BEACHWOOD, Ohio — Even Michael Allen's daughter needs reassurance that, yes, finally, her father won a golf tournament.

Allen, a 50-year-old journeyman, had spent 12 full seasons and parts of several others on the PGA Tour but had never tasted victory. So when Allen's wife Cynthia called soon-to-be 12-year-old Michelle on Sunday, moments after her father had won the Senior PGA Championship, Michelle wanted to make sure she understood.

"She goes, 'Daddy won, right? He didn't tie, he won?"' Cynthia said. After she assured her daughter that her father had won, she asked again. "Are you sure he just didn't tie?" she said

Nope. For a change, Michael Allen won something.

His two-shot victory over Larry Mize was his first of any kind since the 1998 Greater Austin Open on the Nationwide Tour. His only other win came in the 1989 Bell's Scottish Open on the European Tour.

He joined the PGA Tour in 1988, although he took a three-year break in the late 1990s because he was sick of cashing checks but not winning. He dabbled in home construction and as a teaching pro but missed the life and lifestyle of a globe-trotting pro.

On his 13th trip to the Q-school finals, he regained his card and played at least 20 tournaments every year since 2002.