David Frost ready to defend MGRC championship on April 1-3

SAUCIER -- South African golfer David Frost has always enjoyed the PGA Tour Champions stop at Fallen Oak Golf Club.

So it wasn't that big a surprise a year ago that Frost won -- for the first time -- the championship for the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic presented by C Spire.

Frost came from three strokes off the lead to shoot a final round 68 in the tour event, which will be held this year from March 28 through April 3. Championship action is April 1-3 with C Spire pro-ams on March 30 and 31.

"I always have done well on courses I enjoy playing on," Frost said Wednesday morning at the MGRC press day. "I enjoy playing Fallen Oak so I'm not surprised that I eventually won out here.

"I've been in contention here, but had never got the "W."

"Last year the wind blew hard the first day," Frost continued. "Don't try to win it on Day One, but don't try to lose it on Day 1. I stayed in contention and fought hard the last two days."

In 2014, he removed a stone from a bunker during Friday's round, and that incident led to him be disqualified after he moved into contention in Saturday's round.

Then in 2015, something similar happened to him on the difficult par-3 No. 17 hole in the final round but it did not prevent him from claiming the championship.

"In 2015, I was three groups from the end," Frost said. "I remember looking at the scoreboard on No. 7 or 8, and I was maybe five or six shots behind the leader. On the back nine, I made four or five birdies. By the time I got to 17, I didn't see a leaderboard so I didn't know my position in the field.

"I hit my career shot, about 20 feet behind the hole. I put the coin down and picked up the ball. As the ball is six inches above the ground, it drops out of my fingers and hits the coin, and moves the coin."

The Tour official at the hole ruled negligence on Frost's part and he suffered a one-shot penalty. He two-putted from 20 feet, and instead of a 3 on No. 17, he had a 4.

Then his wife surprised him, informing Frost that he had a one-stroke lead going to No. 18, which he parred to finish at 10-under. Tom Lehman later missed a 4 1/2-foot birdie putt which would have tied Frost and forced a playoff.

Frost has won 10 times on the regular PGA Tour, and six times on the PGA Tour Champions.

This year's field boasts of 26 of the top 30 leaders on the current Champions money list. Fred Couples has given a verbal commitment to be in Biloxi and tournament director Steve Nieman said he expects the formal commitment Thursday. Couples won the 2012 MGRC. Lehman, the 2011 MGRC champion, has not committed yet.

The winner of the three PGA Tour Champions events in 2016 will be here: Duffy Waldorf, Esteban Toledo and Bernhard Langer.

Nieman also said that Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and South Alabama coach Joey Jones will be playing in the C Spire pro-am on March 31.

The tournament's first round will be shown on a tape delay basis on the Golf Channel with the second and third rounds shown live on the Golf Channel.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 3:19 PM with the headline "David Frost ready to defend MGRC championship on April 1-3 ."