When he stepped to the 14th tee Sunday afternoon, Gil Morgan still hadn't made a bogey in nearly three rounds of the Utah Showdown. His lead over fast-charging Isao Aoki was holding steady at three shots, but he was playing the toughest tournament hole at Park Meadows Country Club, the 189-yard par-3 over water. This was certainly no time for bogey No. 1, or, heaven forbid, a double bogey.
Morgan later admitted he had been worrying about No. 14 for a couple of holes and said it was the "only hole that could have made a difference." The pin was tucked on the back right side of the green, which angles away toward the right with a lake in front. Any shot to the right would likely get wet. The last thing Morgan's caddy told him was "go left of the flag."So where did Morgan hit his 6-iron shot? To the right of the flag.
As the ball was in the air, Morgan had a few anxious moments partly because he has a hard time judging distance. But when the ball landed with just a couple of feet to spare, Morgan was relieved to say the least. "It wasn't even close," he said with a smile.
Then a few minutes later, when he rolled in the 15-foot putt for birdie, it basically wrapped up the tournament, which had been his almost from the time he committed to play nine days earlier.
Morgan finished with a 5-under-par 67, which, combined with his 66 and 67 of the previous two days, gave him a 16-under-par 200 total and a four-shot win over Aoki and Senior Tour rookie John Mahaffey.
"Dr. Gil" took home $150,000 with his fifth senior win of the season and 12th in two years on the Senior Tour. He is the first wire-to-wire winner in the 13 years the tournament has been played.
"Obviously I'm very glad I made this trip this week," said Morgan, who committed to play in the Showdown during last week's U. S. Senior Open at the last possible moment. "I enjoyed the week very much. This is the first tournament in my career where I didn't make a bogey."
The Showdown couldn't have asked for a better champion than Morgan in a year when the uncertainty of the future of the tournament was a major topic of conversation among players and fans. Along with Hale Irwin, Morgan is the premier player on the Senior Tour, as his record attests. With the victory Morgan upped his earnings this year to $1,514,915 and senior career earnings to $3,832,816.
Originally, Morgan didn't have the Showdown penciled in his schedule, but some last-minute lobbying by two-time champion Dave Stockton and first-year tournament director Bryan Naugle convinced him to make the stop in Utah, instead of going home to Oklahoma to pay some bills and put up with 105-degree heat.
Morgan shot a 65 in the Thursday pro-am during his first look at the course, and he took control during the first round by making four straight birdies to complete his round of 66. The next day his lead increased to three strokes with a 67.
Going into Sunday's final round, second place belonged to Mahaffey, but most folks expected Stockton, who was four shots back, to make a serious run. Besides his two wins, Stockton had two runner-up finishes and a streak of 17 straight rounds under par at Park Mea-dows.
However, after making a birdie at the first hole, Stockton stagnated and never got going the rest of the day, shooting a 71 for a 208 total and a tie for 10th.
"I hit it close today, but couldn't figure out what I was doing with my putting," he said. "I didn't expect to catch Gil, but I thought I could finish second or third."
The man who did make a run at Morgan was Aoki, who had a large contingent of local Japanese fans following him Sunday.
Aoki is known as a great putter, and Sunday his putter was on fire on the front nine as he birdied six of the first eight holes, including a 69-footer at No. 4. After his 7-foot birdie putt at No. 8, he was suddenly just a shot behind Morgan, who was playing two groups in back of Aoki.
"Aoki got my attention early and put pressure on me," acknowledged Morgan.
Morgan extended his lead to two with a birdie at No. 8, but Aoki had makeable birdie putts at 11 and 12, which could have put him in a tie for the lead. But he missed both, which were inside of 10 feet, and when Morgan birdied No. 11 from eight feet, the lead went back to three.
Then Morgan made his unlikely birdie at 14 to go up by four shots and from there he coasted home with four straight pars, knocking in a 3-footer at the final hole to cap off a remarkable week.
Mahaffey, who just turned 50 in May, enjoyed his highest finish as he picked up $80,000 along with Aoki. South African Hugh Baiocchi, who rallied with a final-round 66 last year to finish third, shot a 66 to finish fourth this year, a shot better than David Graham, Vincente Fernandez, John Schroeder, Bob Duval and Joe Inman.
The tournament now looks ahead to 1999 and things are looking much brighter than they were a week earlier. Recently, an anonymous donor stepped forward to pledge a large amount of money, which, combined with other sponsorships, should be enough to meet the criteria set by the Senior PGA Tour, which wants a four-year commitment worth around $5 million.
At least one person is planning to be back next year.
"I'm really looking forward to coming back next year," said Morgan.
SHOWDOWN NOTES: Bruce Summerhays struggled again, particularly on the par-5s, which he played 3-over-par Sunday, including a 7 at No. 15. He finished with a 3-over 75 for a 224 total in 58th place . . . Morgan's remarkable feat of no bogeys had only been accomplished eight times previously in Senior Tour history . . . Johnny Bench had his best score of the week Sunday, a 75, and finished in a tie for 72nd at 231. His first Senior check was worth $706.67 . . . The lowest round of the day, and of the week, belonged to 1989 champion Tom Shaw, who shot a 65 . . . No. 14 was the toughest hole of the week, averaging nearly a half stroke above par, while the par-5 17th, with more birdies than pars, was the easiest.
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Top finishers
Gil Morgan 66-67-67-200
Isao Aoki 70-68-66-204
John Mahaffey 70-66-68-204
Hugh Baiocchi 71-69-66-206
David Graham 70-69-68-207
Vicente Fernandez 70-68-69-207
John Schroeder 72-67-68-207
Bob Duval 66-71-70-207
Joe Inman 70-68-69-207