GOLF ROUNDUP : It’s a Tradition: Nicklaus Charges to Win by One

Final-round charges have become almost second-nature for Jack Nicklaus, but this one seemed improbable even for him.

Nicklaus, who was 12 shots off the lead after Friday’s second round, shot a five-under-par 67 Sunday and successfully defended his title with a one-stroke victory at The Tradition over Jim Colbert, Phil Rodgers and Jim Dent.

“I didn’t think I could make up that much ground,” said Nicklaus, who had a 71 and 73 in the first two rounds.

“I never had done that before in 30-something years of playing golf, so why think I could do it now?”

Nicklaus, in his season debut on the Senior PGA Tour, came from five shots back in the final round to finish with an 11-under 277 total and take the $120,000 top prize in the $800,000 tournament.

Now it’s on to Augusta National for the Masters, which he won for the sixth time in 1986.

Nicklaus won The Tradition last year by four shots on the 6,864-yard Cochise Course at Desert Mountain that he designed.

Nicklaus took over the lead on the 17th when Rodgers and Colbert bogeyed to fall to nine under. Nicklaus chipped within two feet on 18, then tapped in a birdie putt to go 11 under.

Colbert and Rodgers, playing in the group behind Nicklaus, each birdied the final hole to finish at 278 after rounds of 73. Each won $58,000 as did Dent, who shot a 69 and overcame four bogeys on the front nine with seven birdies in the final eight holes.

Hometown favorite Chris Johnson faltered down the stretch but still held on for a par round of 72 and a four-stroke victory over Kris Tschetter in the $350,000 LPGA event in Tucson.

Johnson, a former University of Arizona standout, threatened to break her own 72-hole record of 16-under-par 272, reaching 16 under through the 13th hole. She then bogeyed 14 and 15 before making birdie on 18 and finishing at 273. Tschetter had six consecutive birdies en route to a 66 and second place, a career-best finish for the third-year pro.

Bobby Wadkins, Mike Hulbert and Robert Wren combined for a 16-under-par 56 on to win the $100,000, 18-hole team scramble that replaced the rained-out, $1-million Independent Insurance Agent Open at The Woodlands (Tex.) Country Club.