Parker resident Shane Bertsch posts top-10 in stellar fashion, holing out for eagle on final hole of PGA Tour Champions event; fellow Coloradan Chris DiMarco also shares 10th in Wisconsin
By Gary Baines – 6/9/2024
Colorado residents have been surging a bit lately on PGA Tour Champions, and a couple of them were helped in that regard with some impressive stretch runs on Sunday at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis.
Chris DiMarco, who moved to the Denver area in 2018, gained a 10th-place finish on Sunday thanks to making birdies on three of the last four holes. The top-10 showing was his second in the last month as he finished sixth in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, a senior major, two weeks ago.
But the real fireworks came from Parker resident Shane Bertsch, who closed in high fashion on the 440-yard 18th hole. Bertsch’s approach on the par-4 bounced off the incline to the right of the green, then spun sideways, clanking into the pin and falling into the hole for an eagle 2.
That gave the former Colorado Open champion a tie for 10th with DiMarco as Bertsch played his final three holes in 3 under par.
Bertsch, a one-time winner on PGA Tour Champions, went 71-68-71, while DiMarco, still looking for his first senior victory, carded scores of 72-67-71. Both finished six strokes behind champion Ernie Els, who won for the second straight week on the Champions circuit. It was Bertsch’s second 10th-place finish since May 1.
There were almost three Colorado residents in the top 10 as David Duval three-putted his last two holes for bogeys to fall out of the first 10. He placed 14th — at 5 under par — a week after placing a Champions career-best third.
For all the scores from the the American Family Insurance Championship, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com