Ernie Els’ closing two-under-par 68 on Sunday took him to a third-place finish in the fourth senior major championship of the year, the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Els made four bogeys and two bogeys to climb two places on the final leaderboard to eight-under, and three strokes behind the winner, Jerry Kelly of the United States. Kelly’s 11-under total came from his closing two-under 68, which trumped Steve Stricker by two after the next US Ryder Cup captain also carded a 68.
Els shared third with New Zealand’s Steven Alker, who had a one-under 69 in the final round.
It was Kelly’s second senior major championship title, and his second win in the Senior Players in three years.
Retief Goosen closed with a four-over-par 74 to finish on four-over for the tournament in a share of 35th. David Frost also had a 74 and was in a share of 59th on 10-over.
