Glenn Howard continued his dominance of Kevin Koe at the Grey Power World Cup of Curling, overcoming a 4-3 deficit to earn a 6-4 win in Sunday's final in Mississauga, Ont.
Howard made an open hit for two points in the seventh end to take a 5-4 lead and stole one in the eighth for his fourth consecutive title at the event formerly known as the Masters.
The last three have come at the expense of Koe, who is now 0-6 in championship games in the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.
"I was a little sluggish the first couple of ends. I felt I let the guys down a bit," Howard told CBC Sports, referring to teammates Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill.
"[Koe] got a steal of two and then I made a good one [in the second end] just to kind of hang in there. The boys said 'don't worry, we're not going to give up.' We just hung on … and made a great deuce in [end] seven and fortunately stole one in eight."
Howard's rink from Coldwater, Ont., finished the event with a 10-0 record and took home a cheque of $24,000 after claiming their eighth Grand Slam title.
Howard, who has reached the final in six of the last seven majors, pulled out a 5-4 semifinal victory over Norway's Thomas Ulsrud on Saturday night when he executed a perfect tap back to the four-foot on the game's final shot.
Koe, fresh off a 6-4 semifinal win over Brad Gushue of St. John's, struck first on Sunday at the Hershey Centre with a steal of two in the opening end as Howard delivered an uncharacteristic miss on last rock.
Leading 2-1, Koe restored his two-point lead in the third end before Howard drew for two in the fourth to tie his Edmonton opponent 3-3.
Koe responded in the sixth end with a triple takeout to pull ahead 4-3, but couldn't build on the lead and is winless in six Grand Slam finals.
The next time he will face Howard in a marquee event is Dec. 5-13 at the Canadian Olympic trials in Edmonton. Kevin Martin and Randy Ferbey are the other skips who have already clinched spots in the eight-team field.
Guelph, Ont., is the site of the next Grand Slam, The National, starting Jan. 9.
