After two days in the lead of the CVS Charity Classic, Bruce Fleisher was happy to have a chance at third place. After a late run at first, Russ Cochran essentially conceded.
That left only John Cook playing for the title. And he got it.Cook earned his second PGA Tour victory in a month Sunday, shooting a 2-under-par 69 to finish 16-under and beat Cochran by three strokes. Fleisher finished 10-under for third in a field missing many of golf's biggest names, who were resting after last week's British Open.
"I was in protect mode," Cook said after fighting off a front-nine challenge from Cochran to win $216,000 and push his career earnings total over $5 million.
Cochran entered the final round four strokes back, then went 5-under on the first four holes to gain a momentary share of the lead. But Cook birdied three consecutive holes, and Cochran played the back nine 2-over to finish at 68, 13-under in all.
"I saw enough of John (Saturday) to know he was going to be there regardless," Cochran said. "I was going to put a little more pressure on him, but I wasn't going to catch John on the back. I wanted to do the next-best thing."
Fleisher, who was three back after three rounds, had a par 71 in the final round at the 7,110-yard Pleasant Valley course and said he was happy to finish third.
"I'd like to finish third every week," said Fleisher, whose only tour victory was in the 1991 tournament, when it was the New England Classic.
Four players, including Utah's Mike Reid, tied for fourth at 9-under, earning $45,240 each.
Cook became the fifth multiple winner on the tour this year, having also won the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., with a near-record 26-under.
Quite a turnaround for one who considered tossing his clubs in March before an emergency tutorial from Ken Venturi - a U.S. Open champion, CBS analyst and family friend - set him straight.
Cook skipped last week's British Open to take his children to the Olympics. His game, attitude and bank account benefited. "For me to see my kids enjoying the Olympic Games, I wouldn't trade that for anything," said Cook, who celebrated his third-round lead by driving the boat while his wife and kids went water skiing. "I get energized watching my kids enjoy themselves."
Cook shot 65 in the first round to join Fleisher and Hugh Royer III atop the leaderboard. Royer fell on the second day, and Cochran replaced him in a three-way tie after a 64 brought him to 10-under.
Saturday the wind picked up, the greens got firm and Cook separated himself from the pack. He shot a 67 - same as the second round - while the field struggled, and he took a three-stroke lead over Fleisher, four over Cochran.
Sunday, Cochran birdied the first three holes and eagled No. 4 to leapfrog Fleisher and tie Cook at 15-under. Cochran parred out on the front nine, while Cook birdied 4 and 5 to move to 17-under.
Cook made a bogey on No. 12 - his first in 34 holes. He also bogeyed No. 14, only his fourth bogey of the tournament, but by then his victory was just about assured.
Ameritech Senior Open
At Long Grove, Ill., Walter Morgan shot a course-record 9-under-par 63 in the first round of the Ameritech Senior Open and expected things to get tougher over the next two days.
"I'll just go out and do the best I can. I figure the field will come after me before this is over with," said Morgan, who shot an even-par 72 on Sunday to complete a wire-to-wire victory by two strokes over John Bland.
Morgan, 55, earned $165,000 for his third victory in six years on the Senior PGA Tour. He also won the 1995 GTE Northwest Classic and the FHP Healthcare Classic in March.
"It gets easier every week - I shoot for the pins now, I've got that much confidence," said Morgan, who had an 11-under 205 total on the Kemper Lakes course.
After breaking the course record of 64 set by Craig Stadler in the 1989 PGA Championship, Morgan shot 72 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Ray Floyd into the final round.
While Floyd faded, Bland and David Graham made moves.
Graham birdied three straight holes to pull within two strokes with five holes left. But he bogeyed the par-5, 557-yard 15th and had a double-bogey on the par-4, 390-yard 18th.
Bland closed with 68 to finish second. Bob Murphy was another stroke back at 208 after a 68, while Graham and Floyd followed at 209. Floyd shot 75.
British Seniors
At Portrush, Northern Ireland, Scott Barnes, a former Ryder Cup star who has emerged from the depths of alcoholism to become one of the world's top senior players, successfully defended his title Sunday in the Senior British Open.
"To win this title once is great, to win it twice is unbelievable," said Barnes, who shot a 2-over-par 74 in steady rain and high winds for a three-stroke victory over David Oakley and Bob Charles.
Barnes, 51, who won last year's tournament at Royal Portrush with an 80-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff with Bob Murphy, shot 65 Friday and added 66 Saturday to take a three-stroke lead. He finished with an 11-under 277 total and earned $90,412.
Barnes birdied the second hole before succumbing to the messy conditions with a trio of bogeys starting at the fourth. He birdied Nos. 9 and 11, but had a double-bogey on No. 13 to allow Oakley to close within a stroke.
Oakley, 51, who has returned to tournament play after 30 years in the furniture business in Florida, birdied Nos. 10 and 11 to move to 10-under but dropped out with bogeys on Nos. 14 and 17.
LPGA Heartland
At St. Louis, if her six-stroke lead was going to go up in smoke, at least Vicki Fergon knew she wouldn't be the first to lose such an advantage.
Greg Norman's ill-fated Masters collapse, when he too led by six strokes, popped into Fergon's head after her lead suddenly dropped to two with 13 holes to go Sunday in the Heartland Classic.
On the 460-yard fifth hole, Fergon hit into two bunkers and took a double-bogey 7, while playing partner Pat Hurst birdied the hole. "Actually it made me feel better because I'm thinking I'm in great company," Fergon said.
Fergon, 40, survived that crisis and another challenge on the back nine for a four-stroke victory - her first in 12 years and third in 20 seasons on the LPGA tour.
Fergon's 2-over-par 74 was her worst of the tournament, but she had plenty of cushion left from her course-record 63 in the second round. She finished with a 12-under 276 total on the Forest Hills course.
Hurst and Patti Liscio tied for second at 280.
Hurst trailed by two after Fergon's double-bogey, but faded to a 70. Liscio, a non-winner in five years on the tour, had five birdies on the front nine and cut the gap to two after 13 holes before finishing with a 5-under 67, the best round of the day.
Juli Inkster finished six strokes back after a 70, and Betsy King was another stroke back after a 71. Twenty-five players broke par, compared with one last year when Annika Sorenstam won by 10.
Fergon, who hadn't won since the S&H Golf Classic in 1984, nearly tripled her winnings for the year with the $82,500 first-place check. She entered the tournament 97th on the money list at $32,504 and missed the cut seven times in her first 18 events.