After going three years on the Senior PGA Tour without a victory, Bud Allin said he had no confidence.
That all changed Sunday at the American Express Invitational.Allin, a Vietnam veteran who took a 14-year break from golf before joining the senior circuit, withstood his own nerves down the stretch and then two-putted from 60 feet for par on the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Jim Colbert.
"I told my wife Saturday night that I might not win this week, but after playing a pretty good round Saturday, I now know I can this year," said Allin, who played collegiately at BYU.
"Then, when I got to the 14th hole, I knew my nerves were holding up pretty good, so I thought I might as well just win this week," he said. "I just wanted to keep it going."
Allin, who got into the tournament only when Gibby Gilbert withdrew five minutes before the deadline to enter, shot a 3-under-par 69 at the TPC at Prestancia and finished the 54-hole event at 11-under 205.
Colbert was alone in second after closing with a 67. Bruce Summerhays, Jim Albus and Mike Hill tied for third at 8-under 208.
Before going into the final round with a three-shot lead, Allin admitted he was traveling new territory.
The former U.S. Army artillery officer who earned the Bronze Star and Air Medal, returned from Vietnam to claim five career PGA Tour victories. But a 14-year break from golf before he joined the Senior Tour had left Allin, 52, looking for his old game and grit.
"To create confidence, you have to get in a routine of winning or being near the top," he had said. "I have no confidence."
Allin, however, fixed that this weekend.
Allin, who began the season without a full exemption, birdied two of his first three holes on the day, then stood strong against mounting pressure down the stretch.
The $180,000 was more money than he ever earned in a full season on the PGA Tour.
"All things considered, Buddy was playing under 10 times the pressure I was under," said Colbert, who watched Allin's finish on the 18th. "I couldn't putt against him. He hung in there too long and too hard. He did everything he needed to do."
Allin, who finished the day with five birdies and two bogeys, survived his greatest potential for disaster on the 418-yard par-4 17th, when he pushed his tee shot left, deep into trees.
But after punching out, he hit a wedge to seven feet and left his par putt one roll short of the cup. That bogey cut a two-shot led in half, but Allin refused to fold on the 18th, hitting a 6-iron from 155 yards into a gusting breeze to the front of the green, but 60 feet and uphill to the pin.
"It looked ... really long," Allin said. "About two miles. But that first putt was real good. My nerves were so shaky at the time.
"It was a good experience to have to two putt the last hole from a million miles away and do it."
Tucson Classic
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Jeff Sluman, whose only previous title came in the 1988 PGA Championship, ended his long drought when he held on for a one-stroke victory Sunday in the Tucson Chrysler Classic.
Sluman broke out of a tie with Steve Jones by sinking a 2-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. But Sluman bogeyed No. 18, finishing the final round with a 7-under-par 65 and the tournament at 13-under 275.
Then Sluman, who had placed second eight times in 241 tournaments since his breakthrough in a major event, had to wait for the Jones to play out.
Jones' approach shot bounced 50 feet over the green, and he skulled his attempt to pitch back to within par distance. When he two-putted from about 45 feet for a bogey, the tension etched on Sluman's face dissolved into a grin.
The victory earned him $234,000 and gave him $238,104 in four starts this season. Sluman missed the cut at Phoenix, in a tournament won by Jones; and Hawaii, where Paul Stankowski prevailed; and was 62nd at Pebble Beach.
Jones was alone at 276, and Brad Bryant and Stankowski were another shot back. Bryant, the leader after three rounds, also bogeyed No. 18, a 465-yard par-4 with the flag tucked between two bunkers on the extreme left side of the green.
Tom Kite, Don Pooley, Clarence Rose, Jeff Maggert and 1992 Tucson champion Lee Janzen were grouped at 278.
The trio at 279 included two other winners of this tournament - Andrew Magee (1994) and Mike Reid (1987) - and Jerry Kelly.
Phil Mickelson, who won here in 1991, 1995 and last year, was at 280, along with Kirk Triplett, Len Mattiace and Scott Gump.
Mattiace finished with a 64, the best round of the event, and Gump, who started on the back nine, had a 65 on the strength of a 7-under 29 after the turn. His performance on the front nine included a four-birdie, one-eagle series on the first through fifth holes - the longest such streak on the tour this year - a bogey and his second eagle of the round on No. 8.
The turn was pivotal, and not just in semantics.
Bryant took a double bogey on No. 10 which threw him into a pack at 11-under that included Reid, Stankowski, Kelly, Sluman and Rose.
Jones, who led the first two rounds, was not in the group because he bogeyed the same hole and went to 10-under.
Reid and Stankowski birdied No. 11, a short par-5, and Sluman joined them at 12-under with a birdie on the par-3 next hole.
About the same time, Stankowski bogeyed the 12th hole, and Reid drove out of bounds on No. 13 en route to double bogey.
Meanwhile, Bryant birdied No. 13 and caught up with Sluman, but couldn't keep pace when Sluman went to 13-under with a birdie at the 14th.
The biggest challenge came from Jones, who birdied Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to reach 13-under himself. Unfazed, Sluman nailed his tee shot on the 186-yard 17th hole to can't-miss range for the decisive birdie.