of Vijay Singh
2002 BellSouth Classic 4 strokes ahead of Phil Mickelson 4 strokes ahead of Jesper Parnevik
2001 U.S. Open tied with Stewart Cink defeated Mark Brooks in a playoff
* Retief Goosen earned a check for $972,000 and moved from 36th to sixth on the 2009 money list. Goosen has played in six events and now has total earnings of $1,518,720 this year. Goosen also passes $21 million mark in PGA Tour career earnings and moves inside the top-20 on the all-time career money list.
* Retief Goosen’s 72-hole total of 8-under 276 is the highest winning score in relation to par on the PGA Tour this year.Y.E. Yang claimed the Honda Classic two weeks ago with a winning total of 9-under-par 271.
* Retief Goosen’s five bogeys were the fewest by any player in the field this week. Steve Stricker made the most birdies over 72 holes (19) this week.
* Both Rocco Mediate and Bo Van Pelt made significant moves upward in the final round of the Transitions Championship. Van Pelt’s 5-under 66 Sunday was the best Sunday score in the field and the round moved him up 35 spots into a T8. Mediate’s 67 Sunday jumped him up 37 places into a T27, his best finish of the 2009 season.
* Mark Wilson had the only bogey-free round on Sunday. Wilson, a winner earlier this year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, carded 68 and moved up 20 spots into a T12.
* The overall cumulative scoring average on the Copperhead Course this year was 72.157. Last year, the scoring average for this event was 72.970 (8th hardest).
* Jimmy Walker, who got into the field on Wednesday when Michael Campbell withdrew, was forced to withdraw before his round Sunday due to a neck injury.
* First-round leader Jim Furyk ended up T52 in the event, the lowest finish by a Thursday leader in Tournament history.
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