Forty-seven-year-old Australian professional golfer Rod Pampling proved he still has the right stuff to win on the PGA Tour after securing victory in the Shriners’ Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
Pampling’s last win on the PGA Tour was the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational, so he has been dealing with a ten-year drought. His other PGA victory was at the International at Castle Pines, Colorado, in 2004, a now defunct tournament that featured the Modified Stableford scoring system that awarded points for each hole based on the relation to par, a format that rewarded risk-takers. The format was widely unpopular with the professionals accustomed to collecting a check for making the second-round cut in conventional aggregate stroke-play tournaments, as there were daily cuts of the field at the International.
Pampling, who currently splits his time betwixt Brisbane and Texas, was ranked 451st in the world, which should provide some indication of the level of competition for the big prizes up for the golfer who can string together four good rounds. He received $1.5 million for the win, secured playing privileges on the U.S. Tour for the next two seasons and earned an invitation to the 2017 Masters. He finished tied fifth at that Major in 2005, one of only three times he made it into the field at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
