With his lead never threatened until the very end, Ray Floyd survived an inconsistent 1-over-par 73 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory over Hale Irwin in the Senior Players Championship.
Floyd, who began the round with a four-stroke advantage over Irwin and stretched the margin to seven with seven holes left, had a 13-under 275 total for his first victory of the season. Irwin, also second in last week's U.S. Senior Open, closed with a 71 on the TPC of Michigan course.Floyd, 53, has 13 career victories on the Senior PGA Tour, including two other major events - the 1994 Tradition and the 1995 PGA Seniors' Championship. He earned $225,000 for his first victory since last November.
Brian Barnes was third at 279 after a bogey-free 68 and Jack Kiefer and Jerry McGee followed at 281. Kiefer shot a 68 and McGee had a 74.
Floyd birdied both of the front-side par-5s on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, the third and seventh holes, and only a bogey at the par-3 fourth marred his card in the early going. He made the turn with a 35, which left him six shots ahead of playing partner Irwin.
Floyd survived a scare on the 10th hole when it appeared his tee shot was lost, but eventually found the ball and made par.
Irwin bogeyed No. 11 to drop to 8-under, seven shots behind Floyd, but made that stroke back up with a birdie on the par-3 12th. Another birdie on the par-5 13th got him back to 10-under and within five shots of Floyd, whose birdie putt lipped out. Floyd then three-putted the next hole and fell back to 14-under, four shots ahead of Irwin.
Irwin bogeyed No. 15, but birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to cut his deficit to three going to the final hole. Floyd bogeyed No. 18 after missing the green with his approach shot, but Irwin could only par the hole to leave Floyd's victory margin at two strokes.
MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - Scott Hoch ended the suspense early, starting with three straight birdies and shooting a 4-under-par 67 Sunday to win the Michelob Championship with a tournament-record 19-under 265 total.
Hoch led after every round for his second career wire-to-wire victory and seventh triumph overall. His total broke the tournament record of 266 set by Lanny Wadkins in 1990 and tied by Kenny Knox and Mike Hulbert in 1991.
"I tried to be aggressive early," said Hoch, four shots ahead of Dicky Pride at the start of the day. "I even surprised myself a little bit. Two is a difficult hole, so I was hoping to birdie two of the first three."
Tom Purtzer finished second, four strokes back, after a bogey-free 66 on the 6,797-yard River Course at Kingsmill Golf Club.
"I knew he wasn't going to backtrack any," said Purtzer. "I was just hoping to get a fast start, make some birdies and improve my position."
Purtzer did that, making birdies on the third and fourth holes, but that didn't even square things because Hoch's start was even faster. He made the birdies on putts of 5, 15 and 1 foot.
Defending champion Ted Tryba shared third at 272 with Fred Funk and Michael Bradley. Tryba, who won with a 272 last year, closed with a 67, Funk had his third straight 69 and Bradley matched the day's best with a 66.
Hoch, who last year blew a 5-shot lead and wound up losing the Shell Houston Open in a playoff to Payne Stewart, was never in danger Sunday. His fast start widened his lead to six, and it remained at least three all day.
The victory, Hoch's first this year, was worth $225,000 and moved him to fifth on the money list, good position for one of 10 automatic spots on the U.S. team that will play in The Presidents Cup in September.
YOUNGSTOWN LPGA CLASSIC
WARREN, Ohio (AP) - Michelle McGann successfully defended her title in the Youngstown-Warren LPGA Classic, shooting a 7-under-par 65 on Sunday for a three-stroke victory over Kim Saiki.
McGann, who had a course-record 64 on Saturday, broke the tournament record with a 16-under 200 total on the Avalon Lakes course. Nancy Lopez and Deb Richard set the previous mark of 203 in 1993.
McGann, who began the round a stroke behind Richard, earned $90,000 for her fourth victory in two years. She also won the Oldsmobile Classic five weeks ago at East Lansing, Mich.
Kelly Robbins shot a 68 to finish third at 205 and Laurie Brower was another stroke back after a 65. Richard, who dropped out of contention with bogeys on Nos. 4 and 10, had a 73 to tie for fifth with Janet Anderson , Tammie Green and Vicki Goetze .
CELEBRITY CHAMPIONSHIP
STATELINE, Nev. (AP) - Former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver shot a 4-under-par 68 on Sunday for a four-stroke victory over Donny Anderson in the Celebrity Golf Championship.
Tolliver, who played last season for Shreveport of the Canadian Football League, had a 5-under 211 total on the Edgewood Tahoe course.
"In all honesty, I expected to win this tournament," said Tolliver, who earned $75,000. "That's why I put the two cigars in my bag this morning."
Anderson, a former NFL running back, closed with a 70. John Brodie, a former NFL quarterback who won the Senior PGA Tour's 1991 Security Pacific Classic, shot a 73 to finish third at 216.
Michael Jordan closed with a 79 for a 17-over 233 total.