2007 Senior PGA Professional National Championship

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The rain held off long enough Sunday for a Champion to be crowned at the PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course as Bill Loeffler, owner and operator of the Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Golf Club, posted a final-round even-par 72 for a 72-hole total of 12-under-par 276 to hold off David Lundstrom of Houston, Texas and capture the 19^th Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

The Championship was in doubt, however, until the final hole. Loeffler came to the 18^th tee clinging to a one-stroke lead. The daunting 405-yard par-4 has a waste bunker lining the right-side of the fairway; which Loeffler’s tee shot found. He left himself with 158 yards to the pin and the ball partially submerged in water from the six inches of rain that The PGA Golf Club took on that week.

Loeffler choked up on a 6-iron and hit an approach shot that left him with a 15-foot downhill putt. He two-putted to tap-in range to seal the victory.

“I made a great swing on the ball at the final hole,” said Loeffler. “I caught the ball just how I wanted to and left myself about 15 feet and almost holed the putt. I really felt like that putt sealed the win for me.”

Loeffler did not collect a birdie until the 16^th hole, where he made an eight-foot putt and bring him back to even-par on the round.

“I was not real confident in my swing this week because I did not know if my swing would hold up the entire week,” said Loeffler, who missed the cut in his only other Championship appearance in 2006. “I probably came out too conservative and just tried to keep it on the green. But it did work when all was said and done.”

David Lundstrom finished a stroke back after a 69 for an 11-under-par 277.

“I did all I could do today,” said Lundstrom, a PGA Life Member. “I made a huge birdie on the final hole to give myself a chance, but it just was not enough.”

Darrell Kestner of Glen Cove, N.Y., William Britton, Tinton Falls, N.J., and

Wayne DeFrancesco of Columbia, Md., all finished two strokes back.

“I knew I was still behind the whole round and I was just trying to make some birdies, said 
Kestner, the 1996 PGA Professional National Champion. “I hit great putts but I could not make enough birdies to pull it out and win this thing.”

“I was pretty fortunate during my second round, where I made some good putts that normally would not go in, so I got pretty lucky,” said Loeffler, the 1992 National Assistant Professional Champion.

Bob Boyd of Wilmington, N.C., the 1988 PGA Professional National Champion, was one of the low 35 scorers to gain a berth in the 2008 Senior PGA Championship. Boyd, 52, made his first national championship appearance after recovering from a second bout of leukemia. He finished with a 72-hole total of 4-under-par 284.

Players were able to return to the course at 10:00 a.m. so the damp course could dry. The final round began at 10:30 a.m. with the final group going out at 11:32 a.m.

Callaway Golf is in its sixth year as the title sponsor of the Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

The low 35 finishers qualified for the 2008 Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club [East Course] in Rochester, N.Y. The top eight finishers, including ties, received exemptions into the 2008 Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional Championship. In addition, the top 10 finishers are exempt into the Champions Tour National Finals at TPC Eagle Trace, provided they had filled out an entry by the deadline.

Results
Course Average		Under Par	At Par	Over Par	Low Rounds	Round Leader	Bill Loeffler
Round 1:	74.29	57	26	183	64 Bob Ford	64 Bob Ford	72
Round 2:	73.74	71	30	162	65 Jim Woodward	135 Bob Ford, Wayne DeFrancesco	138
Round 3:	74.05	22	8	64	66 Bill Loeffler	204 Bill Loeffler	204
Round 4:	74.63	17	9	66	65 Tom Herzan	276 Bill Loeffler	276
Totals:	74.09	167	73	475