Ken Tanigawa’s tough summer turns around with win at Rogers Charity Classic

Ken Tanigawa was asked after firing a course record-tying 61 on Saturday in Calgary if he was surprised to be in contention at the Rogers Charity Classic, just two shots off the lead with 18 holes to play, considering his recent run of form on PGA TOUR Champions.

In June, a month he'd posted three top 10s, he missed the cut at the U.S. Senior Open in Newport, Rhode Island. A month later, Tanigawa departed The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex at Carnoustie after 80-77 on the weekend. Even last week, at the Boeing Classic outside Seattle, Tanigawa was left to pick up the pieces after a second-round 78 left him seeking answers again. He hadn't been better than 56th in four starts. At Boeing, though there was no cut after Round 2 on Saturday night, he probably wishes there had been one.

So Tanigawa understood why the question was asked: Surprised to be in contention?

“My golf has been kind of rotten, right?” reasoned the level-headed former UCLA Bruin.

Instead of sulking, Tanigawa just kept working. For starters, he followed his disappointing Saturday a week ago by making 10 birdies in his final round at Boeing. That was something positive to build upon. Exactly one week later in Calgary, Tanigawa discovered magic that had been missing with the putter, winning for the first time in five years.

Sparked by birdies at two of the more difficult holes on the back nine at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club, Tanigawa, 56, rolled to his third career PGA TOUR Champions title, shooting 6-under 64 to overtake Australian Richard Green (68). Tanigawa finished at 17-under 193, defeating Green by two.

Darren Clarke (65) and PGA of America club professional Jason Caron – head pro at Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, New York – who shot 67, tied for third at 14 under. For Caron, 52, who enjoys his club job and only shows up to the professional tours on rare occasions, it marked the second time in his four 2024 starts he placed fourth or better against the world’s top over-50 players. He started his week in Canada as an alternate, and he got into the field in Calgary only after Thongchai Jaidee withdrew.

Green still is looking for his maiden PGA TOUR Champions title, and he had the lead on the final nine, but he fell back with two late bogeys coming in. Most costly was his bogey at the par-4 17th, where he short-sided himself after a poor approach from inside 150 yards. He made a clutch 4-foot par putt at the par-5 final hole to hang on to solo second, his third runner-up and fourth top-three finish of 2024. Three of those finishes came at senior majors. Surely, Green’s day cannot be far away.

This particular Sunday, however, belonged to Tanigawa, whose last victory came in 2019, when he captured the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Tanigawa got the hot start that he needed with five birdies on his first seven holes, weathered a tough putting patch in the midst of the round (incurring bogeys at Nos. 8 and 12) and came up with two pivotal birdies at the end.

At the par-4 15th, Tanigawa made a 6-footer for birdie to catch Green at 16 under; at the 480-yard 17th, he hit his second shot to 20 feet and poured in the gentle right-to-left breaking putt. For the first time since early in the round, he was alone in the lead once again.

“It’s been a long time since 2019 to be in this position,” said Tanigawa, who improved 21 spots, to 12th, in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings. “Time goes by, and you wonder if you can win again.

“To be able to do it ... just over the moon.”

Several players stepped up with big moments on Sunday to make their way into the picture. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington started the day two shots behind Green, the 36-hole leader, then birdied his first three holes. But he could not sustain the hot start and slid to T7. New Zealander Steven Alker, the PGA TOUR Champions 2022 Player of the Year, wasn’t playing great, but was hanging around in his chase for a ninth PGA TOUR Champions title. But he exited contention suddenly with a surprising four-putt – missing twice from close range – for double bogey at 13. He shot 70 and finished sixth.

Three-time 2024 champion Ernie Els, still atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings, closed with 66 to tie for 10th in a group that included Canadian Stephen Ames, a three-time winner this season and former Calgary resident who remains close behind Els' pace. Mario Tiziani (67) finished fifth, his first top-10 of the season; Boo Weekley (T10) posted the first top 10 of his PGA TOUR Champions career.

Caron pocketed $158,400 for his week’s efforts – that’s a lot of lessons – and earned a start at this week’s Ally Challenge in Michigan. With season earnings of $328,240, Caron also climbed to 47th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, with the top 72 players at season’s end earning berths in the Playoffs.

Know this: A golfer’s life can change in a hurry. Tanigawa, whose first PGA TOUR Champions victory came at Pebble Beach in 2018, had made 123 starts on PGA TOUR Champions without tasting victory. This was one to be savored.

“I'm probably that typical golfer, right?” Tanigawa said. “We all kind of grumble out here. Things don't go well, you feel like you're on the ledge, right?

“It's never as bad as we make it out to be. Just hang in there. ‘Hey, you're obviously a pretty decent golfer if you're out here playing, so just keep your head on, stay patient and just forge on and plug away.’ ... Jeez, here I am.”