Senden wins on US PGA Tour

Australian golfer John Senden is more than $1 million richer and headed to next month’s Masters after winning the US PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship in Florida.

The 42-year-old from Brisbane claimed just his second title in more than 12 seasons on the tour – eight years after the first – when he birdied two of the last three holes to triumph by one stroke from American Kevin Na.

Renowned for his pure ball-striking, Senden showed a liking for the difficult Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, where was a runner-up on 2007 and 2008, as he fired a one-under par 70 in the final round to finish at seven-under 271.

“I just love the way the course flows in amongst the trees and just the difficulty of the course,” said Senden.

“The scoring always stays under double figures here and I knew that if I could just stay in the moment, I knew that I’d swing well enough to go out there and give it a shake.

“With the difficulty of the course, the winning score always stays in single figures so I knew if I could just stay in the moment I could just give it a shake,” Senden said.

While he’s noted for his tee-to-green game, Senden’s short game provided the key moments in the final round.

He sank a 68-foot chip shot to birdie the 16th and a 22-foot birdie putt at 17 to set up his win.

Since his lone prior US PGA Tour win at the 2006 John Deere Classic, Senden had played 205 events with four runner-up efforts his best showings.

Senden booked a berth in next month’s Masters at Augusta National and became the first over-40 winner on the US PGA Tour since American Woody Austin last July.

Clinging to a share of the lead, Senden sank his pitch from the rough at the par-4 16th to seize top spot, dropping the wedge shot short and watching the ball roll into the cup.

“It was just like a magic shot,” Senden said.

On 17, he followed with the long birdie putt to grab a two-stroke edge and parred the last to set the mark to beat.

“At 17 I had the line and struck in well and it went right in the middle,” Senden said.

Na sank a 14-foot birdie putt at 17 to give himself a chance to force a playoff with a 40-foot birdie attempt at the last but missed to hand the title to Senden, whose back nine had three birdies, three bogeys and three pars.

American Scott Langley was third on 279, one stroke in front of England’s Luke Donald and Americans Will MacKenzie and Robert Garrigus.

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