Pate handles wind to win

KAHUKU, Hawaii -- Jerry Pate mastered the howling wind to win the Turtle Bay Championship on Sunday, closing with a two-under-par 70 for a two-stroke victory over Jim Thorpe and senior rookie Fulton Allem.

The 54-year-old Pate, four strokes behind leader Gil Morgan after the second round, breezed to a five-under 211 total for his second Champions Tour title. Allem (73) and Thorpe (74) birdied the final hole to tie for second.

Morgan (77), Loren Roberts (71), Wayne Grady (70) and Robert Thompson (72) tied for fourth, three strokes back.

Relentless tradewinds blew 20 to 25 mph with gusts reaching 35 mph, which eliminated any routine shots.

With the field struggling just to make par on the Palmer Course, Pate made a mid-round rally with three straight birdies on Nos. 8-10 that pushed him to the top of the leaderboard at six under.

Pate earned $240,000, which tied the largest of his professional career. It was Pate’s first win since the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in 2006. The Outback victory was his first win in nearly 24 years, since the 1982 Players Championship.