An admitted watcher of the leaderboard while playing in golf tournaments, Jay Haas on Sunday could look up and flash a smile.Finally.
Behind by one at the start of the final round of the 3M Championship, Haas took advantage of off days by the players ahead of him and won by a stroke at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.
Haas' final-round 4-under-par 68 was enough to put him alone at the top, one above Peter Senior (70), Kenny Perry (66) and Minnesotan Tom Lehman (68).
John Huston, a co-leader after two rounds with Senior, fizzled to a tie for eighth place after a 1-over 73.
"To hold that trophy, to say we ended the week on top, it never gets old," said the 57-year-old Haas, whose last victory came at the Senior Players Championship in 2009.
A hybrid from 202 yards away into the 18th green meant Haas could win with a two-putt for birdie from 30 feet.
"But it looked like 130 feet," he said. "Over water, rocks, cactus, trees and bushes."
He backed off the putt twice and overcame shaky hands to roll his attempt to about 2 feet from the hole. That short tap gave him his 15th Champions Tour victory and a $262,500 check.
"I don't ever think I've ever been not nervous on the last hole with a chance to win," Haas said. "It's great to be nervous, because that means you're in the hunt."
Haas' tournament began in grand fashion with a hole in one during Friday's first round, and he never really slipped up.
Haas dropped a shot with a bogey at No. 4 Sunday but got it right back and then some with three consecutive birdies.
Shortly before he made a 15-foot birdie on No. 12 to get to 13 under, Haas peeked at the leaderboard and saw the group at 10 under par was tied for 13th place.
"Twelve guys within two shots of the lead is pretty amazing," he said. "A birdie there was big."
Haas hit 49 of 54 greens in regulation, but more important Sunday was that he wasn't leaving putts short when many others in the field were.
"Putted very badly," said Senior, who was 1 over for the day until making birdies on three of the last seven holes. "And John putted worse than I did. Then all of a sudden Jay got going a little bit, and momentum took over."
Perry's second-place tie was his best showing on the Champions Tour. He got to 13 under with his fifth birdie of the day on No. 7 -- nearly sinking an eagle from the back fringe -- but took double bogey two holes later.
He played the ninth hole 4 over for the tournament, and he also missed a foot-long par putt on No. 14 in the final round. It meant he had to settle for his fourth top-eight finish in six events on the Champions Tour this season without a win.
"Almost," he said. "Everybody keeps saying, 'You should be winning out there,' and I just want to get this deal off my back and get it over with."
Lehman, too, knew the trophy was within reach.
"Just not quite tuned in," he said of leaving several approach shots 18 to 25 feet from the cup.
All day long the winner was anybody's guess.
Olin Browne shot a tournament-low 9-under 63 on Sunday after carding 71s in the first two rounds. Tom Watson created a buzz -- a loud one -- when he drained a 70-foot eagle putt on No. 18, briefly getting his name on top at 12 under.
Haas, though, earned it in the end.
"It's awfully special," he said. "There's nothing like it."
