Harmon Captures His Third Southwest PGA Senior Championship

Greg Harmon appears to save his best for last – at least as it applies to the Southwest PGA Senior Championship. Harmon carded a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in the final round and captured his third Southwest PGA Senior Championship title.

“I’m very excited about winning the Championship and qualifying for the National Championship,” said Harmon. “It’s a lot of fun but to tell you the truth, I wasn’t planning on this. I wasn’t planning on winning and I wasn’t planning on qualifying but I’ll for sure take them both.”

After shooting a 1-under-par 71 in the opening round and three-shots back of the lead, Harmon, 65, PGA Life Member, got off to a fast start in the second round with birdies on Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 8 and made the turn in 33. He added three more birdies on the back side and finished with a 36-hole total of 136. His margin of victory was three-shots over second place finisher Jim Carter.

“I hit more greens today then I did yesterday and made some clutch putts,” Harmon said. “In every round there are 3-5 putts that you need to make to keep a good round going and today I made them all.”

After an opening round 68 and a one-shot lead, Carter, 55, PGA Life Member, was in good position in the second round through 13 holes at 7-under par for the championship until three straight bogeys on Nos. 14, 15, and 16 took him out of contention for the title. He finished in second place with a 36-hole total of 139.

Harmon’s magical final round and victory was almost identical to the 2014 Southwest PGA Senior Championship. After opening with a 1-over-par 73, Harmon posted a bogey-free second round of 6-under-par 66 and won the Championship by two strokes over a trio of competitors.

“It feels great and never gets old," said Harmon. “Every time you win you think, ‘well that’s my last one and I’ll never win again.’ That’s what I said two years ago when I last won this championship so it’s really a very pleasant surprise and confidence builder.”

Qualifying for the 2016 Senior PGA Professional Championship, scheduled to take place November 17-20 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., are: Harmon, Carter, Jon Stanley from John Jacobs Golf School, Blayne Hobbs from Reid / West Golf Academy, Mike Malaska from Superstition Mountain G.C., Bob Blean from Sun City C.C., and Ralph West from Reid / West Golf Academy.

Special thanks to the membership and staff at Mesa Country Club for hosting the 2016 Southwest PGA Section Senior Championship.

About The Southwest Section PGA:
The Southwest Section of the PGA of America is a professional organization serving the men and women golf professionals in Arizona and Southern Nevada who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf. The Southwest PGA is responsible for the administration of competitive golf tournaments, junior golf programs and events, educational opportunities, support programs and growth of the game initiatives. With 1306 members and apprentices, the Southwest PGA is the fifth largest of the 41 regional entities or Sections that comprise the PGA of America.  For more information about the Southwest PGA, please visit www.southwestpga.com and join us on social media at www.facebook.com/swsectionpga and twitter.com/swsectionpga.

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