When golf ceased to be fun for Scott McCarron, he did what many might consider doing. He simply quit playing.
"I gave up golf after college because I wasn't any good," McCarron said Sunday while celebrating his second victory in his third season on the PGA Tour, a three-shot triumph in the BellSouth Classic.After playing on UCLA's 1988 national championship team, McCarron opted to work in his father's clothing business for four years.
Most of his athletic endeavors during that time centered on flag football, softball, tennis and racquetball. Watching a Senior Tour event in his hometown, Rancho Murieta, Cal., got him interested again.
"I started enjoying golf again," he said. "I decided to come back and won the Q-school in Canada. It's a good tour to hone your skills. I finished 24th on their Order of Merit."
After Canada, he joined the Hooters Tour in the United States before earning his card on the PGA Tour for the 1994 season.
McCarron posted his first victory last year in the Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans, a triumph he said made winning easier Sunday on the Greg Norman-designed TPC Sugarloaf Country Club course on.
McCarron finished with a 3-under-par 69 and a 72-hole total of 14-under 274 on the hilly, 7,259-yard course.
"I felt a lot more confident this time," he said. "I feel like I had a lot more control over my game. The first one you don't know what to expect. It's a lot calmer the second time, no question."
McCarron took the lead for good when he two-putted from 24 feet on the 310-yard, par-4 13th after reaching the green off the tee.
He put a little more distance between himself and the closest contenders, David Duval and Nick Price, with a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 15.
Duval, who started the day tied with McCarron for the lead, played the final round in even par, finishing in a tie for second at 277 with Brian Henninger and Lee Janzen, both closing with 68s.
Price had to settle for a 70 when he took a double-bogey 7 on the 18th after plopping a shot into the water guarding the green. Price finished in a tie for fifth with Norman, Hal Sutton and David Toms. Sutton had a closing 67, Norman and Toms 68.
"I hit the ball solidly, but I didn't play like a winning round today, which I needed to play being three back," Price said. "Obviously Scott played a super solid round today."
"I had the opportunities really all day, just failed to make the putts," Duval said. "I mean, I was all over the hole the entire time, but none of them wanted to fall for me."
He had praise for McCarron.
"He played beautifully," Duval said. "He didn't miss anything, maybe a couple of putts. He just executed it better than I did today."