Gil Morgan never thought of himself as one of the best on any tour. That changed Sunday with his runaway win at the Senior Tour Championship.
All year long, Morgan was second in money, victories and prestige to Hale Irwin. And when they were two strokes apart and clear of the field with a round to play, many figured Morgan to wind up behind again.Instead, it was Morgan with the large lead and, despite two bogeys down the stretch, the spotlight he missed out on most of the year.
"I think it's good I'll be a focus," said Morgan, who won for the second straight week and sixth time this year. "That's the reason you come out here, to play well. I just hope I can live up to it next year."
Morgan earned $328,000 after his 71 left him at a record 16 under at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club. He became the third - with Irwin and Tiger Woods - to win more than $2 million in a season.
Morgan's year would easily be enough for Senior player of the year - if not for Irwin, whose record-tying nine wins and phenomenal $2,343,364 won make him a strong front-runner.
"I can't say enough about how excited I am about my year," Morgan said. "At the same time, I'm still a little bit behind the guy at the top of the money list. We'll see what we can do about that next year."
Morgan, up by three shots on the final hole, gave himself some anxious moments when his approach landed beside the bleachers. But Irwin missed his birdie attempt and Morgan tapped in a bogey to win.
"I never really felt comfortable coming in," Morgan said. "Maybe I was playing too conservatively because this meant a lot of things for me."
Morgan put this one away before the TV cameras came on. He sliced a 4-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 fifth hole for one birdie, then canned a 15-footer on No. 9 for a three shot lead at the turn.
Irwin's pushed par putt on the 10th hole gave Morgan a cushy four-stroke edge. His last birdie on the 16th brought him within three and Morgan's closing bogey brought them back to their starting margin.
Kapalua International
KAPALUA, Hawaii - Davis Love III put his stamp on the final Kapalua International.
The 1997 PGA Championship winner finished with a record 22-under 268, closing with a 5-under 68 on Sunday to take the $1.2 million event for the second time. In nine other appearances at this Maui event, finished second three times an third twice.
David Toms finished second at 19-under 271 and Olin Browne was a stroke back in third.
After a 16-year run, this was the last Kapalua International. After a one-year hiatus, the Kapalua Resort will be turned over to the PGA Tour for the Mercedes Championships in 1999.
Toms and Love started the final round tied at 17-under. Toms got a quick jump with a birdie on the first hole at the 7,263-yard Plantation Course, and Love drew even with a birdie on the fourth.
Love took the lead for good on the 398-yard sixth on a two-stroke swing. He birdied while Toms, this year's Quad City Classic, had trouble with his approach.
Love placed an exclamation to his finish with a birdie on the 663-yard closing hole, after barely missing an eagle when the ball slid past on the right edge from a little over seven feet.
John Cook moved into contention by shooting a 64, missing the course record set Saturday by Steve Pate by one shot. Cook started the final round in a seven-way tie for 21st place (7-under 210), but ended up in fourth place at 16-under 274.
His bogey-free round included six birdies on the front 9, including consecutive 20-footers on the second, third and fourth holes. On the return trip, he added three more birdies, but couldn't better the record.
"Making those early putts kick-started my round," he said. "It's a great way to end the year.
"And, yes, I was aware of the record coming in."
Joining Cook at 16-under were Mike Hulbert , Bob Estes and Kirk Triplett . At 276 were Chris Smith, Jim McGovern, Roger Maltbie and Paul Goydos.
Sarazen World Open
BRASELTON, Ga. - Mark Calcavecchia discovered Sunday the importance of a big lead.
"It came in handy," Calcavecchia said after holding off Lee Westwood for a three-shot victory Sunday in the Sarazen World Open.
Calcavecchia birdied four of his first six holes to take a 10-stroke edge, but struggled on the back nine before taking the $2 million event.
"There's something to be said of big leads," he said moments after clinching the victory with a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
Westwood had gotten to within two strokes after Calcavecchia's fourth bogey on the back nine, at No. 17.
That bogey, however, may have been the key for Calcavecchia, who knocked in a 10-foot putt that saved a double-bogey and would have dropped his lead to a single stroke entering the final hole.
"That was pretty crucial. It was the big putt of the day," admitted Calcavecchia. "I went into 18 with a two-shot lead and I felt pretty good after making that putt."
Westwood thought he still had a chance until the putt dropped.
"I liked my chances when he hit it 10-12 feet past the pin, but when he holed it, that halted my charge," said Westwood.
Calcavecchia, who led all four rounds after a tournament-record 62 the first day, had a 39 on the back nine to wind up with a 1-under-par 71 after a 32 on the front that included five birdies and a bogey.
His four-round total of 271, 17-under-par, broke by a stroke the tournament record set last year by Frank Nobilo. The victory in the event sponsored by Subaru was worth $360,000.
England's Westwood, six shots off the pace entering the final round, shot a 68 for 274, and the $218,000 second prize at the 6,993-yard Legends course at Chateau Elan.
The 24-year-old European Ryder Cup player put a scare into Calcavecchia when he got within two strokes by parring the par 4, 452-yard 17th, a hole in which Calcavecchia needed to the 10-footer to save bogey.
Westwood had birdied No. 16 to get within three strokes.
Mark McNulty of Zimbabwe and Vijay Singh of Fiji tied for third at 279. McNulty had a 69 and Singh a 71.
Scott Hoch was next at 281 after a 74. Peter O'Malley and David Duval were another stroke back at 282. O'Malley had a 72 and Duval a 73. Duval had won his last three PGA tour tournaments, including last week's $720,000 first prize in the Tour Championship.
Defending champion Nobilo finished with a 75 for 284 along with Steve Jones, who had a 73.
Japan Queens Cup
OTSU, Japan - Sweden's Liselotte Neumann won the Japan Queens Cup, closing with a birdie for a 5-under-par 67 and a one-stroke margin Sunday over former Canadian amateur star Lorie Kane.
Neumann, also the 1991 winner, earned $112,500 for her second LPGA tour victory of the year and 10th in 10 seasons. She had six birdies - four in a row beginning with a 20-foot chip on No. 4 - and a bogey on the Seta course to match the tournament record with an 11-under 205 total.
"I'm really happy to be back here this week and win again," said Neumann, who won the Welch's Championship in September and also took the Japan LPGA's Takara World Invitational last month at Sanbu. "I played really well today. It always feels great to be the champion."
The 1988 U.S. Open winner will play in the Australian Open next week in Melbourne before returning to the United States for the LPGA's season-ending Tour Championship on Nov. 20-23 at Las Vegas.
Kane, winless in two seasons on the LPGA tour, also closed with a 67.
LPGA Championship winner Chris Johnson and England's Lisa Hackney finished at 207. Johnson shot a 68, and Hackney had a 67.
England's Laura Davies, a playoff loser last year to Japan's Mayumi Hirase, had two eagles in a round of 67 to finish three back along with Australia's Jane Geddes, Japan's Kyoko Ono and Mayumi Murai, Sweden's Helen Alfredsson, and Americans Michele Redman and Sherri Steinhauer.
American Leta Lindley, the second-round leader after a 65, closed with a 73 to drop into a four-way tie for 12th at 209. Hirase, a regular on U.S. LPGA tour, shot a 75 for a 217.