Ted Schulz wouldn't allow himself to think about winning. But the 29-year-old unknown finally did - and won anyway.
Schulz shot a 4-under-par 66 Sunday to hold off a streaking Tim Simpson and Jay Haas and capture by one stroke his first PGA tournament, the Southern Open in Columbus, Ga., with a 266 total.Simpson rang up a 63 with eight birdies over his final 13 holes on a cloudy day with blustery winds to put the pressure on Schulz, playing about an hour behind.
"I didn't think about winning until No. 16," said Schulz, who played on the Asian tour last year after failing to qualify for the PGA tour. He earned only $18,000 in 1987, his first year on tour.
"I was trying not to think about winning and just play each hole,"
In contention several times earlier in the year, Schulz said he thought about winning, and stumbled. His best previous finish was a tie for third in Milwaukee.
After rounds of 66, 68 and 66 on the par-70, 6,775-yard Green Island Country Club course, Schulz started the day two shots off third-round leader David Canipe's 198 total.
Bob Tway, Larry Rinker and Lance Ten Broeck tied for fourth at 270. Tway had a 67, Rinker a 68 and Ten Broeck a 69 Sunday.
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At Buena Park, Calif., Nancy Lopez recovered from a shaky start and shot a 2-under-par 70 for a two-stroke victory over fast-closing Alice Ritzman and rookie Pam Wright on Sunday in the MBS Classic.
Lopez, who had a 72-hole total of 11-under-par 277, won her 42nd career tournament and her seventh in Southern California.
Wright, the third-round leader who was trying for her first LPGA victory, held or shared the lead through the first eight holes. But she wasn't able to keep up with Lopez, who made her move at the ninth hole for the second straight round.