John Mahaffey was ready to look at 1989 as just another year of work on the PGA Tour. That was before he received some friendly advice from his wife.
"My wife told me there was still a lot of golf to play and to get off my butt," said Mahaffey, who came from three strokes back on Sunday to win the $1 million Federal Express St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., by three shots."I hadn't won since the 1986 Tournament Players Classic and it's been a long road back," said Mahaffey, whose 6-under-par 65 closing round gave him a 72-hole score of 272, 12 under par. Bob Gilder, Bernhard Langer, Bob Tway and Hubert Green were each three shots back after four rounds over the 7,006-yard, par-71 Tournament Players Club course at Southwind.
Mahaffey said a two-week break during which he pondered his golfing future brought him to the conclusion that he had to become more agressive.
"I was getting complacent. I found myself just trying to make cuts. I was not aggressive. I didn't like playing that way. I really wanted to win," the 1978 PGA Championship winner said.
"I birdied the first hole today and I started thinking about winning. I said `Let's be aggressive,' " Mahaffey said.
The title chase boiled down to a battle between Mahaffey and Gilder, who had shared the third-round lead with Langer at 9-under.
After slipping to 8-under early in his round, Gilder challenged for the lead until he took consecutive bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes while Mahaffey moved to 12-under with a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th.
"I got off to a slow start and I really wasn't making the putts," Gilder said. "I was just kind of dragging my tail the first nine holes.
"It was tough coming in, and it was the guy who stuffed it in like John did on 17 that was going to win," Gilder said. "He played well. He went out and won the tournament."
While Gilder and others struggled to find their game, Mahaffey stuck to his go-for-broke strategy.
Mahaffey, who made the turn at 4-under 32, didn't let bogeys at No. 11 and No. 14 slow him down. He came back with four birdies on the back side, including his decisive putt at the 17th.
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And at Potomac, Md., Beth Daniel snapped a four-year winless streak Sunday by making 18 straight pars for a four-stroke victory over Sherri Turner in the Greater Washington Open.
Daniel earned $45,000 to move past Pat Bradley and into third place on the LPGA's earnings list this year. She took a four-shot lead into the final round and never faltered in finishing at 8-under-par 205 for 54 holes.
She put the final touches on her long-awaited triumph by sinking a five-foot putt on No. 18. When the ball dropped in the cup, she thrust both fists skyward and embraced her caddy.
Turner came out of the pack to finish second with birdies on three of the last four holes for a 65, the best round of the day.
Betsy King, the leading money-winner on the LPGA Tour this year, finished in a third-place tie with Danielle Ammaccapane at 210. Ammaccapane had a final-round 66 and King, after parring holes 7 through 16, birdied 17 and 18 for a 68.
Debbie Massey shot a 70 and was alone at 212.
Daniel's last previous victory was in the 1985 Inamori Classic. She finished in second place four times this year, including a loss to Dottie Mochrie in a playoff and a one-stroke defeat to Allison Finney after Daniel shot a 2-over in the final round.
This time, Daniel stayed atop the leader board for good after opening the 54-hole tournament with a 66.
Daniel, who finished second last year after bogeying the 18th hole, has yet to have a round over par in six trips over the 6,250-yard Bethesda Country Club course.