Olin Browne was declared the winner of the rain-shortened Greater Gwinnett Championship on Sunday at TPC Sugarloaf.
Sunday’s third and final round was cancelled early Sunday morning before the players took the course.
Browne shot 64 on Saturday to reach 12-under 132 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Bernhard Langer.
“I think the staff here, the volunteers, the grounds crew, everybody did an incredible job getting the course prepped and ready for play, and it’s such a downer for them to have the weather kind of throw this wet blanket on things.” Browne said. “I really feel badly for the tournament. But I think in all honesty, we all kind of knew this was coming and I think it’s miraculous we got in 36 holes, just kudos to everybody there.”
The Greater Gwinnett Championship is Browne’s second win on the Champions Tour after taking the 2011 U.S. Senior Open.
Defending champ Miguel Angel Jimenez finished tied for 10th at 5 under.
Brian Claar, the vice president of rules and competition on the Champions Tour, said the combination of the weather forecast and the standing water on the fairways forced the decision to end the tournament. He said the greens could be made playable if the rain would have held out, but there was nothing they could do to help the fairways.
Despite the weather, Browne said he plans to return to defend his title.
“I love coming here, love this golf course,” he said. “I like this area, good people, great tournament crew, everybody puts their best foot forward, the hospitality here is great and it’s familiar turf. We’ve been coming here for a number of years, it’s really great here and I look forward to it next year.”
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