Gil Morgan won his fourth Senior PGA Tour event of the season Sunday, shooting a 1-under-par 71 in the rain to win the First of America Classic by one stroke over Bob Duval.
Morgan, who has won five times since joining the senior tour last September, finished three rounds at the Egypt Valley Golf Club course with a 9-under 207 total.Englishman John Morgan finished third, three strokes back, followed by Dave Eichelberger and Mike Hill, both another stroke back.
With the $150,000 winner's share of the $1 million purse, Morgan, a native of Edmond, Okla., has earned almost $1.2 million this year and is second to Hale Irwin on the tour money list.
Morgan and Duval were tied with two holes to play but Morgan rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt on the 518-yard, par-5 17th to earn the victory.
"It started out wet today and stayed that way all day," said Morgan, who entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over Duval.
"My game plan was to be somewhat conservative and not make any mistakes," he said. "I thought that if I did that I would make some birdies, but that almost didn't happen either. It seemed like I couldn't make enough birdies to get to where I wanted to go. I had to make some birdies but I could never make any putts."
Morgan, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour who won the Tradition, Ameritech Senior Open and BellSouth Senior Classic this season, held on to his one-stroke victory despite hitting his tee shot off a tree on the final hole.
"I kind of got caught up; I'm sure the pressure was sort of a factor," Morgan said. "After I hit my drive on 18 I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I thought a par might be my best chance there."
Duval, father of PGA Tour player David Duval, shot a final-round 70.
While Morgan's final round featured 15 pars, two birdies and a bogey, Duval's final round included five birdies and three bogeys.
"We had a really good horse race out there," Duval said. "It was a lot of fun. We had a nice, relaxing time out there."
Duval earned $88,000 for his runner-up finish.
Women's British Open
SUNNINGDALE, England - Australian Karrie Webb had her worst round in the Women's British Open Sunday, but still won by eight strokes with a tournament-record 19-under-269.
Webb, who shot a course-record 9-under 63 Saturday to gain an 8-stroke lead, mixed three bogeys and four birdies in a final round 1-under 71.
Rosie Jones birdied the 18th for a 71 and finished second at 277. World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam was third at 278 after her best round of the tournament, a 67.
Webb easily bettered the tournament record of 274 set by Jane Geddes in 1989, and her 8-stroke winning margin equalled that of Karen Lunn, who beat Brandie Burton by that margin in 1993. Burton was fourth this time at 280 after a final 67.
It was Webb's second British Open championship in three years and her second victory on the LPGA this season. Earlier, she won the Susan G. Komen International in South Carolina in April.
"I am over the moon," she said. "I played great golf all week and everything just fell into place. The British Open is such a special tournament to me because it's the first one I ever won."
The sunny weather of the first three days gave way to gloom and rain, and Webb's sparkling form also lost its shine.
Webb, 18-under after three rounds, lost three strokes to Jones in the first three holes. Jones birdied the first and the third, while Webb bogeyed the second.
At No. 2, Webb hit her tee shot to an awkward spot just short of a road which splits the fairway. She hit her second into the rough, chipped past the pin into a gully and chipped again to 10 feet before two-putting.
Webb then got two strokes back with a birdie at the fifth and a Jones bogey at the sixth. The 5-stroke difference returned when Jones bogeyed the seventh and ninth for a front nine 38.
Jones' challenge ended with a bogey at the par-4 10th as Webb had three birdies on the back nine.
"I hung in there and kept playing good shots - coming back with birdies," Webb said.
"I would've liked to put on a bit more pressure during the first nine holes," Jones said. "A couple of early birdies may have just made a different game of it."
Sorenstam began the round with three consecutive birdies. Two more at the seventh and eighth had her out in 31 before her sixth birdie at the 14th. She then bogeyed the 18th to fall back into third place.
Defending champion Emilee Klein shot a 75 for 288.
American Cindy Shreyer, who was at 220 after three rounds, was disqualified for signing the wrong score in her opening round of 70. Schreyer had moved some metal fencing - defined by the rule book as an immovable obstruction - to play a shot and failed to mark down a two-stroke penalty.