Golf: What a finish II!

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - There was an interpreter if necessary at the press

conference to clear up any details Sunday for Jose Maria Canizares.

But the 54-year-old Spaniard required no help sinking a difficult

24-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole of a sudden-death playoff to win

the $1.4 million Toshiba Senior Classic.

Canizares, who lost in three previous playoffs on the Senior PGA Tour,

added another chapter to an already playoff-rich golf tournament as he

drained a left-to-right breaking putt on the par-3 No. 17, the signature

hole at Newport Beach Country Club, to beat Gil Morgan.

In sudden death, three putts lipped out in the first eight holes,

including two by Canizares on the first two holes. Morgan’s 10-foot putt

for birdie on the eighth playoff hole also lipped out.

But, on the 63rd hole, Canizares climaxed what has become a remarkable

playoff run for the tournament, its third in five years and fourth if you

count last year’s Super Seniors.Canizares’ tee shot at 17 on the ninth

playoff hole reached the top shelf of a two-tiered green, leaving him a

nasty left-to-right break, which he executed to perfection.

“I had a couple long putts in the playoff lip out,” said Canizares,

who grimaced when his first two birdie attempts lipped out. “I thought I

hit some good putts.”

Canizares, who won $210,000, the biggest payday in his professional

golf career, opened Sunday’s round five shots behind the leader, Terry

Mauney, who shot 6-over 77 and finished tied for 10th.

Morgan, who earned $123,200 as the runner-up, started the final round

eight shots off the pace, but fired a 7-under 64 to finish at 11-under

202.

Canizares, a four-time member of the European Ryder Cup team in the

1980s, stepped up large and drained a 10-foot birdie putt on the final

hole of regulation to force the playoff.

With rain in the forecast, Canizares and Morgan wasted no time teeing

off on the first playoff hole, No. 18.

As in every playoff at Newport Beach, it begins at 18 and goes back to

16, if necessary, and continues to 17 and 18, with the cycle repeating

itself on the last three holes.

Canizares and Morgan both made par on the first playoff hole, but

Canizares came close to ending it quickly. His uphill putt from 35 feet

curled around the edge of the cup and lipped out.

On the second playoff hole, Canizares’ uphill putt from 20 feet, with

a slight break to the left, shaved the edge of the hole again and popped

out.

Morgan, who made several clutch putts for par to extend the playoff,

was robbed on the eighth playoff hole at No. 16, after scrambling on the

seventh playoff hole at 18 to stay alive.

Morgan, who was unavailable for comments afterward, landed in the

right rough behind a large pine tree on the seventh extra hole. But

Morgan’s cut-hook shot around the right side of the tree got him out of

trouble.

Morgan sank a clutch 15-foot birdie putt on the seventh playoff hole,

before Canizares made his relatively easy 3 1/2-footer for birdie. It was

the only extra hole in which both players made birdie. They made par on

the first six playoff holes.

After Morgan’s birdie attempt for the win lipped out on the eighth

extra hole, he missed his birdie try on the ninth playoff hole from 40

feet out, leaving it short about six feet. Canizares followed with his

winning putt.

Mauney, the leader after Saturday’s second round, was part of the last

group Sunday that combined to shoot an eye-popping 13-over-par in the

final round.

Heading into Sunday, Mauney held a one-shot lead over Bob Gilder and a

two-stroke advantage over Larry Nelson, last year’s Senior PGA Tour

Player of the Year and this year’s leading money winner.

But Gilder’s game unraveled on the front nine with two double bogeys

and a triple bogey, finishing the day at 6-over 77. Mauney also posted a

6-over 77, while Nelson, usually a tough customer on the final day in

contention, shot 1-over 72 and finished tied for seventh.

“The bottom line today is that I just played poorly,” said Gilder, who

won his first Senior PGA Tour event two weeks at the Verizon Classic in

Tampa, Fla., and shot a sizzling 65 and 66 in the first two rounds of the

Toshiba Classic.

“It wasn’t the weather and I wasn’t nervous. I just played a lousy

round of golf. (Five shots down) is a long way to come back from with

nine holes left. But I put myself into too deep a hole early and couldn’t

get out of it.”

Mauney, who has never won on the Senior PGA Tour, said nerves got the

best of him teeing off in the final group Sunday.

“I was a little nervy with my putts early,” Mauney said. “I had three

great birdie opportunities on the first three holes, but I just felt the

nerves pulling my club back.”

Mauney was still in contention heading to 14, but his tee shot went

out of bounds. “Once that happened,” Mauney said, “I told myself, ‘Well,

it looks like I’m going down the road to next week.’ It would have been

nice to win, but I needed this kind of environment ... I’ve never been in

this position before, but it’s something I can learn from.”

Allen Doyle, the 2000 Toshiba Classic champion, continued his steady

under-70 play at Newport Beach, posting a final-round 5-under 66 to

finish in third place.

Doyle, who won $100,800, has never shot over 70 in three years at the

tournament.