Senior PGA Championship
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Jay Haas overcame a shaky putter during a topsy-turvy final round that bordered on the surreal - this was unmercifully stingy Oak Hill after all - to hang on and win his second Senior PGA Championship in three years.
Haas endured a five-bogey, one-birdie round of 74 to finish the tournament at 7-over 287 and claim the $360,000 first prize.
Bernhard Langer, the third-round leader, finished second, a shot back after posting a 76 that he began with a double-bogey after striking a spectator with his opening tee shot.
Scott Hoch, Joey Sindelar and 1987 U.S. Open-winner Scott Simpson finished tied for third, two shots back.
Haas was part of the final threesome - with Langer and local favorite Jeff Sluman - that played the East Course 18 over par on Sunday.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Oak Hill presents intimidating challenge to US Senior PGA Championship field
ROCHESTER, New York (AP) -Jeff Sluman, by his count, has played Oak Hill Country Club's golf course about 500 times, which should make him a surefire favorite entering this weekend's U.S. Senior PGA Championship.
Think again.
Sluman isn't 25 any more, and Oak Hill's renown and majestic tree-lined East Course has aged much better, maintaining its long-standing reputation as a place that can wear down anyone: the young, the experienced, the good and even the well-practiced.
"It's just one of those courses that you think you can get, but you never do," said the 50-year-old Sluman, who grew up in Rochester and is a club member. "I think that it doesn't lull you to sleep, but it just constantly puts pressure on every aspect of your game."
Sluman recounted being amused by Phil Mickelson's first impressions after "Lefty" opened the 2003 U.S. PGA Championship at Oak Hill with a 4-under 66.
"I can't get the quote perfect, but when Phil was here, he thought the course was pretty easy," Sluman said, before noting that Mickelson finished outside the top 20 (tied for 23rd). "Oak Hill always has a way of getting back at you."
Then, as if on cue, the walls of the media tent shuddered after being buffeted by a heavy wind that should make Oak Hill's 7,001-yard, par-70 tight and well-protected course an even nastier challenge for the field of 156 competing for the $2 million (?1.27 million) purse, of which $360,000 (?228,500) goes to the winner.
Add with a forecast of rain and unseasonably cold temperatures for the first round Thursday, it leaves some wondering what they might have got themselves into.
"When I played here back in the '80s or whenever, it was a brutal golf course: And I could hit the ball pretty high and drive the ball very straight," said Greg Norman who, at 53, is making his U.S. Senior PGA Championship debut. "So when you come to a golf course that's as tough as Oak Hill ... it's going to be probably more mentally demanding now than it was back when we actually played the game very, very well."
Established at its current site in 1926, Oak Hill has hosted two U.S. PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens and the Ryder Cup in 1995. Out of the five combined majors played at Oak Hill, only 10 players have finished under par. And it's a course that's earned its credentials, boasting such champions as Jack Nicklaus (1980 U.S. Open) and Lee Trevino (1968 U.S. Open).
It's a Donald Ross-designed course that Tiger Woods described as "the best, fairest and toughest championship golf course I've ever played." And that was after he finished the 2003 PGA Championship with an eye-popping 12-over 292.
And it's a course that current U.S. senior tour money leader Bernhard Langer believes "will hold up forever."
"No matter how long the guys will hit it off the tee, it doesn't matter," said Langer, who's playing Oak Hill for the fourth time of his career. "This course is very, very difficult."
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Despite record round, Curtis can't overtake Kim
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Ben Curtis was wrapping up the best final round in Wachovia Championship history, so after his par putt on the 15th, he allowed himself a peek at the leaderboard.
For all of his remarkable play Sunday, he still trailed leader Anthony Kim by a handful of strokes.
It was that kind of day for the PGA Tour's 2003 rookie of the year, and seemingly everybody else at Quail Hollow Club resigned to playing for second place.
Curtis finished with a fourth-round-record 65 that moved him to 11-under 277 - and still five strokes behind Kim.
One reason for that: he began the day nine strokes behind the heavy-hitting 22-year-old.
"I was so far back ... (that) it's no easy accomplishment," Curtis said. "Even shooting 10 under, it would be hard to catch him the way he's playing. I was just trying to post a good number and just (get) in. ... I didn't want to kill myself and (was) lucky to escape with pars."
The previous mark was shared by five players - Phil Mickelson, Chris DiMarco, Carlos Franc, Jim Furry and winner Vijay Singh - who each shot final-round 66s in 2005.
Curtis birdied the first four holes, eagled the par-5 10th and kept himself out of trouble by following each of his two bogeys with birdies. That helped him wrap up his best tournament of the year and sealed his first top-five finish since tying for eighth at last year's British Open.
"I've been playing well this year. I've just had one bad round that kills me, puts me out of the tournament," Curtis said. "But this week, I put four pretty good rounds together. ... I got off to a good start today, and I just want to keep riding that wave and hopefully keep it going next week."
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Scott wastes 3-shot lead, wins Nelson on 3rd hole of playoff with Moore
IRVING, Texas (AP) -Adam Scott made a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to force a playoff, then made a 48-footer playing it again on the third playoff hole to beat Ryan Moore in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday.
Playing the 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, the second time in the playoff, Scott hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker to the right. He got his approach to the front of the green, then rolled the putt over two ridges and into the cup.
Moore still had a chance to force another hole, but his pin-high putt from the fringe skimmed just past the cup.
Scott, the Australian who cut short a post-Masters trip home to capitalize on his good form, wasted a three-stroke lead he carried into the final round. But he made the clutch shots when he needed them for his sixth PGA Tour victory, and first this season.
"I got away with one today," said Scott, at No. 10 in the world the highest-ranked player in the Nelson field.
The playoff started with both players making pars, first at No. 18 and then at the TPC Four Seasons' signature par 3, the 198-yard 17th hole, where Moore had taken a one-stroke lead in regulation by curling in a 12-foot birdie putt.
A playoff was fitting after a back-and-forth Sunday duel between Scott and Moore, who finished at 7-under 273, four shots ahead of Bart Bryant (72). Nicholas Thompson (67), Mark Hensby (69) and Carl Pettersson (69) finished tied for fourth at 2 under.
Moore had a closing 2-under 68, taking the lead with his birdie putt at No. 17 in regulation. Scott, playing in the final group behind Moore, saved par with a two-putt from 84 feet there minutes later before his playoff-forcing birdie at 18.
Playing conditions at the redesigned TPC Four Seasons changed drastically again after rain overnight combined with blustery conditions Sunday. It was an unseasonable cool day with temperatures barely reaching 60 degrees, with wind gusting to 30 mph making it feel cooler - and making club selection harder.
The winning score was the highest since the Nelson moved to the Las Colinas venue in 1983. Only three other times had a winner failed to finish at least 10-under par, and two of those were in rain-shortened tournaments.
Scott missed opportunities to win on each of the first two playoff holes, leaving makable birdie putts short both times.
Moore played for only the third time in 10 weeks, having taken some extra time off this spring instead of continuing to play through the pain of a sore shoulder and surgically repaired left hand still bothering him two years later. He opened with a 67 for a share of the lead.
"After this week, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season," Moore said.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Taiwan rookie Tseng shoots 64, takes two-stroke lead after two rounds of Ginn Open
REUNION, Florida (AP) -Taiwanese rookie Yani Tseng shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead over the field after two rounds of the LPGA's Ginn Open.
Tseng moved to a two-round total of 12-under 132, with Norway's Suzann Pettersen the nearest pursuer on 10-under.
World's No.1 Lorena Ochoa and Finland's Minea Blomqvist were a stroke further back.
Tseng, who earned her tour card in qualifying school last year, went a stroke better than Cristie Kerr's opening round at the Ginn in 2006. Only a bogey on the final hole prevented her taking a three-stroke advantage into the weekend.
Nonetheless, Tseng was ecstatic with her round that included five consecutive birdies and seven putts of 10 feet or longer.
"It was awesome," she said. "I feel I have a lot of confidence for my putting."
Her entire game has been solid this year. She ranks fifth in scoring average and has five top-25 finishes in as many starts.
She was second at the MasterCard Classic last month, 14th at the Safeway International and tied for 21st at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Pettersen checked out the leaderboard at one point, saw Tseng at 13 under and thought, "What course is she playing?"
"I was a little surprised when I saw that number," Pettersen said.
Tseng had hoped to start the third round in the final group with Ochoa. But Pettersen birdied her final hole - she just missed an eagle putt - and knocked Ochoa out of the closing threesome.
"I like coming from behind," Ochoa said. "I don't think you have the pressure to be on top for four days. I really like where I am right now. I feel comfortable where I am. It's nice to be a few shots behind."
Ochoa missed every birdie putt she had during the first eight holes, but got things going on the par-5 No. 9. She just missed the green with her second shot, chipped to 6 feet and then sank the putt.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
4 no-names vs. the 1 none of them dare forget
AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) -The four names ahead of Tiger Woods going into Sunday's final round belong to guys who could have spent the last few years in golf's version of a witness-protection program.
Steve Flesch, to pick one, is so little known that when he walked into the interview room at the Masters a day earlier, he was introduced as "Steve Fresh."
Fresh, though, is a lot better than some of the mispronunciations Brandt Snedeker has endured. At a tournament site not too long ago, the second-year pro sheepishly let on that he'd been called, among other things, "Snotlicker." Neither third-round leader Trevor Immelman, who's at 11 under, nor Paul Casey, who's the bottom slice of the sandwich at 7 under, had similar tales to tell. But give them time.
Those who still remember Zach Johnson coming out of nowhere to hold off Woods at Augusta National last year have to be wondering what the odds are of it happening again. Casey has no problem acknowledging he's one of them.
Asked about the intimidation factor of being pursued by the greatest golfer of not just this era but perhaps every other, the Englishman said, "I don't think it's a case of guys quaking in their boots. It's just they are not as good as he is."
Though all of them were Woods' equal on Saturday, give or take a shot, one round does not a career make. The four have a combined total of six U.S. PGA Tour wins, 11 European Tour wins and zero majors. Tiger has four Masters titles among his 13 major wins, 64 on the U.S. PGA Tour and 34 in Europe.
"Who is that guy in fifth place?" Snedeker said. "Oh, Tiger Woods, yeah, that guy. (Laughter).
"Yeah, I'm sure he's going to be a factor. His name is going to be on the leaderboard somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be there on the back nine. You have to realize that Trevor and all of us in front of him, if we go out there and play a good round of golf; he's going to have to play an extremely great round of golf to beat us.
"I know Tiger is going to go out there and shoot 4- or 5-under tomorrow, knowing him, the way he plays. And as good as he's playing right now, he played a hell of a round today, and that does not bode well for us if we think we're going to be able to shoot 1- or 2-under and win this golf tournament."
Flesch didn't start thinking of himself as prey until he arrived at the final green and waited for a rules official to sort out where Phil Mickelson, his playing partner, would drop his ball after bouncing an approach shot off the TV tower.
"I figure, you know, what the heck, I'm on 18, I have some time, I might as well look," Flesch said.
"You can't get too caught up in it out here, but there's that Woods guy, and everybody is always looking. I was looking because I was curious like everyone else, what did Tiger shoot today? ... I was just trying to keep my attention off the 4-footer I had for birdie to be honest with you.
"If somebody had a Coke and a pizza," Flesch added, "I might have had a slice of that, too."
Immelman's 69 could have been at least two shots higher if not for a few fortuitous blades of grass on the bank fronting the pond on No. 15. He hit a sand wedge on his third shot at the par-5, then watched with some trepidation as it spun back off the putting surface and down the steepest part of that bank toward the drink.
"I just hit it so flush with so much spin and it came out on too low of a trajectory. You know, once it came back, I knew there was a chance it was going to go in the water. I must say," the South African said, "I couldn't quite believe it when it stayed up."
Speaking of unbelievable, every one of the four delivered a set piece to the effect that all they had to do was worry about playing their own game, and how playing in the final round of a major was something they practiced for, dreamed about and couldn't wait to wake up and face.
But then reality intervened in the form of a question, not unlike the cold snap and 25-to-35 mph (40-to-55 kph) gusts of wind expected to rake Augusta National on Sunday.
"In reality," someone asked Snedeker, "how difficult is it to get the name Tiger Woods out of your head for tomorrow?"
"When I figure out how to do that," he replied, "I think I'll be able to charge some guys out here and get them to pay me. If he gets off to a great start tomorrow it's going to be in everybody's head. And that's something, as long as we acknowledge it and know it and try to counteract it and realize, hey, he is not going to be a factor in the next golf shot that I hit, you've got a chance of overcoming it.
"But to sit here and say we are not going to be thinking about Tiger Woods tomorrow is crazy because we are," Snedeker said, "just like everybody else in this room is and just like everybody else in this world is.
"We're human," he said. "What can we say?"
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Buildup to the Masters starts on a soft, slow golf course
AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) -There was a buzz at Augusta National on Monday.
David Toms heard it after finishing nine holes of practice on a course that was soft and wet, nothing like last year's Masters. It was the whirring of the system that siphons moisture out of the turf.
"It's wet - very wet," Toms said. "If this tells you anything, I backed up a ball with a driver on No. 9. I played the back nine yesterday and had to hit my 5-iron four or five times. I got done and thought about having my 5-iron re-grooved. I hope it firms up. We need it dry just to make it interesting."
It was dry the last time so many players were assembled at Augusta, helping pave the way for Zach Johnson, a moderate hitter off the tee, to become a surprise winner at the season's first golf major. Johnson did most of his scoring on the par 5s, as winners tend to do, but he laid up on all of them.
The winning score was 1-over 289, matching the highest ever at the Masters. A major with a reputation of catering to length seemed to be an invitation for any style of game.
But no one is sure what to expect this week.
The brilliant colors of Augusta National were offset by soft, gray clouds on the first full day of practice, this after a weekend that brought 7 1/2 centimeters (3 inches) of rain. Isolated thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend as the temperature rises.
This might be bad news for guys such as Johnson, Toms and Australia's Nick O'Hern, who already has twice beaten Tiger Woods in match play.
"It would be nice if the fairways could be dry again," O'Hern said. "I've only known bloody long on this golf course. You just hit it as far and as straight as you can. There's no shaping the ball, except to the greens. Just get up there and smash it."
Boo Weekley was flipping through the channels Sunday night when he came across a Masters highlight show. He said players were hitting 9-iron and wedges into the greens, which wasn't quite the case Monday during his first full practice round.
The club of choice was usually a 6-iron at best.
"I got up there today and I was standing there going, 'Gawd dog, what year was this?' I know I didn't hit it that bad off the tee," Weekley said. "On No. 18, I hit a 4-iron."
Sean O'Hair returned to the Masters for only the second time and felt as though the course had gotten longer, or he had become shorter. He couldn't reach the bunker off the tee on the first, second and fifth holes.
"It's just so wet, and the air was heavy," O'Hair said. "It's a little hairy. The course is still in excellent shape. But it's a little slower than I expected. It's definitely going to be easier on the greens, but it's just going to play so long."
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
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