HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Finally allowing himself to smile after his final birdie putt dropped, Tim O'Neal closed out a final round 7-under 65 to win this year's Dominion Energy Charity Classic by 2 shots over Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez.
The victory was O'Neal's first on the PGA Tour Champions circuit and his first ever top 5 at this level. It was also his first professional win since 2016.
"It's somewhat what I thought it would be like," O'Neal said after the win. "I always wanted to be one of those guys holding the trophy at the end. For me to finally get it done means the world right now."
O'Neal started the final round 3 shots behind second-round leader Ken Duke, but quickly made up ground by birdieing 6 of his first 10 holes.
Gonzalez started the day 1 shot off the lead and fired a 3 under 69 which left him in second place at -11, two shots back of O'Neal. Australia's David Brandson birdied the final three holes to finish third at -10.
But once O'Neal's final putt fell, his playing partners Tim Petrovic and former British Open champion Stuart Cink appeared genuinely happy for O'Neal, as was the crowd at the 18th hole which cheered as the winner left the green.
"I like all these guys out here," O'Neal said. "I've learned so much out here the past two years. I feel like now that I've won, I finally belong."
Coming into the weekend, O'Neal was 55th in the Schwab Cup standings, one below the cutoff point to stay in the playoffs. This win vaults him to 13th on the list with two events remaining.
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