Winning is a habit: Randy Haag does it again at SOS Founders Cup
November 18, 2021 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: Randy Haag, View results for Society of Seniors Founders Cup, Mission Hills Country Club - Pete Dye Course
When you've won almost 200 golf tournaments, you don't panic when it all goes wrong early in the final round
Trivia question: what golfer said just last week, "Golf is pretty much my life"?
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau? No, it was Randy Haag of Orinda. Calif., shortly after making birdie on the final hole for a dream win at the California Senior Amateur at Hillcrest Country Club in L.A.
The 62-year-old Haag has indeed spent a lifetime playing competitive golf, playing full schedules year after year and racking up tournament wins -- pushing 200 now, most in Northern California but also recently in places like Florida and Southern California.
Winning that many tournaments is certainly a 15th club in the bag for Haag, who was able to steady himself after a rough start to the final round and see out a two-shot win at the Society of Seniors (SOS) Founders Cup at Sandpiper Golf Links in Goleta, Calif.
Haag entered the final round four shots clear of the 2020 California Senior champion Robert Funk (Canyon Lake, Calif.) after rounds of 70-68 got him to six under par. But even if winning is frequent for Haag, it is never easy, and indeed he stumbled on his front nine, making three bogeys in a row starting at the 2nd, and adding another at the 7th to allow Funk to get closer.
But Funk was having troubles of his own, dropping two shots himself, allowing Haag to stay ahead even as things were going wrong. A birdie at the 9th steadied his round a little, but a birdie-bogey two-shot swing at the drop-shot par-3 11th allowed Funk to creep within two.
But Haag would let Funk get no closer, going 1 under to the finish for a 74 and a 4-under 212 total. Funk finished with a 72, two shots back at 2 under.
Adam Kugler (Closter, N.J.) shot the day's only under-par round, a 70, to pull into a tie for third with Rusty Strawn (McDonough, Ga.), who continued an amazing run of form with his 12th top-5 finish of 2021.
Greg Sanders (Anchorage, Alaska) was fifth at 4 over par.
In the Super Senior division, another experienced tournament winner Jeff Burda (Modesto, Calif.) shot the low round of the day, a 1-under 71, to come from three shots back and successfully defend his title. Last year, Burda cruised by 8 shots at Pasatiempo Golf Club, but it was more of a grind this year.
Ultimately a hot start -- three birdies in the first five holes -- gave him the cushion he needed to prevail by two shots over Robin Rubrecht (Newburgh, Ind.) with a 3-over 219 total. Evan Long (Charlotte, N.C.) was third at 6 over.
Doug Pool (Las Vegas, Nev.) won the Legends division by four shots over Michael Jonson (Sammamish, Wash.), while Ron Johnson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) was able to hold off Michael Mahoney (La Jolla, Calif.) by a single shot for the Grand Master title.
Results: Society of Seniors Founders Cup
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orinda, CA | 700 | 70-68-74=212 | |
| 2 | Canyon Lake, CA | 400 | 74-68-72=214 | |
| T3 | Closter, NJ | 300 | 77-71-70=218 | |
| T3 | McDonough, GA | 300 | 73-70-75=218 | |
| 5 | Anchorage, AK | 300 | 74-72-74=220 |
About the Society of Seniors Founders Cup
A 54-hole stroke play championship for Society of Seniors members with Senior, Super Senior and Grand Master Divisions.
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