Peter Baker recorded his eighth Legends Tour victory by a whopping six shots thanks to a best-of-the-day 66 in the final round of the Costa Navarino Legends Tour Trophy in south-west Greece.
The former Ryder Cup player started the day one shot behind overnight leader Paul Lawrie, but Baker had taken the lead by the 4th hole, and he never looked back as he completed a bogey-free week and strolled to the title with a -16 total.
Baker made a steady start on the International Olympic Academy Golf Course with three pars before his first birdie of the day at the 4th. Even though Lawrie birdied the opening hole, the 1999 Open champion then double bogeyed the 3rd and bogeyed the 4th, so Baker’s one-shot deficit became a two-stroke advantage.
The 2023 Order of Merit number one didn’t give anyone else a sniff from that point as he also picked up shots at the 6th and 7th to go out in 33 and make the turn four shots clear. He improved to -14 at the par-5 11th, and another gain at the 15th gave him a five-shot cushion with three to play. The 57-year-old completed the full set of par-5 birdies on the penultimate hole and two-putted from long range at 18 to seal a bogey-free week and a supremely impressive victory.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” said the three-time DP World Tour winner. “It was a tough day. The wind was a little bit different, a little bit stronger today. It was difficult out there, so we had to adapt, and I managed to do that early on. I played nicely and putted nicely today. I holed-out well and holed a couple of longer ones, which you’ve got to do to win.
“It was just one of those days when you try not to make any mistakes, and I didn’t drop a shot all week, which is a massive thing, really. I was really grinding there at the last from about 40 feet, because I didn’t want to give that bogey-free record away.”
The champion played consistently well all week with two 67s in the first two rounds at the Olympic and Hills courses, before adding today’s 66 to get his hands on the trophy.
Baker followed up top spot on the Order of Merit in 2023 by finishing 2nd on the season-long points list last season, and this victory lifts him from 7th to 2nd in this season’s standings. He has also finished tied-2nd in the OFX Irish Legends and tied-4th at the Staysure Marbella Legends in 2025.
“I want to contend for the Order of Merit again,” said Baker. “I want to try and play well throughout the year and win tournaments. That’s always been my goal. If you’ve got a chance in the Order of Merit, then great. There are a lot of good players out here, a lot of winners, so it’ll be up and down through the year, but you just keep going and keep trying your best.”
Lawrie remained in solo-2nd for much of the day but a triple-bogey at the 14th, a bogey at the 16th and a triple-bogey at the 18th saw him slip down the leaderboard. He signed for a 79 to finish tied-17th on -4.
In the end, it was reigning Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open champion Thomas Gögele and recent OFX Irish Legends winner James Kingston who finished in tied-2nd on -10. Gögele had five birdies and one bogey in his 68, while Kingston recovered from a +1 front nine with four birdies on the way home to seal a 69. They improve to 12th and 3rd on the Order of Merit, respectively.
PGA Tour winner Bo Van Pelt had a -9 total for the week to finish in 4th. The American was out in 32, including an eagle at the 1st, and he had one birdie and one bogey on the back nine to shoot 68 in his first regular Legends Tour start. He missed the cut on his seniors debut in the Senior PGA Championship a couple of weeks ago.
Former Ryder Cup player and Legends Tour rookie Stephen Gallacher is into the top-10 of the Order of Merit thanks to a 5th-place finish. There was a four-way tie for 6th on -7, including debutant Anthony Wall, former Ryder Cup player Joakim Haeggman and DP World Tour winners Maarten Lafeber and Philip Golding. Order of Merit number one Scott Hend was a shot further back in tied-10th, alongside Robert Coles, Greg Owen and Simon Griffiths.
The Legends Tour now heads to a major championship with the US Senior Open at The Broadmoor GC, Colorado, next week. The next regular event is the Reignwood Legends Championship in China from July 4th-6th. Go to www.legendstour.com to see the final Costa Navarino Legends Tour Trophy leaderboard, the updated Order of Merit standings and the full schedule.
Final Round Highlights
