Darren Fichardt eagles final hole for first PGA Tour Champions title to reach finale

LITTLE Rock, Ark. (AP) — Darren Fichardt of South Africa made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot victory over Zach Johnson in the Simmons Bank Championship, his first PGA Tour Champions title to advance to the season finale.Fichardt's birdie-eagle finish at Pleasant Valley on Sunday not only moved him 29 spots to No. 17 in the Charles Schwab Cup, he denied Johnson the lead on the points list going into the final event in two weeks.Johnson had a one-shot lead with two holes to play — no one else was particularly close — when Fichardt drilled a 3-iron to about 8 feet away from a back pin for birdie to tie for the lead.Then, Fichardt's fairway metal bounced onto the front of the green at the par-5 18th, leaving himself about 10 feet away for an eagle.Johnson's second shot to the 8th was above the ridge, and that raced some 10 feet by the cup. He narrowly made that for birdie and a 64, forcing Fichardt to make his eagle putt.Fichardt finished at 22-under 266.“That's something fairy tales are written about,” Fichardt said. “One of my concerns was to get into the playoffs and through nine holes I saw I had a bit of a gap. So just tried to free up a little bit and start making a few birdies and maybe have a chance at winning.”The top 36 advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix in two weeks. Ricardo Gonzalez tied for seventh and moved up nine spots to No. 31 to advance, while Bo Van Pelt tied for 10th to go from 38th to 34th.Mario Tiziani, Greg Chalmers and Jason Caron all fell out of the top 36.Henrik Stenson was poised to claim one of the 36 spots. He was in a tie for third until a three-putt double bogey on the 15th hole, a bogey on the 16th, a birdie on the par-3 17th and a three-putt bogey on the 18th. He fell to a tie for 15th and missed out by four spots.___See AP’s full golf coverage here