Dicky Pride couldn’t have found a more fitting tournament to win.
Pride shot a 7-under-par 65 in the final round, then beat Irishman Padraig Harrington with a par on the first playoff hole to prevail at the Dick’s Open on Sunday in Endicott, N.Y.
“Well, fortunately they’ve named the tournament after me now already,” Pride jokes. “It’s the Dick’s Open, so I should win it, right?”
Harrington had won his last three starts at the sporting goods store-sponsored event (2022, 2023, 2024). He didn’t compete last year but returned to En-Joie Golf Course and took a one-shot lead heading into the final round after Pride led through 18 holes thanks to an opening 63.
Pride soared back into the lead with birdies at Nos. 3 and 5-8 on his front nine Sunday. After three birdies and a bogey on the back nine, he reached 18-under 198 for the week. But Harrington forced a playoff by making a tying birdie at No. 18 to conclude his 66.
Pride had a smooth ride as the pair replayed the par-4 18th hole, while Harrington went from rough to rough on his first two shots. Harrington reached the green in three, but after Pride’s two-putt par Harrington watched his own par attempt to extend the playoff slide past the right of the hole.
“it’s always hard when you’re playing a golf course that you need to get momentum,” Harrington said. “It was there to be had, but when you’re leading or in or around the lead, you’re a bit defensive.
“I felt Dicky just completely outplayed me all the way through. He played great. It would have been a travesty if he lost. It doesn’t mean I wasn’t wanting to win, but he played great. He hit all the shots, putted great, hit it close all day.”
For Pride, it marks his second PGA Tour Champions title and his first in five years after he won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in 2021. Pride, 56, was always a professional journeyman who collected one win on the Web.com Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) and one title on the PGA Tour.
Pride has played at En-Joie since it was a fixture on the PGA Tour schedule as the host of the B.C. Open decades ago.
“It’s very emotional,” Pride said. “We’ve been coming here a long time, I’ve had two (University of Alabama) teammates win the B.C. Open, Spike McRoy and Jason Bohn, so they were teammates, we were all teammates in college. It’s just a really special place. We always love coming back. My kids have been riding the (En-Joie Park) carousel since they were this big. We really always love this event and this community.”
Matt Gogel shot 65 with four birdies on each nine to finish third at 17 under, one shot out of the playoff. J.J. Henry also posted 65 to take fourth place at 16 under. Tim O’Neal (65), Bo Van Pelt (66) and Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson (66) tied for fifth at 15 under.
