CONCORD, Mass. — Like father, like son.
Craig Stadler shot an 8-under 64 to win the Bank of America Championship on Sunday for a victory on the Champions Tour and then hustled into the scorer's trailer to watch his son Kevin earn his first win on the minor league Nationwide Tour.
"This is probably the best golfing day I will ever have," said the proud father, who won 13 times on the PGA tour and collected $232,500 for his fifth victory on the senior circuit.
"I don't think another win will ever come close to this. This is incredible. I am so happy for him and so proud for him. . . . I never even dreamed of us both winning on the same day."
Stadler, 51, took the lead at Nashawtuc Country Club with a birdie on the 13th hole, but he was more concerned with how Kevin was doing at the Lake Erie Charity Classic. After sinking a birdie on the 18th hole to finish at 15-under 201, the 1982 Masters champion watched as his 24-year-old son won on the fourth playoff hole.
A cheer erupted from the trailer, and the elder Stadler came out clapping his hands. At the time, Tom Purtzer was just one stroke behind him, playing No. 17.
"He waited just long enough until I got to the trailer and I got to watch him win. Made my day," he said. "I was just a wreck out there watching Kevin all day. I wasn't paying attention to my game. That's probably why I played well."
The only other time a father and son have won PGA-sponsored events on the same day was when David Duval won The Players Championship on March 28, 1999, and his father, Bob, won the Emerald Coast Classic on the senior circuit.
"I figured if I won, he would probably win," Kevin said on speakerphone from Findley Lake, N.Y. "He tries to one-up me all the time."
Kevin Stadler qualified for the U.S. Open last week and shot 68 in the first round to finish the day just two strokes behind the leader. He made the cut but shot an 85 on Sunday after a disastrous 7th hole, when his two-foot par putt went off the severely sloped green and he carded a triple-bogey.
He received a sponsor's exemption to play this week. Now he won't have to worry about qualifying on the minor league tour any more.
"I'm an old, decrepit golfer having fun. But he's just starting out," Craig Stadler said. "It opens the whole world for him. It's a good stepping stone for him."
The elder Stadler had a three-stroke lead before he sculled a sand shot back over the 17th green; he managed to save bogey, dropping to 14 under. After Stadler finished, Purtzer went into the same bunker and made a double bogey on the par-3 17th to give Stadler a four-stroke advantage with one hole to play.
Purtzer finished in a three-way tie with Tom Kite and D.A. Weibring at 11 under. Doug Tewell and Dana Quigley were another stroke back.
ROCHESTER LPGA: At Pittsford, N.Y., Kim Saiki waited 12 years for her first LPGA Tour win, and it practically left her speechless. Saiki shot a 1-under 71 Sunday, overtaking Rosie Jones for a four-stroke victory at the Rochester LPGA.
"It was incredible. No words could describe it. Chills!" exclaimed Saiki, a 38-year-old Californian who's been a runner-up four times since joining the tour in 1992.
"Oh yeah, got the monkey off my back!" she added.
Saiki finished at 14-under 274 at the tree-lined Locust Hill course. In a thrilling final round, Jones went ahead three times before a decisive swing at the par-4 14th when she three-putted from 18 feet for a double-bogey while Saiki curled in a 5-footer for birdie.
Jones shot a 74 to drop back into a tie for second with Mi Hyun Kim (72) of South Korea, a runner-up here in 2002 who picked up her 10th top-10 finish this year.
Annika Sorenstam managed only a 73 and fell into a tie for seventh, along with Candie Kung (74), a three-time tour winner who was tied with Saiki after the second round.
Only three golfers have played longer on the LPGA Tour before getting their first victory. Carolyn Hill's first LPGA win at the 1994 McCall's LPGA Classic at Stratton Mountain, Vt. came after 14 years and 6 months on tour.
Saiki earned $225,000 to leap from 77th to 11th on the money list. Her career earnings rose to $1.6 million.
FRENCH OPEN: At Versailles, France, Jean-Francois Remesy became the first Frenchman in 35 years to win the French Open, shooting an even-par 71 Sunday for a seven-shot victory.
Remesy finished at 12-under par 272, with Australians Richard Green and Nick O'Hern tied for second at 5-under 279. The margin of victory was the largest on the European Tour this year.