Winner report
Fichardt eagles the last to beat Zach Johnson in Little Rock
Darren Fichardt's eagle on the last denied Zach Johnson a seventh win of the season, which would have equalled the PGA TOUR Champions rookie record. It is Fichardt's first title on the tour, in his 15th start.
Zach Johnson holed his birdie putt on the 18th at Pleasant Valley Country Club on Sunday and still lost the Simmons Bank Championship. Darren Fichardt then made his eagle putt from about 10 feet and won by one. Both closed with 64s. Fichardt’s 194, −22, is a 54-hole tournament record at Pleasant Valley, two better than Steven Alker’s 196 in 2025, and it earned him $365,000 from a $2.3 million purse.
Johnson led by one with two holes to play. At the par-3 17th Fichardt hit a 3-iron to about eight feet from a back pin and holed the putt to draw level. On the par-5 18th his fairway metal bounced onto the front of the green. Johnson’s second finished above a ridge on the green and his eagle putt ran about 10 feet past. He holed the one back, so Fichardt needed the eagle to win outright. “That’s something fairy tales are written about,” he said.
He took a one-shot lead into Sunday with a bogey-free 61 on Saturday, which included a 28 on the front nine and equalled the lowest round on PGA TOUR Champions this season. It matched his career-best score, first set at the São Paulo Brazil Open on what is now the DP World Tour. “That putter was unbelievable this week,” he said. “Ball-striking wasn’t that great with the irons, but the putting was amazing.”
Johnson, in his first season on the over-50 tour, was trying for his seventh win of 2026, which would have equalled the record for a PGA TOUR Champions rookie. He came away with his 11th top-three finish of the year. The Simmons Bank Championship was the second of three Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs events. Fichardt’s win took him 29 places up the standings to 17th and kept Johnson from taking the lead. Johnson stays second, behind Stewart Cink. The top 36 qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix from 12 to 15 November.
Final leaderboard
| Pos | Player | To par | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Fichardt | −22 | $365,000 |
| 2 | Zach Johnson | −21 | $210,000 |
| 3 | Jerry Kelly | −14 | $183,000 |
| T4 | George McNeill | −13 | $121,500 |
| T4 | Scott Hend | −13 | $121,500 |
| T4 | Søren Kjeldsen | −13 | $121,500 |
| T7 | Y.E. Yang | −12 | $73,634 |
| T7 | Alex Cejka | −12 | $73,634 |
| T7 | Ricardo Gonzalez | −12 | $73,634 |
| T10 | Stewart Cink | −11 | $51,060 |
| T10 | Bo Van Pelt | −11 | $51,060 |
| T10 | Steve Allan | −11 | $51,060 |
| T10 | Michael Block | −11 | $51,060 |
| T10 | Steven Alker | −11 | $51,060 |
Par 72, 54 holes. Fichardt’s rounds were 69, 61 and 64; Johnson’s were 64, 67 and 64.
Fichardt is 51 and was making his 15th start on the tour. He got into fields this year through four open qualifiers and two top-10 finishes in full-field events, and was runner-up to Jerry Kelly at the Senior Open at Gleneagles. He has five DP World Tour titles, the last at the 2017 Joburg Open, and won the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship on the Legends Tour this year. He is the eighth South African to win on PGA TOUR Champions. The win gives him status until the end of 2027 and starts at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in 2027 and 2028.
Sources
- PGA TOUR: Bogey-free 61 vaults Darren Fichardt ahead of Zach Johnson with 18 to play
- Associated Press via ABC News: Darren Fichardt eagles final hole for first PGA Tour Champions title
- Golf Today: Darren Fichardt eagles final hole to win Simmons Bank Championship
- Arkansas Newsroom: Fichardt’s eagle wins the Simmons Bank Championship
- Golf News Net: 2026 Simmons Bank Championship final results and prize money
- Wikipedia: Darren Fichardt
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