Els' caddie Quinn wins American Century tournament

• By Associated Press
• Jul 22, 2012 9:43 PM ET

STATELINE, Nev. – Dan Quinn birdied three of his first seven holes Sunday to pull ahead and then stretched his lead on the back nine to earn a six-point victory over former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien in the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Quinn, a former NHL star who will caddie for Sunday's British Open winner Ernie Els next week at the Canadian Open, was hoping for the same come-from behind victory at the American Century Championship. He started the day three points behind second-round leader Rypien.

Quinn finished with 66 points in the modified Stableford scoring system to win the event for the fourth time. Rypien was second with 60 and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway finished third with 59.

Quinn, who earned $125,000 from a total purse of $600,000, started the day three points behind second-round leader Rypien, who had 43 points after 54 holes.

Billy Joe Tolliver finished fourth with 58 points; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was fifth with 56, and Joe Theismann was sixth with 53. Former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder, who shared the first-round lead with defending champion Jack Wagner, finished in seventh place with 52 points. Wagner slipped to eighth place with 51.

At the halfway point, Quinn held a 52-50 lead over Rypien. The former hockey player birdied the par-4 11th to move in front by four points over Rypien and five ahead of Romo with three good scoring holes remaining - especially the par-5 16th and 18th.

Quinn then made a 25-footer for birdie on 16 to close the door on his challengers.

''My thought was just to get that putt to the hole,'' said Quinn. ''When I made it I thought unless I did something crazy I looked pretty solid.'''

Romo failed to birdie the 16th and then took a double bogey on the final hole to lose two points.

''I just need to compete more,'' said Romo, who heads to training camp next week. ''I don't play enough to compete in a three- or four-day event. Golf is a tough game.''