Calum Hill goes wire-to-wire in the 74th Arizona Open Championship

After finishing with a 66 in each of the first two rounds, Calum Hill thought he needed another 66 for him to walk away with the title. As it turned out, 1-over-par would have done the trick. Hill carded a 2-under-par 68 in the final round and won the 74th Arizona Open Championship at Troon Country Club by four shots over defending champion Brian Cooper.

“It’s so great to win the Arizona Open,” said Hill. “I came in the final round trying to do the same as I’ve done the other two days. It would have been nice to have three 66’s but to be honest, I thought it would have taken more than that. I definitely saw the possibility of someone coming from behind. My round wasn’t very low today but there’s only one job that I needed to do and that’s cross the finish line above everyone else and I managed to creep in there.”

Cooper, 50, of Phoenix, finished the championship at 204 (-6) and sole possession of second place. Cooper earned $8000 for the runner-up finish.

“I tried my best to chase Calum down, and almost pulled it off, but the young man never wavered,” said Cooper. “I’m very pleased with finally putting together a solid round and finishing as the runner-up but hats off to Calum on becoming the new Arizona Open champion. I congratulate him and welcome him to the club.”

McClung, 22, of Katy, Texas, finished his 54-hole total of 205 and left him tied in third place with professional Kyle Jones for the Championship. The finish earned McClung low amateur honors.

Jones, 24, of Grapevine, Texas, finished with his 54-hole total of 205 that earned Jones the $5000 third place winnings.

Karle, 28, Scottsdale, Arizona, finished tied for fifth place with amateur Matthew McCarty, of Scottsdale. Karle, the 2013 Arizona Open runner-up, earned $4000 for his finish this year.

Hill took home $12,000 for winning the Championship and at 22, is among the youngest champions in the history of the Arizona Open. He immediately heads to Utah to compete in a qualifier for the Utah Open next week before returning to his assistant coaching duties at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, N.M.

“I think this victory is steady progress towards, hopefully, moving up,” Hill said. “It’s a great achievement, especially giving me momentum and confidence. For me, it ranks pretty high, if not the highest of my career so far.”

Past champions Craig Hocknull, of Gilbert, Ariz., and Chris Satterlee, of Phoenix, finished tied in seventh place at 207 and earned $2500 each.

Isagenix, TrueTemper and Troon Country Club are presenting sponsors of the 74th Arizona Open Championship. Supporting sponsors include Precise Yardage Books, Experience Scottsdale and VSP Merchant.

For more a complete list of results, visit www.southwest.pga.com