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Eaks cruises to win at 3M Championship

Sun 20th, July 2008

Blaine, MN (Sports Network) - Playing on two bad knees, but with renewed hope for the state of his game, R.W. Eaks fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday to cruise to a six-shot win at the 3M Championship.

Eaks claimed his third Champions Tour victory in near-record fashion, finishing three sparkling rounds at TPC Twin Cities with a 23-under-par 193.

Only three players have ever scored lower in a Champions Tour event.

Eaks' six-shot win over Bernhard Langer and Gary Hallberg was also a season- high for the Champions Tour -- and it came from a 56-year-old man playing on two bad knees.

In fact, Eaks was sure he needed two new knees until a company contacted him and said it had braces he could wear at night that would fix the problem.

"A breath of fresh air," said Eaks, who claimed $262,500 for the win. "It turned my whole attitude around. I actually dedicated myself back to golf instead of just pouting."

Eaks, who earned his first two Champions Tour wins last season, will skip the first of three consecutive senior majors next week, opting to take time off instead of travel overseas for the Senior British Open.

"I'm just going to take it easy," he said.

But Eaks will return to action for the U.S. Senior Open in two weeks. It's being held at the The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the city where Eaks was born.

"It's a golf course where I worked for seven or eight years, and I'm looking forward to that," said Eaks. "I can't wait to go home and play that golf course."

Hallberg also shot a 65 to move into a tie for second place with Langer (66) at 17-under 199. Gene Jones (69) took fourth place at 16-under 200 and Ron Streck (67) was fifth at 15-under 201.

Only six other players finished within 10 strokes of Eaks, who posted two 65s and 63 in three rounds this week.

On Sunday, Eaks collected an eagle and seven birdies with just two bogeys to run away with the win. Even while the leaderboard was bunching up behind him, Eaks kept his foot on the pedal. He birdied four of his last eight holes for the six-shot win.

Eaks said he drew on past experience.

"I was reminiscing when I was chasing Jay Haas at Newport last year," he said. "I just watched him play. He just kept plugging along -- he wasn't trying to do anything fancy -- he was just plugging along, plugging along. And I leaned so much from him that day and I just applied it today."

Where the players come to play and STAY.