PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- It's been 22 years since Craig Stadler had a season like this.
Stadler won his second straight tournament and fourth of the season Sunday, firing a 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Jay Haas at the inaugural The First Tee Open at Pebble Beach Presented by Wal-Mart.
Stadler, coming off a win at the JELD-WEN Tradition last week in Oregon, shot a 6-under-par 66 for a 15-under 201 total to match his career best for wins in a season. In 1982, he won four PGA TOUR events -- the Tuscon Open, Masters, Kemper Open and World Series of Golf.
"It actually was pretty easy," Stadler said. "Jay missed some early putts and after the 12th hole I pulled away a little bit.
"It seems like all the putts I aimed at the hole went there. We couldn't have asked for a better week. Just incredible."
Stadler opened with an even-par 72 at Bayonet Golf Course and surged into contention with a 9-under 63 at Pebble Beach on Saturday. He had 13 birdies and two eagles in the last two rounds, and his winner's share of $300,000 pushed his tour-leading money total past $1.9 million.
He and junior partner Aaron Woodard, a 16-year-old junior at East High School in Denver, won the pro-junior competition by four strokes at 22-under 194. Woodard's father, Tom Woodard, was a PGA TOUR player in the 1980s.
"I've been hitting the ball well all season and just making putts," Stadler said. "But my goal this week was not to think about my game. My goal was to get him (Woodard) to the third round. I was able to do that.
"I wasn't thinking at all about my game and that's the way it is with golf. When the putts go in the hole, it's a pretty easy game."
The 50-year-old Haas, added to the U.S. Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick, closed with a 68 for a 12-under 204 total.
"I didn't hit enough good shots down the stretch to go after him," Haas said. "But I don't feel like I lost the tournament. I feel like Craig beat me.
"You can see he's on a roll. You can look and see it when he swings. It looks like he's going to hit a good shot and he does."
Haas will take a week off from the Champions Tour before participating in the Ryder Cup from Sept. 17-19 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Irwin and Tom Kite shot final-round 70s and tied for third at 209.
David Eger, the former PGA TOUR and USGA official who held a one-stroke lead after the opening round, shot a final-round 70 and tied for fifth with D.A. Weibring (71) at 6-under 210.
Arnold Palmer, playing in just his eighth tournament of the season, shot a final-round 82. One of four principal owners of Pebble Beach Company, Palmer turns 75 on Friday.
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