Kite rallies on the back nine to win Boeing Classic

Simpson started the day with a two-stroke lead and birdied Nos. 1 and 7 before dropping a shot at the 8th with his first bogey in 44 holes dating to last week's JELD-WEN Tradition. Simpson was then stuck at 12-under, failing to give himself any reasonable birdie chances on the back nine.

His hopes ended when a 2-foot par putt horseshoed around the hole on the 16th, putting him two behind Kite with two holes to play.

"It's fun to be in the hunt, but it's disappointing not to win," said Simpson, who is in a two-year drought of his own.

John Cook was tied for second when he made the turn at 10-under, but his irons failed him on the back nine. He saved par after poor approaches on Nos. 10 and 11, but couldn't do the same from a bunker on 12, falling back to 9-under.

Cook made a birdie on the 16th, and added another when he put his tee shot within 5 feet on the 185-yard par-3 17th. By then, Kite had birdied the 15th to take command.

The only player to make a charge from the back of the field was defending champion Denis Watson, who started the day at 3-under, then eagled the par-5 first when he holed out from about 65 yards. He added birdies at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, and his birdie on the long par-4 11th got him to 9-under.

Then Watson started missing chances. His 13-footer slid past the hole at 14, and he left a 10-footer on the lip at No. 15. Watson added one more birdie coming in, but his chances ended with a bogey on the par-5 18th. He finished at 9-under and tied for fifth, his best finish since tying for fifth at the Regions Charity Classic in May.

"I was feeling like if I shot 10-under today, I could win the golf tournament," Watson said. "If I get to 13 (under), that is tough at the end of the day."

But even 13-under wouldn't have beaten Kite on this day.

"This feels really, really good," Kite said.