Chiles Rallies to Win Second Minnesota Senior PGA Professional Championship

  OAKDALE, Minn. – During Tuesday’s opening round of the 51st Minnesota Senior PGA Professional Championship, it was an eagle on his 11th hole that jumpstarted Eric Chiles’ round at Oak Marsh Golf Club, on his way to a 5-under 65 to sit one shot back of the lead.

On Wednesday, an eagle at the 16th hole during the final round lifted Chiles to a one-stroke victory over Chris Peterson for his second win at the championship in three seasons.

“I figured it was time to gamble, and it came off really good,” Chiles said of his best shot of the tournament to set up his eagle late Wednesday. “Yesterday I had control—today my warmup wasn’t hot, and I didn’t hit it as well.

“But I was able to do it again. You know you have a shelf life and I’m just trying to stay young. But you get pretty nervy and it’s never easy. Today was hard—I don’t know how it was so easy yesterday.”

Carding a 29 for the first time in his career during the back nine of his opening round Tuesday lifted Chiles within striking distance of the lead before taking an early bogey to begin his final round Wednesday.

Chiles answered by dropping his birdie chance from four feet at the third to draw even for the round.

After missing a short birdie chance at the sixth, Chiles buried his birdie look from six feet at the seventh to earn a share of the lead at 6-under for the tournament.

Back-to-back bogeys early on his back nine dropped the 53-year-old Chiles to 4-under, but he would again counter by rolling in his birdie opportunity from 12 feet at the 13th to pull within one shot of the lead.

Hitting a 7-iron to four feet at the 16th led to the second eagle of the week for Chiles, giving him his first lead of the championship at 7-under.

Unable to get up-and-down to save par at the 16th, Chiles would two-putt for par at the 18th to earn a one-stroke victory following a final-round 69 and a Peterson bogey on the final hole.

“The front nine both days—when I was in my 30s, I probably would’ve packed it in,” said Chiles, who played his opening nine in 1-over this week. “But know I’m like, ‘Whatever.’ I had [Kyle Snyder] on the bag and he told me to mellow out.”

Notching his fourth top-10 finish of the season in seven events Wednesday, Chiles now picks up his first victory since he earned a two-stroke victory over Bill Israelson and Derek Stendahl at the 2023 championship at Highland National Golf Course.

Peterson, who finished tied for eighth a year ago, fired an opening-round 3-under 67 Tuesday, and rallied back from an early bogey during Wednesday’s final round with back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh holes to reach 4-under for the championship.

After capitalizing on his birdie opportunity at the 10th, Peterson then rolled in his fourth birdie of the round at the 16th to momentarily earn a share of the lead at 6-under.

But a three-putt bogey at the 18th proved fatal as Peterson would card a final-round 68 to fall one short of Chiles at 5-under 135.

“Right in the hunt and I knew that. To start out, I was pretty nervous and my body felt different because I haven’t been in the mix for a while,” the 52-year-old Peterson said following his final round. “It was fun to be in that, and I scraped it around when I wasn’t hitting it well and then came into my own after five or six holes.

“I can’t complain—disappointed in the finish because I had a chance to win, but I made a lot of really clutch putts. Ball-striking felt great, especially on the back nine. I don’t play much golf, so I can take some confidence into our section championship, some events at the end of the year and then moving on to the national event.”

The top six players from this week’s event qualify for the national 2025 Senior PGA Professional Championship Oct. 23-26 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Joining Chiles at this year’s championship will be Peterson, Don Berry, Daniel Callahan, Mike Barge and David Podas.

Callahan carded a 2-under 68 during both rounds this week to finish tied for third with the five-time champion and 18-hole leader Berry at 4-under 136, while Barge, Podas and 2021 champion Tom Vizina finished in a share of fifth before Barge and Podas prevailed from a 3-for-2 playoff to advance to the national event in October.