Mike Hulbert, the local boy, had wanted to win the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y., for a long time. When it happened, he nearly missed the moment.
Hulbert, a native of Horseheads, N.Y., about 45 miles away, sank a par putt on the first playoff hole Sunday to beat Bob Estes, who bogeyed the hole after sailing his drive off the fairway.
Everyone but Hulbert realized the tournament was over.
"Yeah, I was going to the next hole," Hulbert said. "It took a while to hit me.
"I was ready for the playoff to go more holes. Heck, Bob didn't make a bogey all day. I just got my mind set in one direction and nothing was going to stray me from that."
He was finally allowed to stray when the winner's check of $90,000 was jammed into his hand. Hulbert, who closed with a 65, and Estes, who shot a 68, completed 72 holes over the 6,966-yard, par-71 En-Joie Golf Club at 16-under-par 268. Each had an opportunity to win in regulation, but each missed a long birdie putt on the final hole.
Estes began the playoff by hitting his drive on the 388-yard, par-4 No. 1 hole off to the right, about 20 yards behind a stand of trees. He hit his second shot beyond the back of the green into an area of ground under repair. Given a free drop, he chipped 10 feet past the hole and missed the par putt coming back.
Elkington finished one shot out of the playoff at 269 after tying the record set by Fuzzy Zoeller in 1982 and tied by Jay Delsing in 1985. Elkington had 10 birdies and one bogey in his round.
Zoeller shot a 69 and Eichelberger a 70 to tie at 271. Wayne Levi was alone at 272 after closing with a 66, Gil Morgan shot 68 for 273, and Nolan Henke was at 274 after a final 65.
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And at Portland, Ore., Muffin Spencer-Devlin played steady golf while the other leaders faltered Sunday as she claimed a one-stroke victory in the $300,000 Cellular One-Ping Championship.Spencer-Devlin, getting her first LPGA victory in three years, shot a 1-under-par 71 to finish at 2-under 214 on the sun-drenched par-72, 6,258-yard Riverside course.
She started the day four strokes out of the lead.
Canadian Dawn Coe and local favorite Susan Sanders, both of whom blew big leads in the final round, wound up tied with Nancy Lopez and Tammie Green for second.
Spencer-Devlin's crucial shot turned out to be a 35-foot putt to save par on the par-4 14th hole.
Spencer-Devlin, 35, won for the first time since the United Virginia Bank Classic in 1986.
Both Coe and Sanders were seeking their first LPGA victories and both saw their games collapse.
Coe, who started the day with a four-shot lead at 5-under-par 139, lost five strokes in the first eight holes. She missed a pair of 2-foot putts for a double-bogey on the par-3 fourth hole and a bogey on the par-5 fifth, then had another double-bogey on the par-4 eighth.
Coe, a non-winner on the tour, birdied the ninth to pull back to 1-under-par but never regained the lead.