Paraguay’s Carlos Franco had waited a dozen years between victory celebrations, so a simple fist-pump wasn’t going to do.
He fist-pumped, sure, a nice steady follow-through after draining a 15-footer for birdie to clinch a two-shot triumph at the 2016 Shaw Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows.
But that was just the beginning.
He raised both arms, punching air over and over and over again.
He grinned as Jean van de Velde’s caddy, Ivan Galdame of Mexico, darted onto the green to shower the tournament winner with bubbly.
And after he tossed his golf ball into the grandstand, the 51-year-old Franco grabbed that same bottle for a gulp.
Well-deserved, all of it.
Gallery: Carlos Franco wins 2016 Shaw Charity Classic
Carlos Franco played a strong third round to win his first Champions Tour event in dramatic style on Sunday.
-->
“I’m so happy after the win because long time, no see one trophy,” said Franco, who started his victory speech by apologizing for his ‘up-and-down’ English but left spectators in stitches with a couple of dandy one-liners.
“I need to say thank you for all the people of Calgary — volunteers, sponsors, TV guys … Long time, nobody see me on TV. But today and this week, I’m No. 1.”
The last time Franco could make that claim was back on July 25, 2004, when he finished atop the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s Greater Milwaukee Open, his fourth title on the top circuit.
That was a looonnnggg time ago.
With all due respect to the past champs — Rocco Mediate, Fred Couples and Jeff Maggert, who struggled Sunday as he tried to turn a two-round lead into a repeat — of the Shaw Charity Classic, this trophy presentation was more significant for Franco than any of the others. With the victory, he secured status on the senior tour for the next two years.
It was sweeter for Franco, too, than it would have been if runners-up Michael Allen or Bernhard Langer were kissing the shiny prize. Langer even admitted as much.
For the thousands of spectators — another superb turnout, even with the chilly temperatures — who watched Franco pick apart the tree-lined layout at Canyon Meadows en route to a three-day tally of 18-under 192, it’s hard to believe he’d been an also-ran at 200-plus tournaments since his last victory.
“I lose my game (for) a couple of years and then come back again this week,” Franco said. “I hope my focus stays in me. And my game, same too. Winning on Champions Tour is not easy because, you know, everybody is a winner out here. Especially Bernhard Langer. This guy, you can’t believe he is playing so well.”
This week, Franco played better.
He sizzled to a second consecutive spin of 7-under 63 in Sunday’s final round, mixing eight birdies, nine pars and just one bogey. In fact, with back-to-back 63s, he posted the best weekend score on PGA Tour Champions so far this season.
Langer was 5-under on Sunday’s back nine and simply couldn’t catch up. He and Allen — between them, they’ve collected 37 crowns on the senior loop — settled for second at 16-under.
“(Franco) putted great. That was really the difference,” Langer said. “He hit the ball very well, hit a lot of fairways and greens, but his putting was exceptional. If he would putt like this every day, he would probably win five or seven tournaments a year. But it’s hard to do.”
Maggert can vouch for that.
He had 34 putts in Sunday’s final round, tied for the worst stat-line of the day on the dancefloors. The defending champion teed off with a three-shot lead but was 4-over in his last lap and faded to a tie for sixth at 10-under, eight shots off Franco’s torrid pace.
Maggert admitted that he also didn’t drive the ball especially well, but he blamed his Sunday struggles on that ice-cold flatstick.
“Going in. I felt like I needed to shoot 3- or 4-under just to have a chance,” Maggert said. “Turns out, it would have taken 5-under, and that would have been a tough task today with the way my putting was.
“Carlos played a fantastic round … Man, the guy played great golf. He deserves it.”
He certainly enjoyed it, too.
“I saw Bernhard Langer, I saw (Tom) Watson, I saw the other guys … I say ‘Oh my gosh, I have to play good,’ ” Franco said, the Shaw Charity Classic trophy by his side. “And look at my present right now. Patient. Confident. Power. And happy.”
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @WesGilbertson