Haas overcomes five bogeys in final round to win the Viking Classic by three strokes

Haas holds on for Viking Classic win

MADISON, Miss. — Bill Haas overcame five bogeys in the final round to win the Viking Classic by three strokes on Sunday.

Haas, who never trailed in the tournament, bogeyed the first hole, and had four bogeys on the back nine — including one of the par-5 18th. He also scattered five birdies to finish at 15-under 273 for his second victory of the year.

The $648,000 winner’s purse jumped Haas to No. 26 on the money list and earned him a spot in the Masters and the U.S. Open. His second victory of the year extended his exemption through 2013.

Haas, who also wone the Bob Hope Classic, is one of seven mulitple winners this year.

Michael Allen came as close to being a threat as anyone. Allen had three birdies to put him at 14 under on No. 12, tying him with Haas, who bogeyed the hole. But Allen drove out of bounds on the next hole and ending up with a double bogey. He had a 71 and finished at 12 under. Allen, 51, who turned professional in 1984, has now played in 357 PGA tournaments without a victory.

The second-place finish paid Allen $388,800, boosting his earnings this year to $716,031 and jumping him from 166 on the money list to 117.

D.J. Trahan (69) and Brendon de Jonge (72) tied for third at 277, and three players — Graham DeLaet, Jonathan Byrd and Chris Stroud — finished another shot back.

Stroud’s 278 earned him $131,400. Stroud had been at 125 on the money list going into the tournament. The victory moved him to 111. The top 125 on the money list after Children’s Miracle Network Classic, the final tournament of the year, retain their PGA cards for next season.