Steve Elkington has watched fellow Australians like Greg Norman make their mark on the PGA Tour for the past three years. Now, he's ready to make a name for himself.
Elkington burned up the back nine with a 31 for a 6-under-par 66 to win the Greater Greensboro Open in Greensboro, N.C., for his first PGA Tour victory."I think everybody all over the world holds a player up a little different until he's won," Elkington said. "I think winning is very big out here, extremely big."
Elkington, who started the day seven shots behind Mike Reid, took his 72-hole total of 6-under-par 282 to the clubhouse and watched all challengers to his lead fade away.
Reid, who faded with three bogeys on the back nine for a 75, ended up tied for second with Jeff Sluman for second.
Elkington, an Australian who hasn't missed the cut in his 11 starts this year, became the second player this year to come from seven shots back to win. The other was Norman, who won the Doral Open in a playoff.
On the back nine, Elkington hit a 9-iron within 10 feet for birdie at 11. He also made short birdie putts on 12, 13, 17 and 18 for the score that withstood challenges from five other golfers.
Fred Couples was within two shots with two holes to play, but his bogey at the par-3 17th hole ended his hopes. He finished with a 73 and was at 285 along with Mike Hulbert, who had a 69, and Paul Azinger, who shot a roller-coaster 67.
John Huston, who finished second at the GGO last year, and Chip Beck were next at 286, as was 1985 champion Joey Sindelar.
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And at Austin, Texas, Charles Coody and Dale Douglass completed a runaway victory in the Legends of Golf tournament Sunday, coasting to a seven-shot win and setting a scoring record in the process.
Coody and Douglass shot a final-round 66 - by four strokes their highest of the tournament - to break the 72-hole scoring record for the Senior Tour event. They finished at 249, 39 under par for four trips over the Barton Creek Country Club course. The old record was 251.
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