Mike Finster's New Year is off to a great start as the St. Petersburg, Fla. native captured the Golfweek Senior Player of the Year Classic with a wire-to-wire victory at the Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.
Finster strung together rounds of 71-73-72 to finish at even par 216 for the tournament to post a three-stroke victory over reigning U.S. and Canadian Amateur champion
Rusty Strawn to win the title.
He took a three-shot lead into the final round over Danny Nelson and widened his margin with birdies on holes 1, 2, 7 and 8. Finster built enough of a cushion to withstand two bogeys coming home and was able to hold off Strawn by three shots.
Finster, who played collegiately at Northwestern before trying his hand on professional circuits in South Africa and Japan, qualified for four U.S. Senior Opens in a row starting in 2015, and twice made the cut. His last win came at the prestigious
Gasparilla Invitational in 2019, when he set the two-day tournament record at 8-under par, while beating a field that averaged about 20 years his junior.
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Steve Humphrey won the Super Senior Division, capping a 10-stroke victory with a final round of 2-under par 70, which was the lowest round of the week.
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Don Donatoni and
Bev Hargraves shared medalist honors in the Legends Division at 10-under par.
Donatoni took a three-stroke lead into the final round over Hargraves and
Don Russell, who fell out of contention following a double bogey on the par-4 15th, leaving Donatoni and Hargraves to decide the title.
Hargraves was three back with four holes remaining, but gained a share of the lead at 10-under birdies on holes 15, 16 and 18.
With both men needing to catch flights, the pair decided to share medalist honors instead of going to a playoff.
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Gene Bingman posted rounds of 80, 82 and 78 to coast to a wire-to-wire victory in the Super Legends Division (+75).
At 24-over 240, Bingman earned a five-shot victory over Jack Marin and was seven clear of Gil Stenholm.
The next Golfweek senior event is the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship, slated for March 26-28 at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California.
ABOUT THE Golfweek Senior POY Classic
Premier tournament featuring the world’s elite senior
amateurs age 55 and up, in
three separate divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super
Senior (age 65-69), Legends
(age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75+). Max
handicap 8.0.
The tournament honors Golfweek's top three
nationally ranked players in the Senior,
Super Senior and Legends division. The "Yancey
Ford Award" is also presented,
honoring an individual who has made significant
lifetime contributions to amateur
golf.
Formerly known as the Golfweek Senior National
Championship.
View Complete Tournament Information