DRAINS ALLOWED GAME TO GO ON.

Byline: DAVE SHELBURNE Golf

The fantastic finishes continue ... thanks to the drainage.

Valencia Country Club, the site of an 18th-hole playoff in the 1998 Nissan Open - Billy Mayfair defeating Tiger Woods - and a final-hole eagle that got Tom Watson into a playoff in last year's SBC Senior Classic, has combined drama with difficulty during its brief tenure as a pro tour tournament host.

Last year, a field including most of the best age-50-and-over golfers in the world combined for just four tournament totals under par in an SBC event won by Tom Kite.

Sunday, Valencia demonstrated a different kind of strength to the Champions Tour - the ability to recover quickly.

After absorbing nearly two inches of rain Saturday, resulting in cancellation of the second round of the scheduled three-round event, Valencia showed up Sunday in outstanding condition.

Winner Tom Purtzer, who overcame Gil Morgan's two-shot lead with a 58-foot, 3-inch eagle putt on the final hole, said the course recovered so quickly the field ``almost'' didn't need the lift, clean and place help it got in the final round.

Gary McCord wouldn't go that far but similarly was impressed with the way Valencia rebounded after nearly day-long rain and expressed his sentiments in his typically colorful style.

``I walked out on the putting green after it rains 17 inches and it was fine,'' said the third-year Champions Tour performer, who combines broadcasting and playing in professional events these days, doing the latter well enough to tie for 29th in what started as an 81-man field at Valencia.

``There was hardly any casual water out there,'' he added. ``There was mud all over the place, so, especially going into these greens, as bumpy and humpy as they are, you've got to put your hand on it (lift, clean and place) to control the chaos, but the course was unbelievable. It was fantastic how it dried out.''

Tour rookie Des Smyth of Ireland, who tied for fifth at Valencia, laughed at the idea that last week's downpour would have been dismissed as a minor mist on his native Emerald Isle.

``We get more persistent rain in Ireland but not as heavy as yours,'' he said of the Saturday deluge that washed out the second round, filled bunkers with water and created streams in front of the first and 10th greens.

``It was amazing rain and I was amazed the golf course was so good today, I really was,'' Smyth said after completing a 70-70-140 effort that left him five strokes back of Purtzer. ``I thought it was going to be real swampy, but other than a bit of mud picking up on the pitch, the course was perfect. I was fascinated to see the drainage was so good here.''

Hubert Green, the 1977 U.S. Open champion who also tied for fifth Sunday, probably expressed the reaction of the majority after a closing round in which Valencia proved unexpectedly playable and familiarly tough - yielding just 28 subpar tournament totals in the rain-reduced, 36-hole event.

``The superintendent has done a good job,'' Green said. ``Of course, I didn't do anything, so none of that did me any good. But it was in fine shape out here.''

Credit the Valencia comeback to the work of course superintendent Robert Hertzing and his crew. And give a big assist to course designer Robert Trent Jones Sr., who planned for these kinds of weather contingencies when putting Valencia together nearly 40 years ago.

--Floyd passes test: Ray Floyd, whose appearance in the SBC Classic was his first on tour since he underwent surgery for prostate cancer in December, deemed the test a success after he completed a 71-70-141 effort that left him tied for ninth.

``I'm thrilled to go out and shoot 3 under par,'' Floyd said. ``I couldn't be happier. My stamina's good, I feel good at the finish, so that was what it was all about. That was my question, more the reaction of the body - how would I take six days of golf in a row? So I'm very pleased.''

--Names in the game: LPGA Tour Player of the Year Annika Sorenstam has committed to play in the Office Depot Championship, scheduled for April 4-6 at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana. Former Player of the Year Karrie Webb and defending champion Se Ri Pak also have committed to the event. ...

Hale Irwin, the three-time Champions Tour Player of the Year who tied for 18th in the SBC Classic at Valencia, opens defense of his Toshiba Senior Classic championship Friday at Newport Beach Country Club. Floyd also will play at Newport Beack. ...

Michele Wie, the long-hitting Honolulu eighth-grader who finished better than half the field in a qualifier for the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii two months ago, is in the field at next week's Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, where defending champion Annika Sorenstam bids for her third consecutive title and fifth LPGA major. Wie, 13, hit 300-yard drives in preliminary competition before the Sony Open.

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