BUICK INVITATIONAL: OLAZABAL SAVES THE BEST FOR LAST WEDGE SHOT SETS HIM UP FOR VICTORY IN BUICK OPEN.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer LA JOLLA La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and - You never know when those late mid-tournament putts will pay dividends. Jose Maria Olazabal, who made the cut with no strokes to spare two days earlier, shot 7-under-par 65 Sunday at Torrey Pines Torrey Pines can refer to:
The victory was worth $648,000 to the six-time European Ryder Cup Ryder Cup Biennial team golf event first held in 1927. It was originally played between teams of golfers from the U.S. and Britain; since 1979 players opposing the U.S. have been chosen from all of Europe. The trophy was donated by the British seed merchant Samuel Ryder. performer from Spain, who celebrated his 36th birthday Tuesday and made this win possible Friday with a two-putt par on his final hole to qualify for weekend play. Late Sunday, he hit arguably his best shot of the tournament, a 94-yard lob wedge A Lob Wedge, also called a Lofted Wedge or L-Wedge, is a golf club with a high amount of loft, usually 60 degrees, although the amount of loft ranges from 58 to 64 degrees in loft, except for a few brands of super-high lofted clubs made by fringe companies. to within three feet of the flagstick flag·stick n. A removable pole with a flag marking the placement of each hole on the putting greens of a golf course. to set up his winning birdie putt. If the best, it was also one of many good shots in Olazabal's closing round. The two-time Masters champion rolled in eight birdies against a single bogey for the second-best score of the week on a 7,568-yard course tournament officials hope will be selected to host the 2008 U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
Only the career-best 63 fashioned Sunday by Australian Greg Chalmers Greg Chalmers (born 11 October 1973) is an Australian golfer. Chalmers was born in Sydney. He won the 1993 Australian Amateur Championship and the 1994 French Amateur Championship. was better than Olazabal's final round, which held up for his sixth PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". victory when J.L. Lewis, playing in the final group of the day, missed an eight-foot putt for par on the final hole. ``I know he must be feeling sad about it,'' said Olazabal, who was practicing in case of a playoff and didn't see Lewis play the 18th. ``Nobody wants to bogey the last hole not to get into the playoff and especially making three putts on the last hole. But he has proved that he can play the game and this is a tough golf course. He will have his chances, I think.'' Lewis, in contention to win with a birdie on South's water-fronted, 520- yard 18th hole, reached that par-5 green in regulation but faced a 45-foot downhill putt after having to hit his approach shot from a difficult lie in the rough. He attempted to lag close but misread mis·read tr.v. mis·read , mis·read·ing, mis·reads 1. To read inaccurately. 2. To misinterpret or misunderstand: misread our friendly concern as prying. the speed and left the ball eight feet short. Then he left his par putt well right of the cup. Lewis didn't mince words in his assessment: ``It's one of those things,'' he said. ``I got a bad break and then I choked.'' But the 41-year-old Texan, who has tried to play this tournament one shot at a time, took a similarly pragmatic approach following his loss. ``It's disappointing,'' he said, ``but hopefully I'll learn from it and next time I get in that situation I'll handle it better.'' Lewis and Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is a professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s. In 2007 he entered his first season on the Champions Tour. , who shared the lead at 10 under par with Jerry Kelly Jerome Patrick Kelly (born November 23, 1966) is an American golfer. Kelly was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Hartford in 1989 and turned professional that year, but didn't make it onto the PGA Tour until 1996. at the start of the final round, shared second at 12-under at 276 after closing rounds of 70. John Daly (70) was a shot back in fourth place at 277 - his second top-five finish in three weeks - trailed by Tiger Woods, Bob Estes (both 66) and Rory Sabbatini (71), who shared fifth at 278. Hometown favorite Chris Riley of San Diego closed with a 69 to share eighth at 279 with John Rollins (71) and Kelly, who struggled through a final-round 73 one day after shooting 66 for what was then the best score of the week on South. Woods, six strokes back at the start of the final round, was happy with the way he was able to play two days after electing to drop out of this week's Nissan Open because he has been fighting exhaustion. ``I missed a few putts on the back nine, but I gave myself a few chances,'' he said, adding he was feeling better but looking forward to some rest time in Florida. ``It will be nice to have a week off and go home to relax,'' Woods said. O'Meara is the only other Buick Invitational top-10 finisher not signed up for the Nissan Open, where Daly will attempt to continue the solid play that has enabled him to improve from No. 507 in the world rankings at the start of 2000 to 47th at the start of a Buick Invitational performance that should boost him higher. Chalmers credited ``amazing'' putting for a 9-under-par round of 63 that included 10 birdies and got him within a stroke of the course record Woods set in winning the 1999 Buick Invitational. ``I hit some putts today I didn't think had any chance of going in, but they went in anyway,'' Chalmers said. ``It was an amazing day with the blade, so I just holed a lot of real estate out there.'' LEADERBOARD lead·er·board n. A board that displays the leaders in a competition. leaderboard Noun a board displaying the current scores of the leading competitors, esp in a golf tournament BUICK INVITATIONAL Final round Jose Maria Olazabal $648,000 71-72-67-65--275 Mark O'Meara $316,800 67-69-70-70--276 J.L. Lewis $316,800 68-67-71-70--276 John Daly $172,800 69-70-68-70--277 Tiger Woods $131,400 66-77-69-66--278 Bob Estes $131,400 75-66-71-66--278 Rory Sabbatini $131,400 70-66-71-71--278 Chris Riley $104,400 66-73-71-69--279 John Rollins $104,400 70-67-71-71--279 Jerry Kelly $104,400 73-67-66-73--279 Vijay Singh $86,400 69-71-71-69--280 Lee Janzen $86,400 70-72-69-69--280 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1) Jose Maria Olazabal blasts from a bunker Sunday in the final round of the Buick Invitational. (2) He needed an opponent's miss at the 18th hole to ensure his victory, but Jose Maria Olazabal is a happy winner Sunday in the Buick Open at Torrey Pines. Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Poroy/Associated Press Box: LEADERBOARD (see text) |
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