LUMBERTON — After Scott Benton made a 30-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole in Sunday’s final round of the Robeson County Golf Championship sponsored by Dial Insurance, he held a share of the Championship Division lead for the first time in the round.

For about 60 seconds.

Ryan Bass answered by making a downhill 6-footer for birdie to regain the lead, which he held the rest of the way to earn a one-stroke victory over Benton.

“That’s part of grinding,” Bass said. “You’ve got to make those putts to win the golf tournament, and luckily I did. Scott made a charge, and that long eagle putt on 15, it definitely putt pressure on me, that’s for sure.”

After his birdie on No. 15, Bass created some separation with a birdie at No. 16, hitting his approach to tap-in range despite a small stick resting behind his ball.

“I went ahead and swung through it, and I’m so used to being in the woods that that shot didn’t really seem too hard for me,” Bass said. “I’m used to hitting those type of shots, and luckily I pulled it off.”

Benton made a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 17 and missed a 20-foot birdie putt at the final hole that would have forced a playoff.

“I got a good something to try this morning, and it worked out pretty good and I just kind of worked on it all day,” Benton said. “I started out pretty slow, but I just felt pretty confident for most of the day so that made a big difference.”

Bass finished at 5-under 211 after shooting under par each day in the 54-hole Championship Division format, with rounds of 71, 70 and 70. Benton shot a 4-under 68 Sunday to finish at 4 under after rounds of 70 and 74 the first two days; the four-time champion has several runner-up finishes, including to Bass last year, since his most recent tournament title in 1992.

After previous wins in 2013 and 2019, Bass is the first back-to-back winner in the event since Kyle Covington in 2015 and becomes the sixth player to win the Championship Division three times or more.

Jamie Locklear, who was tied for the lead with Bass entering the final round, faded to third with a final-round 77, finishing with a 2-over total.

“I don’t like the way I performed today, but the conditions have been tough all weekend,” Locklear said. “Just to be out here again, the challenges, I was just glad to compete against these guys.”

Bass was 2 over for the round through seven holes, tied with Locklear at 1 under overall, before he got his round going by hitting his approach from the pine straw at the par-5 eighth hole to 8 feet, and converting the eagle putt.

“It got me off to a better start than my first seven holes; it helped out a lot,” Bass said. “I think that was the shot of the tournament for me, because without that I would’ve still been sitting at 2 over (for the day) going into No. 9, and I really dislike No. 9.”

At the same time, Benton was starting his charge. After making bogey on the first two holes and par on the next five, he made a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 8, a 25-footer at No. 9 and a 3-footer at No. 10 to get under par for the tournament.

“I felt like I was hitting some pretty good shots (the first seven holes). I made a good up-and-down on seven, and that kind of gave my a little momentum, I felt like I was getting some rhythm for the game.”

A tap-in birdie on the par-3 10th moved Bass to 4 under, three ahead of Benton.

“10 was a plus,” Bass said. “I haven’t parred it all week, so I was really going into that hole just hoping for par, and hit it to a couple inches.”

Bass three-putted for bogey at No. 13, trimming his lead to two strokes. Both leaders made par at No. 14 before Benton made his 15th-hole eagle.

“It was really nice, after I hit a decent tee shot, not great, but then hit a good iron into the green and made that about-30-footer,” Benton said. “It was really nice and kind of got me going a little bit. I knew I needed to make everything, but then Ryan hit it to about a foot and a half on 16 which made it tough.”

Bass said all week his goal was limiting mistakes, and while he had his share of bogeys for the week, he played the entire 54 holes without a double bogey.

“That was my biggest thing — limit the mistakes,” Bass said. “Yeah, I had bogeys, but I didn’t have any doubles that threw me out of the golf tournament. All weekend was just a grind. I didn’t hit the ball well, I just made the putts when I needed to, that was the biggest thing for me this week.”

Ian Locklear shot a final-round 5-under 67, the low round of the tournament, to finish in a tie for fourth at 3 over with Brad Locklear, who shot 1-over 73 Sunday.

Jeff Wishart shot a even-par 72 in the final round to win the first flight by five strokes with a total score of 9-over 225.

Steve Pippin was second in the first flight with a Sunday 75 and a 230 total. Jeff Broadwell shot 74 in the final round to finish third in the flight at 232.

A Sunday round of 77 helped Joseph Martin to a six-stroke win in the second flight, with a 54-hole total of 239.

Chris Jackson was second in the second flight with a 245 total after a closing 83 and Mickey Strickland shot 78 Sunday to finish third at 247.