Rick Rhoden shortened his short game by going long.
The former major league pitcher consistently used long, accurate drives to set up short putts, and the combination worked for his fourth Isuzu Celebrity Golf Championship."I think I won because I hit the ball closer to the hole than anyone else throughout the tournament. My putts were shorter," Rhoden said Sunday after his final-round 70 at the Edgewood Tahoe course.
He finished the 54-hole tournament with a 9-under-par 207, three strokes ahead of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie and 14-year NHL veteran Dan Quinn.
"He didn't putt that great, but he made a couple, and he played wonderful," Brodie said. "You've got to take your hat off to the guy. He hit some great shots.
"I played well, but I didn't make things happen, and Dan was the same way. We were about two shots off of putting any heat on Rick. I never got the feeling Rick was worried."
The top money winner in the tournament's eight-year history, Rhoden earned a first-prize check of $100,000.
"I think this was probably the best I've played as far as tee to green," he said. "I don't think I can play much better for three days. But our competition is getting so much better you have to shoot good now to win this tournament."
Brodie and Quinn, who each received $40,000 as runners-up, finished with a 6-under-par 210s after matching Rhoden's 2-under-par round on the final day.
Rhoden, who won 151 games during 15 years as a pitcher for the Dodgers, Pirates, Yankees and Astros, started the string of golf victories in 1991. He has captured the event every other year since then, maintaining a winning pattern in the odd-numbered years.