Bo Van Pelt ran away with the Asia Pacific Classic on Sunday in hot and humid conditions, making birdies on five of the last eight holes for a 7-under 64 and a six-stroke victory.
''I've watched other guys coming down 18 with a big lead and I thought, `That would be fun someday if I could do that.' And it was,'' Van Pelt said, ''I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I get to do what I love to do for a living.''
The winner of the PGA Tour's 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Van Pelt finished at 23 under at The Mines and earned $1.3 million in the second-year event sanctioned by the PGA and Asian tours.
''I've had a couple of chances to win this year but didn't come out on top,'' Van Pelt said. ''Canada was a tough pill to swallow. I just wanted to learn from that and do a better job when I had the lead. I take a lot of satisfaction in how I played today.''
Fellow Indiana player Jeff Overton was second after a 69.
''That was one of the best rounds of golf I've seen,'' Overton said of Van Pelt's outing. ''I didn't play a great round. I played a solid round. I kind of had a couple of hiccups. He birdied some holes that I bogeyed and those were huge momentum shifters.''
Van Pelt pulled away with birdies on Nos. 13-15, hitting within a foot on the par-4 13th and par-3 14th and holing a 4-footer on the short par-4 15th after driving into a greenside bunker. He added a two-putt birdie on the par-5 17th.
''I played well all day,'' Van Pelt said. ''I didn't make any bogeys. I just tried to play to game plan all week.''
The 36-year-old former Oklahoma State player opened with rounds of 66, 64 and 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Overton into the final round.
''My swing felt good right at the first warmup and I kind of continued that all week and had confidence with what I wanted to do with my golf swing,'' Van Pelt said.
Fredrik Jacobson had a 68 to finish third at 16 under, and Cameron Tringale (64), Camilo Villegas (66) and Mark Wilson (69) were 15 under.
''I had a hard time getting the putter going yesterday and the front side today,'' Jacobson said. ''I was lucky that I still shot 4 under on the back nine to finish third. Overall, a very good week after a month break.''
