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Such was the case for Sunday's final round of the 89th Annual Chicken Dinner Golf Tournament and, not surprisingly, one of the tournament's most experienced veterans stepped to the forefront again.

Three shots back when the 10 a.m. shotgun start began, LaFayette native P.J. Shields turned in a 2-under round of 70, the lowest round of the day among the 16 players in the championship flight, to capture the title with a 36-hole score of 139.

Shields opened with a 3-under 69 on Saturday, which was almost a carbon copy of his last win in 2023 when he posted a 68 and a 70 to win by two strokes. He now has five Chicken Dinner titles, tying his mentor Eddie Jackson for second on the all-time list.

"Tied Eddie, who's obviously my idol," said Shields, whose other three victories came in 2013, 2014 and 2018. "He's been giving me lessons since I started playing golf at 12 years old, so it's good to be part of that."

Jackson famously won five straight Chicken Dinner titles from 1978-1982. Al Stanfield won it six times between 1965-1983, while Ladell Norton also claimed six titles from 1986-2002.

Shields explained that while most of his free time these days are spent doting on his nearly three-year-old daughter, he still tries to get in a practice round or two in every week.

"I'm trying to play as many invitationals as I can on the weekends," he said. "I have about 8-10 tournaments lined up this year, but good to get back in the winner's circle, as always.

"I live in Knoxville now, so it's always a pleasure to come back and see everyone out here. They do such a great job of putting on this tournament every year. It's great to back around the home crowd and get it done."

Hayden Bowman, the 18-hole leader after a 6-under 66. carded a 75 in tougher conditions on Sunday to finish at 141, a number matched by 2024 tournament winner, Dawson Day, who had rounds of 69 and 72. Day took second and Bowman third on a scorecard playoff, while Rudy Lee had back-to-back rounds of 71 to place fourth at 142.

Jake Wehunt was next at 144, followed by Keaton Stanfield and 2022 champion Grant Langford at 145. Two-time champion Shonn Weldon (146) was eighth, while Allen Sweatman (147) and Luke Potts (148) rounded out the top 10. The rest of the championship flight included Robert Jacks (149), Rob Neal (149), Ayden Cordell (151), Kenny Mealor (151) and Jason Maples (154).

"I told Keaton earlier, it seems like this course changes every year," Shields explained. "I played here a couple of weeks ago and the greens were soft and receptive, but now they're firm and they bounce, so you have to account for that. Plus it was windy today, so that makes it tough. Not the ideal condtions for going low.

"You just have to limit your mistakes. I had a couple of lucky chip-ins this weekend that I ended up making 4's instead of 6's. It takes some breaks to win around here."

Jason Shattuck, Director of Recreation for the city of LaFayette, said he appreciated this year's participants for working with tournament organizers to finish all 36 holes despite some weather issues.

"We had a great group of golfers this year that wanted to get it in and they worked with us and stayed patient," he said. "We couldn't have asked for better weather (Sunday). It worked out beautifully for us, so we're happy with the turnout."

Shattuck added that he was excited to see younger players taking part in the tournament and testing themselves against Chicken Dinner veterans.

"We had a couple of kids, like 13 or 14 years old, playing this year," he continued. "Davis Grinnell (a rising LaFayette High sophomore) won his flight, so there are some promising young golfers coming up. We here at LaFayette have always welcomed young players and we try to get them out on the course all the time."

Ryan Cannington had the low round on Sunday with a 66. That, coupled with his 75 on Saturday, gave him the first flight title with a 141. He was followed in the top four by Brad Beck (149), Justin Hickman (150) and Rick Donnahoo (151).

Second flight honors went to McCord Hood, who had back-to-back rounds of 80 for a 160. Guy Percy (161) was second on a scorecard playoff, followed by Anderson McCary (161) and John Stanley (161).

Drew Tankersley (84-82) won the third flight with a 166, besting runner-up Stephen Keen (166) and third-place finisher Brandon Wallin (166) on a scorecard playoff. Jordan Allen (167) was fourth.

Grinnell (92-86) was the fourth flight winner at 178, followed by Clay Newsom (179), Kyle Ludy (179) and Scott Davis (180).