Mulder wins American Century Championship, becomes third back-to-back winner in tournament history
Final Round Scoreboard
Mark Mulder 74
Mardy Fish 69
Jack Wagner 67
Jeremy Roenick 66
Mike Modano 65
STATELINE — Mark Mulder had his fellow contenders right where he wanted them.
The former MLB pitcher, who trailed by five entering the final round last year en route to the American Century Championship, trailed by five points going into the last round of the 27th celebrity golf tournament Sunday, July 24.
Mulder birdied four straight holes to finish the front nine at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and went on to a 29-point day — and his second straight ACC crown. Mulder finished with 74 points, becoming the tournament’s first back-to-back winner since Rick Rhoden won in 2008-09.
Second place went to Mardy Fish with 69 points followed by two-time champ Jack Wagner at 67. Jeremy Roenick finished with 66 and Mike Modano 65 to round out the top five.
Mulder finished his final round with seven birdies, seven pars and four bogeys. The last bogey came on the 18th hole for the second year in a row.
“I knew going into today I needed to make a bunch of birdies, and I didn’t make many putts the last few days,” Mulder said. “Today is one of those days I knew I had to. Luckily they started rolling in, and you start getting that vibe out there. It’s kind of a feeling at times.
“Our group had it, and I had it. That’s all that really matters. Once they started rolling in, I started making a bunch. My caddie was giving me some good reads. I kind of kept my head down and tried to keep making birdies. I didn’t look at a scoreboard until the middle of the 18th fairway.”
Both Fish and Wagner, who led Mulder after 36 holes, took notice of the pitcher’s barrage of birdies. They played in the final group with Modano, a group behind Mulder’s pairing with Roenick and Brian Urlacher.
“Mardy and I were pretty close the whole front nine never got a hot streak going,” Wagner said. “We were kind of staying in it, hoping something would happen. I think it was No. 8 when Mardy and I finally noticed Mark was in the 60s and we were making some pars.”
Mulder, who started the day with 45 points, parred the first two holes to get to 47, then birdied No. 3 to get to 50. Consecutive pars on the par-5 third and fourth holes got him to 52 before his four straight birdies put him at 64 at the turn.
“I’ve always struggled on those holes,” Mulder said. “Last year I birdied those holes on day two of the tournament, I believe. So just like anything else, you get on a little bit of a roll; all of a sudden I started feeling comfortable.
“A lot of us can hit the ball really good. It becomes a putting contest at some point, and today I made a bunch. I hit the ball really well on Friday and Saturday and didn’t make anything that I looked at, so today was nice to finally see some putts go in, make some confident strokes and hear the bottom of the cup.”
Mulder made it exciting, though. On No. 18, he hit his tee shot into the trees, punched out and then reached the green in three — and like last year, he ultimately bogeyed the whole.
That left the door open for Fish, who needed an eagle to tie. He reached the green in two and had a very makeable 12-foot putt for the tie. He rammed it well past the hole and ended up with par.
“When we got up there, I thought Mark most likely parred 18, so I thought I had to hit in on the second shot on 18,” Fish said. “Then I didn’t think we had a chance, thought maybe the scoreboard was wrong — and then I thought I had that putt to tie.
“It wasn’t a very tough putt. In the context of the rest of the putts, throughout the week, weekend, that was a relatively easy one. I didn’t make many, so…”
Fish had just two birdies on the day. He had several good looks, but his stroke looked tentative.
Neither Fish, Wagner or Modano ever really got on track, with putting mostly to blame. Each player recorded just one birdie on the front nine — and all three seemed tentative on the greens.
Modano started with a birdie on No. 1 to get to 48, but made five bogeys on the front nine. He bounced back with three birdies on the back nine to finish with 20 points on the day.
Fish, who had 19 on the day, started his with six straight pars before bogeying the par-4 seventh to stay at 56. He made the turn at 57 points after two-putting from 15 feet on No. 9. He had consecutive bogeys at 11 and 12 before reeling off four straight pars.
Wagner parred the first three holes before knocking in a 15-footer for birdie on the par-5 fourth to get to 54 points. He two-putted for par on the next five holes to get to 59 at the turn. His only birdie on the back nine came on the par-5 16th.
It was Wagner’s 21st top-10 finish in the 27-year history of the event. Wagner is one of three players to play every year, along with Jim McMahon and Mike Eruzione.
“I just think that the oddsmakers, if you look at who they made the two favorites, it was Mark and Mardy,” Wagner said. “They probably would say their putting is sometimes their weakest spot. I don’t hit the ball nearly as far as them, but I think my putting and chipping is my strong point.
“So I felt I had to putt great this week to compete with these guys. Mark putted great today, and that’s what happens. [Putting] will definitely separate the better players when the greens are good.”
Mulder joins Rhoden and Dan Quinn (2001-02) as the only repeat winners in ACC history — and is its sixth multiple-time winner. No player has won three straight titles.
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