CARY, N.C. (AP) — Vijay Singh became the second-oldest player to win on the PGA Tour Champions on Sunday when the 63-year-old Fijian closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the SAS Championship.
Singh made four birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn to get in front of a crowded leaderboard and then left the mistakes to everyone else while closing with six straight pars to win by two over Ernie Els.
Bernhard Langer is the only other player older than Singh to win on the 50-and-older circuit. Langer won at age 67, and the German has five other Champions Tour titles at 64 or older.
“This was a big one,” Singh said after tapping in for one final par. “It's been a tough year, all year, and then I didn't know how I was going to play this morning. My back doesn't do very well in cold. I didn't hit my irons as good as I wanted to, but I got the job done.”
A 34-time winner on the PGA Tour, it was only his sixth PGA Tour Champions title and first in just over three years. Singh did not have a top 10 finish all year until winning Sunday.
Els closed with a 69 and was runner-up. The last challenge came from Tim O'Neal, one shot behind until he tried to hit out of a fairway bunker on the par-5 17th hole. The ball hit the top of the lip and tumbled into a creek, leading to a double bogey-bogey finish for O'Neal.
Matthew Goggin was the only player to move into the top 72 who qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup postseason that starts next week in St. Louis.
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FILE - Vijay Singh, of Fiji, watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — It was anything but smooth for A.J. Brown in his return to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The prized offseason acquisition for the defending AFC champions finished with as many catches as dropped passes — three — and even drew a round of boos after a third-quarter drop in New England's 26-19 win over the New York Jets.
His high ankle sprain might be in the past following a four-game stint on injured reserve, but Brown’s hands were anything but a sure thing in the wide receiver’s first game since New England’s season opener at Seattle.
The 29-year-old Brown was activated on Saturday to the 53-man roster, having missed a minimum number of games after going on IR. He was in the starting lineup Sunday and finished with 27 yards receiving on 10 targets.
“No excuses. Ankle or not, I should make those plays,” said Brown, who spoke briefly while standing at his locker.
Brown’s first appearance on the Gillette Stadium video board came 48 minutes before kickoff. He received a nice applause from the crowd while he was warming up. Brown was also the final member of the Patriots' offense to be introduced and received an extended ovation as he jumped and waved his arms in response.
By the third quarter, the good cheer from fans evaporated. One of the drops came in the second quarter when Drake Maye targeted him deep. Brown also let an onside kick by the Jets slip through his grasp, though the lapse didn’t come back to haunt his team as tight end Eli Raridon fell on the ball and New England ran out the final 32 seconds of the game.
The postgame tenor didn’t yield much panic from Brown’s coach and teammates. They said they know that a player with six 1,000-yard receiving seasons and three Pro Bowl nods will be fine in the long term.
“I know he wanted to do well for his football team," said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who also coached Brown when the receiver broke into the NFL with Tennessee. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t his best effort. He knows that. We have all the confidence in the world in A.J. to be able to finish those plays. He has high expectations for himself, and we have high expectations for him.”
On the sideline, the Patriots refrained from providing words of encouragement to Brown during his first game in a Patriots uniform in front of the home crowd.
“He’s been in the league a long time. He knows how to deal with things,” Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez said. “He’s been out for a while, so it’s different when you get out there and catch the ball when everyone is flying around. Everyone in the locker room and in this building, we have the utmost confidence in him.”
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New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown, left, can't make a catch as New York Jets cornerback Brandon Stephens, right, defends during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown looks on during warmups before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear, File)
