At the rain-soaked Fred Meyer Challenge in Portland, Ore., blood was thicker than water.
Brothers Lanny and Bobby Wadkins, teamed for the first time in a professional golf event, won the $700,000 tournament by three strokes Tuesday in a final round played in a constant, often heavy, downpour."I wasn't concerned about the rain," Lanny said. "I just didn't want to play in it. I'd much rather be inside somewhere having something warm to drink."
The wettest Fred Meyer Challenge also was the best, at least in terms of scoring. The Wadkinses combined for a 36-hole score of 22-under-par 122, breaking the tournament record by three strokes.
The entire Portland Golf Club course may have been a water hazard, but the brothers didn't seem to mind.
"It was a lot of fun for us to play together," Lanny said. "We've been wanting to do this for a couple of years."
The Wadkins brothers were 10-under-par for the final round. They had 20 birdies, an eagle and no bogeys in the two-day event.
Lanny is a better known and, by far, more successful golfer than his brother. But it was Bobby who clinched the victory with his late play on the rain-soaked par-72, 6,632-yard Portland Golf Club course.
"Lanny's great play rubbed off on me," Bobby said, "And on the last four holes, when he kind of hit some shots in trouble, I had to take over. And I hit some great shots on 16, 17 and 18."
Bobby, who never has won a Professional Golf Association event in the United States, hit iron shots within four feet of the cup on 15, two feet on 16 and five on 17. He had four birdies in the final round. Lanny had six.
The two practice together just about every week. But they rarely get a chance to play together.
"I thought a couple of times today how much our father and mother were going to enjoy watching this on television," Lanny said.
The only serious challenge came from Fred Couples and Lee Trevino, who shot a final round 60, matching the tournament record for a single round set by the Wadkinses in much better weather on Monday.
Couples and Trevino led briefly before winding up in a tie for second with the team of Greg Norman and Curtis Strange at 19-under-par 125.
The Wadkins brothers began the final round with a two-stroke lead. They trailed Couples and Trevino for a few minutes after Couples made it to the green in two on the par-5, 558-yard 18th hole, then two-putted for birdie.
But Lanny sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the next hole to give his team sole possession of the lead again.
In a best-ball, team format, it's hard to catch the leaders because bogeys are few and far between. There were only nine in the entire tournament. By contrast, there were 168 birdies.
"We always knew we were going to get a few more birdies," Bobby said.
U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin and Mark McCumber finished tied for fourth with the team of Paul Azinger and Ben Crenshaw at 17-under-par 127. Tournament sponsor Peter Jacobsen and teammate Arnold Palmer were at 128.
Couples had eight of his team's 12 birdies. He chipped it in from 25 feet on the first hole and sank a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4, 384-yard 13th hole.
"We've been here for four years and we never had a day like this," Couples said of his final round. "It was fun to go out and shoot 60."
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The first round of U.S. Amateur qualifying in Denver has a way of elevating obscure players to the front, and Chip Stewart is a case in point.
A 43-year-old Texas businessman who hasn't played in the Amateur since 1969, Stewart found himself the pacesetter on Tuesday with a 4-under-par 68.
But Stewart's bid for medalist honors figured to meet a stiff challenge from three favorites - defending champion Chris Patton, two-time NCAA titlist Phil Mickelson and two-time Amateur winner Jay Sigel - all of whom were in contention.
Patton and Mickelson shot 71s, and Sigel was at 72.