Monday, August 26, 2002
Parry makes first tour win a biggie
Golf roundup
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Craig Parry had endured so many crushing losses in 10 years and 235 starts on the PGA Tour that he wasn't about to celebrate too soon Sunday in the NEC Invitational.
Only when his lead was four strokes, and another raucous cheer at Sahalee Country Club told him his second shot had reached the green on the par-5 18th hole, was the 36-year-old Aussie unable to contain a sly smile.
“You beauty,” Parry thought to himself.
It was every bit of that.
Tied for the lead going into the final round, with Tiger Woods and Ernie Els among those in position to track him down, Parry put together a masterpiece by closing with a 6-under 65 and playing the final 48 holes without a bogey.
“It's a long time coming,” Parry said. “To win on this tour means everything to me.”
Parry finished at 16-under 268, four strokes ahead of Robert Allenby (69) and Fred Funk (68), and became the only player besides Woods to capture the NEC Invitational.
Woods was trying to become the first player in 75 years to win the same tournament four years in a row. Starting the final round two strokes behind, he simply couldn't keep pace with Parry and finished fourth with a 68 — five strokes back.
“I just didn't make enough birdies,” Woods said. “To put himself in contention like that and go out and shoot a bogey-free round is pretty impressive.”
Parry can thank Woods for even getting into the NEC Invitational.
He won the New Zealand Open in January, a low-level tournament that became a qualifier for the NEC Invitational because Woods, the No. 1 player, was in the field. Woods played as a favor to his Kiwi caddie, Steve Williams, and tied for sixth.
“If Tiger doesn't play in New Zealand, I'm not here,” Parry said. “Stevie left me a note about that in my locker.”
Just don't expect Parry to give Woods any of his $1 million check.
“He doesn't need the money,” Parry said.
No, but Parry desperately needed this victory. A 19-time winner overseas, Parry felt as though his career would have been lacking without a victory on the PGA Tour, which has the deepest and strongest fields.
“These are the best players in the world,” Parry said. “It will sink in, obviously, in a couple of weeks' time. At the moment, I'm just very happy to win.”
It was overdue.
Parry had a three-stroke lead with 15 holes left in the 1992 Masters and tied for 13th. He had a one-stroke lead at Carnoustie until taking triple bogey on No. 12, double bogey on No. 17 and missing the '99 British Open playoff by one stroke.
Tom Lehman birdied the last two holes to beat him in the '95 Colonial. Phil Mickelson chipped in for eagle in the '96 Byron Nelson Classic to steal another one.
“I always knew it was a matter of time,” Parry said.
Parry, a stocky 5-foot-6 known as “Popeye” for his powerful forearms, became the second player this year to win his first PGA Tour event at one of the $5 million World Golf Championships.
Kevin Sutherland won his first tour event at the Match Play Championship in February with a 1-up victory at La Costa.
Only this final round wasn't even close.
Parry made sure of that with birdies on three straight holes, starting at No. 2, that quickly gave him a three-stroke advantage. He made two crucial par saves before rolling in a bending, 20-footer for birdie on No. 9.
Despite playing in the final group, with the pressure of a $1 million prize and finally proving he can win against the best, Parry matched the best score of the day. David Duval also had a 65.
“When I was up three birdies, that put enough pressure on the other guys,” Parry said. “I felt as though I played smart golf this week.”
Twelve players were separated by four strokes going into the final round, and Allenby said it would take a round of 5 under to win. He also figured Woods might be among those poised to make a charge.
Instead, the best play came from the top.
Parry effectively ended the tournament with an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 14, and the only other time he had to scramble was when he hit into the bunker on No. 17. He blasted out to 6 feet and holed the par putt.
There was no stopping him Sunday on a gray, cool afternoon at Sahalee, an Indian word that means, “High, Heavenly Ground.”
Parry was walking on clouds when he ripped a 3-wood into the green on the par-5 18th and tapped in for a birdie.
“I'm just very lucky at the moment,” Parry said. “Hopefully, I'll have a little more confidence with my golf game, knowing I can finish the job off.”
Allenby tried to stay with him, but made bogey on the 10th from the rough and took a double bogey on No. 14 when he hit into the trees. Allenby finished with four straight birdies, but they were of little consolation.
“Pazza was just playing too good,” Allenby said, using an Aussie nickname for Parry. “He never looked like he was going to make a mistake.”
Justin Rose, the 22-year-old from England, closed with a 68 to finish fifth.
Woods failed in his bid to become the first player since Walter Hagen (PGA Championship, 1924-27) to win the same event four years in a row. His next chance comes in March at the Bay Hill Invitational.
Betsy King Classic
KUTZTOWN, Pa. — South Korea's Se Ri Pak birdied the final four holes for a 9-under 63 and tournament-record 21-under 267 total in the Betsy King Classic.
Pak, who earned $180,000 for her third victory of the season and 16th in five full seasons on the LPGA Tour, had an eagle, nine birdies and two bogeys on the Berkleigh Country Club course.
The 24-year-old star matched the course record of 63 set by Tina Barrett in 2000, and broke the tournament record of 18-under 270 set by Annika Sorrenstam in 1996.
Angela Stanford closed with a 66 to finish second at 18-under 270, her first top-10 finish of the season. Australian star Karrie Webb had a 69 to finish third at 16 under.
U.S. Amateur
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Ricky Barnes of Stockton, Calif., used a dazzling combination of power and finesse to beat Hunter Mahan 2 and 1 in the U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills.
Barnes, who will be a senior at Arizona, received an automatic berth in the next U.S. Open and the winner traditionally has been invited to play in the Masters, both only if he remains an amateur.
Mahan, of McKinney, Texas, will be a junior at Oklahoma State.
Uniting Fore Care Classic
PARK CITY, Utah — Morris Hatalsky won his first Senior PGA Tour title, using seven final-round birdies to finish with 42 points in the Uniting Fore Care Classic.
Hatalsky, who began the season as a Monday qualifier, needed a sponsor's exemption to enter at Park Meadows, but it paid off. His victory gave him $225,000 from the $1.5 million purse.
Jay Sigel had six final-round birdies to place second with 30 points under the modified Stableford format. Hale Irwin, Mike McCullough, John Bland and Jerry McGee tied for third with 29.
Scottish PGA
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — Australia's Adam Scott had an eagle-birdie-eagle finish for a 9-under 63 and a 10-stroke victory at the Scottish PGA Championship.
The 22-year-old Scott had a tournament-record 26-under 262 total, easily beating the previous mark of 271 set by Sweden Pierre Fulke in 2000. Scott also won the Qatar Masters in March.
Scotland's Raymond Russell shot a 68 to finish second, and European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, also of Scotland, was third at 273 after a 67.
Reno-Tahoe Open
Former UNLV star Chris Riley won the Reno-Tahoe Open for his first PGA Tour title, beating Jonathan Kaye with a par on the first hole of a playoff.
Riley, coming off a third-place finish in the PGA Championship, two-putted from 8 feet on the playoff hole — the 429-yard 18th — to claim the $540,000 first-place prize.
Kaye, winless on the PGA Tour, had a chance to extend the playoff, but his 5-footer for par lipped out.
Tied for the lead with Steve Flesch at 12 under after three rounds, Riley and Kaye shot matching 5-under 67s to tie the tournament record of 17-under 271 set last year by John Cook on the Montreux Golf & Country Club course.
Tiger's foes don't expect him to win every week
SAMMAMISH, Wash. — PGA champion Rich Beem wasn't surprised that Tiger Woods didn't win for the second straight week.
Beem said the media puts too many expectations on the world's No. 1 player.
“That's probably for the writers to decide,” Beem said when asked if Woods' mystique had suffered this week when he lost his NEC Invitational title to Australian Craig Parry.
“They put him on a pedestal,” said Beem, who beat Woods by a stroke last week at Hazeltine in Minnesota.
“Who knows?” Beem asked. “Maybe he's exhausted like I am. Maybe there's something about the golf course that doesn't fit him. There's a lot of really good players here.”
Woods closed with a 3-under 68 to finish fourth, five shots behind Parry.
Robert Allenby, Parry's countryman who tied for second with a final-day 69, also thinks too much pressure is put on Woods.
“That's golf,” he said. “Tiger is human and we all make mistakes. This isn't a bad tournament for him. But Tiger's not going to win every week and we all know that.”
———
SAME 'OL PARRY: Winning $1 million, more than he has won in any of his previous 10 years on the PGA Tour, probably won't change Craig Parry.
Robert Allenby recalled one of his favorite stories to illustrate that point.
“He's got millions of dollars. He's got a boat that's worth $2 million,” Allenby said. “We're in Denver a few years ago and he's staying at the Hyatt, might have been the Sheraton. And he's on the Internet, checking out the rates of the room.
“If he checks himself out and re-checks himself back in, he saves $10 a night for Friday and Saturday. That's Craig Parry to the tee right there.”
Does that mean Parry isn't likely to pick up the check at dinner?
“Well, when it's his shout, we go to McDonald's,” Allenby said.
———
BEEMING: PGA champion Rich Beem didn't give up mentally after shooting an opening 74 in the NEC Invitational.
He carded his third consecutive 4-under 67 Sunday to tie fir sixth ar 275.
Afterward, Beem was happy with his effort the week after winning his first major.
“That's not my style,” Beem said when asked why he kept grinding it out in the final three days at the Sahalee Country Club. “I've done that before, but I won't do it again. If I packed it in now, that would be everything against my style.”
Beem said he stayed out too late Saturday night because he had a four-hour dinner party for his 32nd birthday. Then he went out to play some pool.
“I'm just exhausted now,” he said.
A rags-to-riches story when he won the PGA, he will make it harder for people to get reach him now.
“I've got to get a new cell phone and change my number,” he said. “Everybody's got it.”
———
WATER-LOGGED TIGER: Tiger Woods was only two shots back starting the final round in his attempt to win his fourth straight NEC Invitational. But he couldn't put together enough birdies and wound up five shots behind Craig Parry.
He wasn't a happy Tiger.
“They watered the golf course last night,” he said. “The fairways were faster, the greens were harder and firmer. We had to get accustomed to a golf course like we played in '98 (when Vijay Singh won the PGA Championship).
“They completely changed what we faced the first three days,” Woods said.
———
JUSTICE FOR JUSTIN: Justin Rose, the 22-year-old from England, tried to be aggressive in the NEC Invitational and it worked.
He finished fifth with a 68 Sunday.
“I hit a lot of drivers off the tee this week,” he said. “I attacked it to a certain extent. I've had a couple of Sundays recently where I haven't done too much. I think I was trying too hard almost.
“Today, I stayed relaxed and played shot for shot, and putted a lot better. I spent a couple of hours on the putting green last night and my stroke was better today.”
———
SAVING VANCOUVER: NEC Invitational runner-up Fred Funk is headed to British Columbia for the Air Canada Championship.
“I promised the guys I would go up there and hopefully they can find a sponsor and save that tournament,” he said.
“I told them I'd do anything I can to — what little power I have over anything — but meet with them and try to sell the British Columbia area as a great venue,” Funk said.
———
DIVOTS: David Duval matched the best round of the day with a 65, despite bogeys on two of his last four holes. ... The craziest round Sunday belonged to Phil Mickelson, who had three bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine (40), then came in with three birdies and an eagle (31) to shoot even-par. ... Duval had planned to play in British Columbia next week, but will take three weeks off to get away from golf. He plans to return, along with Tiger Woods, at the American Express Championship in Ireland.
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Parry makes first tour win a biggie
