By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Gil Morgan kisses the trophy after he won the Kroger Classic. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP - The Kroger Classic got exactly what it wanted Sunday: a down-to-the-wire finish on a beautiful day in which the 18th hole decided it all.

Gil Morgan (65-67-68, 200) should bronze the 3-wood he cut 230 yards over the front bunker on the par-5 18th for a two-putt from 31 feet to beat his buddy and neighbor, Doug Tewell (68-66-68, 202), by two strokes.

Morgan, with a one-shot lead, was in the 18th fairway as he fought the internal battle of whether to play it safe with a 5-wood or go for the green in two with his 3-wood.

"I saw that Doug had a hard pitch that was gonna take the right speed. At first I was gonna lay up with a 5-wood, and then I decided to try a 3-wood and go for it. I felt that if I could just hit an easy cut with a 3-wood, it wouldn't go as far - but left-to-right is a pretty hard shot to hit under the heat when you're a releaser. You don't want to go too far right, don't want to hit the tree, don't want to hit it into the bunker, don't want to hit it into the creek, don't want to go left. I've always thought was kind of a hard shot. I don't really felt that comfortable with that shot, but it looked like the shot I needed to play."

It was Morgan's first victory this season. He has finished second four times.

He became the first two-time winner of the Kroger Classic, which had gone 13 years without one, the longest such streak on the Champions Tour. Morgan won the '99 event at Kings Island.

Morgan and Tewell, who live in Edmond, Okla., were playing with Australian Graham Marsh (68-67-69, 204). Jim Thorpe (67-72-64, 203) was getting into the act, too, and Larry Nelson (66-70-67, 203) was right there, until he bogeyed No. 17.

On the back side, Morgan was tied at 14 under with Nelson and Marsh, and one stroke back were Tewell and Thorpe, who had had just birdied 17 and was eyeing his own 3-wood from the 18th fairway.

"It was a lot of of fun out there," said Tewell, grinning.

"I heard some one in the gallery say, 'Geesh, every hole someone in this group is making a birdie,' " Morgan said. "There were a lot of birdies, a lot of excitement, some mistakes, some good shots, some long putts."

Holes No. 14, 15 and 16 have already earned a reputation at the TPC at River's Bend as a poor man's Amen Corner. The 15th hole bit Marsh Sunday: he bogeyed, and never threatened again.

"I knew the game was on when Gil rolled in his 10-footer for birdie on No. 15 (to go to 15 under) and then I rolled in my 9-footer (to go to 14 under),'' Tewell said.

Tewell stiffed his approach at 17, making Morgan hit another good shot, which he did. Tewell lipped out what appeared to be great-rolling 9-footer on No. 17 that would have tied him with Morgan.

Tewell needed a big drive on 18, and got it, but watched in disbelief as his second shot, a well-struck 3-wood needing 226 yards to the front of the green, never cut. He had a tough chip from the left side, and two-putted for par.

"After that, my only hope was to bump Gil going onto the bridge on No. 18,'' said Tewell, a NASCAR fan, "and that might have put him into the wall. Too bad we don't have that in this sport."

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