COOL BROOKS CONQUERS KENTUCKY : HOME-STATE DUO BEATEN IN PGA.

Byline: Joe Juliano Philadelphia Inquirer 

For most of a stressful final day at the PGA Championship, Mark Brooks seemed to be battling the entire state of Kentucky. The thick bluegrass rough and super-slick greens of Valhalla Golf Club were bad enough. But Brooks also had to lock horns with the two objects of home-state adoration.

He started Sunday in the final twosome with Russ Cochran and finished in a sudden-death playoff with Kenny Perry.

Brooks' stoic expression never changed. And when he sank a 6-foot birdie putt at the first playoff hole in front of a partisan, yet appreciative audience, he was rewarded with the championship of the year's final major.

It was a gutsy show by Brooks, 35, a Texan who is considered one of the tour's top grinders. He rallied from three strokes down with four holes to play and forced the playoff by draining a 3-1/2-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, then birdied the 18th hole again in the playoff to pick up his third win of the year and first major championship.

Later, after he had kissed his wife, his children and the Wanamaker Trophy several times for photographers and television crews, Brooks remained blase and impassive, looking as if he had just won, say, the Quad City Classic.

``Is that the way I am? I think so. I don't know what you want me to do,'' he said impassively.

``I'm very happy. I celebrate with my family and close friends. I don't have eight million friends out there. My best friends are PGA golf pros . . . so I guess that's where it's special. Being brought up in golf clubs all my life, that's where it'll become emotional.

``But I was told a long time ago that if you drop your guard, then the other guy knows what's going on. So I try not to drop my guard.''

That demeanor probably helped Brooks on this overcast day with a throng of 30,000-plus again providing the cheers and whistles that echoed through the hills and valleys of Valhalla.

Indeed, he never let down his guard. The crowd saluted Cochran, the third-round leader from Paducah, Ky., for most of the early holes. When he faltered, spectators turned their attention to Perry, of Franklin, Ky. His five-birdie stretch in seven holes lifted him atop the scoreboard.

Fans got to see good golf from Perry, whose 68 was soiled only by the bogey at No. 18. They got it from Saturday's other challengers - Brooks, defending champion Steve Elkington, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.

At one point, eight players were within a stroke of the lead. Brooks, Cochran, Singh and Mickelson were in front, and Perry, Justin Leonard, Jesper Parnevik and Lee Janzen were one shot back.

Brooks had been streaky through this tournament. He posted six straight birdies in Thursday's first round. He finished Friday's second round with birdies on the last four holes. He holed out a 6-iron for an eagle 2 on Saturday.

Sunday, a three-birdie run put him into a tie for the lead at 12-under with nine holes to play, but then his swing developed hiccups. He needed to 1-putt to save bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes. When he missed a 7-foot par putt at No. 14, he was 9-under and three behind Perry.

Things looked bleak then, but ``I never thought I was out of it,'' Brooks said.

The comeback began at No. 15, where he sank a 12-footer for birdie to get to 10-under. After 2-putting the 16th for par, Brooks was told by his caddie that Perry had finished at 11-under.

Perry had made it to 12-under with three birdies on the back nine, including an 18-foot chip-in at the par-3 11th. He 1-putted for par after escaping the trees on the 15th hole and saved par again at No. 17.

But at 18, Perry snapped his tee shot to the left, chopped it up the rough and was left with an 8-foot par putt that he missed for his only bogey of the round. He then signed his scorecard and went up to the CBS-TV tower to watch Brooks come in on 18.

That might have been a mistake. It wasn't until after Brooks hit his second shot into the front bunker, blasted out and made his birdie to tie that Perry descended from the tower to hit a few practice balls. But officials told him he didn't have time to warm up - a cart was leaving immediately to take him to the 18th tee.

AGONY AT 18

The 18th hole ruined the hopes of Mark Brooks' closest competitors in the final round, enabling him to win the PGA Championship:

KENNY PERRY ?

With a two-shot lead in regulation, he hit a wild hook off the tee into the rough, couldn't get back to the fairway with his second shot, missed the green left, then missed a 12-foot par putt. Forced into a playoff, Perry hooked his tee shot again on 18 and wasted a shot trying to get out of the rough, bogeying the hole again.

STEVE ELKINGTON

The defending champion could have joined the playoff, but he missed a 15-foot birdie putt and wound up in a tie for third place with Tommy Tolles.

VIJAY SINGH

Needing a birdie to enter the playoff, he instead bogeyed the hole and finished in a three-way tie for fifth with Justin Leonard and Jesper Parnevik.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--color) Mark Brooks waves to spectators af ter forcing a playoff at the PGA Championship.

Associated Press

(2--color) KENNY PERRY

(3--color) STEVE ELKINGTON

(4--color) VIJAY SINGH

Box: Agony at 18 (see text)