It may have been too little too late, but Russ Cochran took more than a mediocre paycheck away from the Encompass Championship on Sunday.

The left-handed golfer claimed the tournament 18-hole record with an 8-under-par 64. The previous low round in the Champions Tour event was 65 posted by 2013 champion Craig Stadler and Bob Tway last year. Tom Lehman matched it in this year’s first round on Friday.

“I was streaky the first two days, but then just made a point of getting my weight on my toes and getting down to the ball,’’ said Cochran. “It sounds simple, but it seemed to do the trick.’’

Cochran was 11 strokes behind leader Lehman at the start of the final round, and that was too much ground to make up. Cochran made birdie at No. 1, however, and then rolled in an 18-foot eagle putt at the 515-yard sixth after hitting the green with a 2-hybrid second shot.

A bogey on the next hole slowed Cochran momentarily, but he strung five birdies in a row on the back nine and holed his longest putt of the day, 22 feet, for par at No. 18 after an errant drive wound up in the right rough.

Cochran drew one of the tourney’s 10 celebrities, Northwestern basketball coach Chris Collins, as his pro-am partner in the two-man team competition. He didn’t blame Collins for his shaky first two rounds in the tournament within the main tournament.

“I owe D.A. Weibring (a Champions Tour player who didn’t compete at North Shore) the biggest steak he could ever eat,’’ said Cochran, “because I think he had something to do with that pairing. I’ve been a big fan of his and his dad (one-time Bulls’ coach Doug Collins). What a wonderful guy he is.’’

The amateurs weren’t part of the final round and the course played differently than the first two days after torrential rains caused a suspension in play on Saturday.

“The course was soft, so it was easier to hit the fairways, but it played longer, too,’’ said Cochran. “It’s a really good golf course.’’

Cochran believes at least one other Chicago course is really good, too. His biggest win on the PGA Tour was in the 1991 Western Open at Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont. The course hosted the PGA Tour for the next 19 years before the Western Golf Assn. went in a different direction. The tourney, now called the BMW Championship, is held out of Chicago every other year and the home layout is Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

Cog Hill is no longer in the rotation. A controversial renovation by architect Rees Jones was blasted by the players, and that was a factor in the WGA’s change in policy.

“I’m upset about that, I really am,’’ said Cochran. “I don’t know the mentality on the (PGA) Tour anymore, but that was one of the most beautiful courses on tour. It took a little rap, but it’s still a wonderful track. You’ve got to blame the architect. He messed up, and that’s a shame.’’

Kirk Triplett wasn’t excited about his Saturday round in the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, even though it was a good one.

Triplett, an early starter, posted his second straight 5-under-par 67 and his 10-under 134 is three strokes behind leader Tom Lehman entering Sunday’s final round.

“If you drive the ball well on this golf course, things set up for you,’’ said Triplett. “I don’t feel like I’m hitting it great, but my misses have all been in good spots….It really seemed like a boring round, but boring just the way you like it – a good boring.’’

What isn’t so boring for Triplett is the development of his son Sam. In April he signed a letter of intent to play for coach Pat Goss at Northwestern and he’ll arrive in Evanston with the chance to make an immediate impact on the NU team.

“It was Sam’s good school work and good golf,’’ said Triplett. “It had nothing to do with me.’’

Sam was the latest signee for Goss, who landed Charles Wang of Sarasota, FL, and Dylan Wu, of Medford, Ore., in November. The trio will be part of a rebuilding effort. Goss’ prize recruit from the previous year, Matt Fitzpatrick, left school after the fall semester and Jack Perry, the star of this year’s squad, used up his eligibility.

Fitzpatrick, an English golfer who won the 2013 U.S. Amateur, decided he couldn’t combine college studies with the golf opportunities afforded the winner of that title. He was the only amateur to make the cut at last week’s U.S. Open and made the cut in his pro debut at the Irish Open, which concludes on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Tripletts, father and son, left North Shore for more afternoon golf nearby after Kirk’s morning round on Saturday. Sam, who has caddied for his father, led his high school team to the Arizona prep title in 2011, won the Ping Match Play Championship in 2012 and tied for third in the Junior America’s Cup in 2013.

“Northwestern has an excellent golf program and a coach who has a reputation for developing his players,’’ said Kirk Triplett. “When they were interested in Sam I was very excited about that. It’s a very good fit for him, and he looked at a lot of schools all across the country.’’

Kirk has travelled across the world playing tournament golf and is in position to win his first tournament since February’s ACE Group Classic in Naples, FL., in Sunday’s final round at North Shore. If he’s successful it’d be his fourth victory in less that three seasons on the Champions Tour. He stands 14th in the Charles Schwab Cup point race and has career winnings on the 50-and-over circuit of over $2.6 million.

“On (the Champions) tour there isn’t the same physical level as there is on the regular tour,’’ said Triplett. “On the regular tour you’ve got to be full throttle, and everything’s got to be going pretty good for you…..I have enough physical ability to compete on this tour. The last four, five years on the regular tour I didn’t feel that way.’’

Triplett won three times on the PGA Tour and also had a win on the satellite Web.com Tour in 2011. Starting at No. 10, he went without a bogey in his Saturday round and the last of his five birdies came on a 30-foot chip-in at No. 5.

Kenny Perry won the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup last year and was the circuit’s only player in action last week when he tied for 28th in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C.

At 53 he was the oldest player to make the cut at the Open, but he wasn’t so good in his return to the 50-and-over set on Friday. He opened with a bogey, added two more (one on a par-5) and settled for a 1-under-par 71 in the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview. After finishing tied for third last year, he’s far down the leaderboard after Day 1.

Perry has been asked about the Open frequently since arriving here.

“In most U.S. Opens I feel pretty stressed out,’’ he said. “You’ve got 25-yard fairways, six-inch rough. Last week you just had the scrub off the fairways and you could actually play out of it. I was excited. I didn’t feel claustrophobic out there and just had a wonderful week.’’

Along the way he holed a 4-iron from 220 yards, a swing that Perry called “the shot of my life.’’

Perry’s start Friday was in keeping with his slower start on the Champions Tour this season. He has but one victory and stands fourth in the Schwab Cup point race. Front-runner Tom Lehman thinks Perry is adjusting to playing on both the PGA and Champions circuits.

“You learn quickly that it’s tough to accomplish much on either tour if you do that,’’ said Lehman. “You’re in no-man’s land. Guys figure out that you’re better off committing to one tour or the other, and Kenny’s done that. He’s committed out here, and he’s playing great. I’m not surprised ever when anybody from (the Champions Tour) steps over to the other (PGA) tour and plays well. I expect it.

Here and there

Most of the 81 touring pros were under par, but not defending champion Craig Stadler. He shot a 1-over-73. Last year his winning score was 13-under for the 54 holes.

Bernhard Langer, winner of the Schwab Cup five times in seven years and the current leader in the point standings for 2014, didn’t start so well, either. He shot 71 in his return to the tour after going on a fishing trip to Alaska with his two sons and brother last week.

The locals had a good day. Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman, who tied for third last year, shot 67 and Lake Forest’s Chip Beck, who plays the circuit on only a limited basis, had 70.

The Encompass wasn’t the only big game in town on Friday. The Western Golf Assn. wrapped up its Western Junior Championship at Flossmoor Country Club with Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, a University of Illinois recruit, finishing in a tie for second behind champion KK Limbhasut, a native of Thailand who now lives in Loma Linda, Calif..

The first day of Chicago’s only pro tour stop of the year certainly had its share of twists on Friday. So many, in fact, that Tom Lehman’s 7-under-par 65 was almost an after-thought. Here’s a sampling:

In the middle of the first round Tiger Woods announced on his Facebook page that he’s ready to compete again. He sent word from Florida that he’ll play in next week’s Quicken Loans National – an event that raises money for his charitable foundation.

Meanwhile, back at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, retired Bear Brian Urlacher drew more gallery attention than most of the Champions Tour players did in the $1.8 million Encompass Championship. He’s again paired with Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman in the two-day two-man pro-amateur portion of the event that concludes on Saturday.

Another long-time Bear, center Patrick Mannelly, made his own retirement announcement from football before teeing off in the pro-am..

Tom Kite, the 1992 U.S. Open champion, criticized the U.S. Golf Assn. for the way it conducts its U.S. Opens, the most recent of which concluded on Sunday at Pinehurst, N.C.

“Since (USGA executive director) Mike Davis started setting up the courses the U.S. Open has had lower scoring than ever before…..At Pinehurst there was no rough at all. A lot of guys can drive the ball very poorly and still have good tournaments. The guys who grew up in the old style, when the rough was very penal, don’t like what’s happened with the U.S. Open.’’

And then there was Roger Chapman, the English golfer who shot a 6-under-par 66 but was more emotionally involved in his country’s dismal showing in the World Cup soccer tournament than he was in his own great round.

“`The press will crucify them,’’ said Chapman. “We invented the bloody game. I can’t remember England being out of the World Cup after two games.’’

Soccer has been the subject of choice between Chapman and his new caddie, Angel Monguzzi since they formed their working relationship.

“He’s an Argentinian guy who caddied for Vicente Fernandez for a long time,’’ said Chapman. “He just seemed to be saying the right things at the right time. We were talking about football and the World Cup, so we had a bit of giggle at England yesterday.’’

That was in the aftermath of a 2-1 loss to Uruguay in England’s first World Cup game. Chapman didn’t find it so funny after another 2-1 loss to Italy while he was on the course Friday. Chapman — winner of two major titles on the Champions Tour last year — is convinced something is wrong soccer-wise, and he blames it on the structure of the English Premier League.

“There needs to be a radical change in the Premier League,’’ he said. “They say the Premier League is the best league in the world. It probably is for the amount of foreigners playing. They’ve got world class players, but we should limit them to three-four per game and let our youngsters in our country know what it’s like.’’

And that’s not all from Chapman.

“(The Engligh soccer players) also get paid too much,’’ he said. “The passion doesn’t seem to be there. It looks as though they want to just go on holiday basically.’’

BENTON HARBOR, MI. – The rap on Colin Montgomerie was that he couldn’t win the big ones. That changed on Sunday at Harbor Shores.

Montgomerie finally won a major title and finally won on American soil. In his Hall of Fame career he had done neither until his four-stroke romp in the 75th Senior PGA Championship.

Playing his entire career on the European PGA Tour Montgomerie accumulated three runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open and one each in the British Open and PGA Championship. Winning a major on the Champions Tour isn’t quite the same as winning one of those, but for Montgomerie – the winner of 40 other tournaments world-wide — it’ll do.

“I’ve been coming here for 22 years for major championship golf, trying to win,’’ said Montgomerie. “It’s a relief that it’s happened. It might have a senior connotation, but it is a major championship and it’s great to be part of history.’’

Tom Watson, who has won his share of majors – eight as a PGA Tour player and five more on the Champions circuit — was Montgomerie’s closest pursuer. Both shot 65s in the final round, Watson doing it thanks to putting four twos on his scorecard. He came within one shot of shooting his age and described his effort as “one of the best rounds from tee to green that I’ve played in years.’’

“But,’’ said Watson, “it wasn’t good enough to beat Colin. He never had any luck playing the regular tour, but he came close a lot of times.’’

Watson won’t be a challenger in Montgomerie’s next tournament appearance, the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club next month. Busy with duties as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Watson ruled out his appearance in Chicago’s only pro tour stop of 2014 after Sunday’s round.

BENTON HARBOR, MI. – Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, but he has yet to win a tournament in the United States. That could change Sunday when he takes a one-shot lead over Germany’s Bernhard Langer into the final round of the 75th PGA Championship at Harbor Shores.

Montgomerie and Langer will be playing together for the fourth straight day in the climax to the second major tourney of the season on the Champions Tour.

The difference in their status after 54 holes came off Montgomerie’s 30-foot downhill putt on the final hole of Saturday’s round. It gave Montgomerie a 68 and three-round total of 7-under-par 206. Langer shot 69.

Montgomerie was a Ryder Cup star for Europe and a runner-up in three U.S. Opens, one British Open and one PGA Championship. This year he opted to join the 50-and-over circuit rather than play the European PGA Tour, his home circuit throughout his pro career.

“I came here to enjoy myself,’’ said Montgomerie. “The last five years on the European Tour weren’t as enjoyable as it is here. I’m on the Champions Tour now and loving it.’’

That’ll be underscored next month when he comes back from Scotland for his next tournament — the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview.

“I hear that course is lovely,’’ said Montgomerie, “and Mike Galeski, the tournament director, runs a great show. He was with Callaway when I was with them, so I look forward to playing in his tournament.’’

Montgomerie isn’t as excited about going head-to-head with the slow-moving Langer in the final round of the Senior PGA.

“I’ve known Bernhard for 30 yards, and I’ll enjoy it,’’ said Montgomerie, “but playing with Bernhard is different. You have to adjust your own pace. There’s no sense rushing with Bernhard.’’

Illinois saw its five-year reign as men’s Big Ten golf champion come to an end two weeks ago, but the Illini still have a longer run going. They qualified for the NCAA finals for the seventh straight time on Saturday by winning the Central Regional at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

Coach Mike Small’s team was a Cinderella story at last year’s NCAA finals, finishing fifth in the stroke play portion and second to Alabama in the match play conclusion. Small has even higher hopes for this year’s finals, at Prairie Dunes in Kansas from May 27-June 1. The event will have live TV coverage for the first time, on The Golf Channel.

The Illini, with only one senior in its top five and junior Alex Burge in the lineup for the first time this season, posted a 16-over-par 880 total to win the three-day, 13-team competition at Rich Harvest by two strokes over Alabama-Birmingham. Five teams qualified for Prairie Dunes, and Illinois also had the tourney medalist in junior Brian Campbell. The Big Ten player-of-the-year posted 5-under-par 211 for the 54 holes and was three swings better than Anthony Paolucci of Southern California, the only other player to break par.

“Our focus was on winning, not just getting into the top five,’’ said Campbell. “Winning is what it’s all about, and we’ll bring that same attitude to the NCAAs. We’re still viewed as underdogs. We’re not given a lot of credit, which I love. Then we just come out and show what we’ve got.’’

Jonathan Hauter was the only senior in the Illini lineup at Rich Harvest. Burge earned his spot by beating sophomore David Kim in a playoff after the second-place finish in the Big Ten tourney. Sophomores Charlie Danielson and Thomas Detry rounded out the team.

“We’re a self-made team — normal guys with great personalities – and our coach molds us into great players with strong minds,’’ said Campbell. The only player missing from last year’s Cinderella team was Thomas Pieters, who left school early to play on the European PGA Tour.

“We don’t have the horse (Pieters) that we had last year, but we’re more consistent,’’ said Small. “This team had a better season than last year’s team.’’

Last year’s team was the first Illini squad to win an NCAA regional, accomplishing the feat as the No. 7 seed, before its exhilarating finish in the finals. Illinois was seeded second and ranked No. 9 nationally going into the Rich Harvest event.

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – It took eight tries, but the LPGA Legends Tour finally witnessed a breakthrough in its premier team event on Sunday.

The Legends’ U.S.-born players had won the ISPS Handa Cup six straight times and retained it last year after the matches ended in a 24-24 tie at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla. Now the cherished Cup is finally in the hands of the World team, consisting of Legends players who were born internationally. And they were in the mood to celebrate (see picture, below).

They took a 14-10 lead into Sunday’s 12 singles matches at Hermitage Golf Club on the outskirts of Nashville en route to a 27-21 victory. They even threatened to make this staging a runaway after Beth Daniel of the U.S. outlasted England’s Laura Davies in what turned out to be the best match of the day.

Daniel won the first match before the World team took charge. A repeat of last year’s tie was assured with five matches still on the course, but it took a 30-foot birdie putt by Australian Jan Stephenson in the next-to-the-last match of the day to assure the World team its long-awaited victory.

“It took a few years for the World team to practice and get better and better and better,’’ said captain Pia Nilsson of Sweden. “We were a team this week, and the passion was so strong. This is just going to make this competition even better, to grow in the future.’’

JoAnne Carner, the first U.S. captain to lose, took the defeat in stride.

“Sometimes you hate to lose, but the way the World team played this week I have no repercussions whatsoever,’’ she said. “They just outplayed us.’’

Nilsson declared Davies her first player out in singles for good reason. She was devastating in Saturday’s best ball and alternate shot matches, going 6-under-par and 5-under-par with partner Trish Johnson to win both. Carner countered with Daniel, who proved every bit up to Davies’ challenge.

Davies made birdies on the second, third and fourth holes but lost the lead at the turn, as Daniel played her front side in 4-under. She was 2-up, and 6-under for the day, going to No. 18 – a 334-yard par-4. The long-hitting Davies then drove the green, leaving her an eagle putt to potentially even the stroke play match.

“Laura would have carried that drive 300 yards,’’ marveled Daniel, “and that wasn’t even downwind.’’ The big drive came off a crosswind, uphill tee shot.

Davies missed her eagle putt, finishing the match at 5-under. Daniel salvaged par for the win to complete the match that took only 3 hours 9 minutes.

“It was like a boxing match out there – really good golf shots and a lot of fun,’’ said Daniel. Though she had a 12-5-2 Handa Cup record prior to Sunday, Daniel doesn’t compete as much as Davies these days. Carner still wanted her out first for the U.S.

“I felt a lot of responsibility,’’ admitted Daniel. “Coming here, I didn’t feel my game was that good but I kind of found it on Saturday when I played really well. JoAnne had the confidence to put me out first. She just said `you’re playing awesome,’’ and I felt honored she picked me. I’m just happy to have found my game for two days. I’m always grateful when that happens.’’

The momentum from Daniel’s big win disappeared quickly, though. Rosie Jones lost her first Handa Cup match in five years, falling to Trish Johnson in the second match. Johnson was just as hot as Daniel, also going 6-under.

The tension started building after Mieko Nomura’s rout of Pat Bradley gave the World a 24-14 advantage, meaning one more point would seal the win. Never was the tension greater than when Nancy Scranton and Liselotte Neumann hit the 18th green.

Scranton hit a great approach to four feet and needed the birdie putt to win the match. She lipped it out. Then Neumann needed to hole a par putt from the same distance to clinch the Cup for the World team. She missed, too. That gave Scranton the win and Cindy Figg-Currier won the next match for the U.S. to make it 24-20.

The last two matches on the course were all even at that point, but Stephenson’s uphill, breaking putt on the 18th ended the suspense against Sherri Turner and Gail Graham and Betsy King tied in the meaningless final match. That left the U.S. squad (pictured above) a loser for the first time.

No site has been announced for next year’s Handa Cup, though Hermitage owner Mike Eller said “We love company…We hope we can do it again.’’

And the players certainly seemed receptive to returning to the course that hosted the LPGA’s Sara Lee Classic from 1988-2002. Next event on the Legends’ schedule also has a Handa connection. The ISPS Handa Open Championship will be held Nov. 8-10 at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa, Fla.

HERE ARE SUNDAY’S SINGLES RESULTS.

Beth Daniel, U.S., def. Laura Davies; Trish Johnson, World, def. Rosie Jones; Cindy Rarick, U.S., def. Jenny Lidback; Helen Alfredsson, World, def. Barb Mucha; Alison Nicholas, World, def. Nancy Lopez; Lorie Kane, World, def. Christa Johnson; Mieko Nomura, World, def. Pat Bradley; Laurie Rinker, U.S., def. Jane Crafter; Nancy Scranton, U.S., def. Liselotte Neumann; Cindy Figg-Currier, U.S., def. Alicia Dibos; Jan Stephenson, U.S., def. Sherri Turner; Gail Graham, World, and Betsy King, U.S., tied.