A former Open golf champion is finally celebrating again – 17 years after his previous tournament victory. Justin Leonard, now 52, lifted the Claret Jug at Troon in 1997 in his only major triumph.
He won the Players Championship, widely regarded as the sport’s unofficial ‘fifth major’, the following year. He is also a two-time runner-up at the PGA Championship.
Leonard played in three US Ryder Cup teams and won several PGA Tour titles, his last coming at the Stanford St Jude Championship way back in 2008. After joining the Golf Channel as an analyst in 2015, he switched to the Seniors Tour in 2022.
And after a wait of 6,097 days, he is a tournament victor again, having secured the Chubb Classic of the PGA Tour Champions and the top prize of £215,000. Leonard triumphed with a score of 15-under-par, four shots clear of Billy Andrade and five ahead of Darren Clarke.
“I didn’t have doubt,” said Leonard, who endured a nightmare 2024 season. “But I had to keep reminding myself that I’ve won. You know, so technically that makes me a winner, even though it was 17 years ago the last time I did it.
“I never had any doubt. I would say at times I was impatient, and that was from focusing too much on trying to win and not just the things that I needed do each and every day to try and have my game ready to be in a position like this.”
He added: “I just put a lot of work in. I mean, last year was so bad it was good. It was good for me.
“[I] Made some changes with my golf swing. It’s just so fun to finally be here because I always felt like I would be. But it’s nice to finally get it done.”
The Champions Tour features numerous illustrious names and major winners, including Ernie Els, Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer. Leonard’s victory saw him climb to third in the tour’s 2025 money list, behind Miguel Angel Jimenez and current leader Els.
