Monday, May 14, 2001
Damron wins Nelson Classic
in playoff; Woods finishes third
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) — First came the
comeback bid from Tiger Woods, then a gutsy challenge by hometown
favorite Scott Verplank. Robert Damron withstood it all Sunday
to win the Byron Nelson Classic on the fourth playoff hole for
his first PGA Tour victory.
Damron, after leaving two potential winning
putts on the lip, rolled an 18-footer into the heart of the cup
on the par-3 17th and thrust his fist into the air. Verplank's
birdie putt from 15 feet never had a chance.
“It's been such a long day, so many
holes,” Damron said. “It was so up and down. It hasn't
really soaked in yet.”
Woods was long gone when the winning putt
fell, although he managed to make it interesting with seven birdies
on his first 12 holes to tie for the lead. He finished with a
7-under 63, and wound up three strokes back after a strong finish
from Damron and Verplank.
Damron became the first player in seven
years to make the Nelson Classic his first victory, and it came
in his 132nd start on tour. He earned $810,000, more than he ever
won in any of his four full seasons on tour, and became a surprising
winner in a field that featured five of the top seven players
in the world and 23 of the top 30 on the money list.
Damron and Verplank, who was trying to become
the first Dallas-born player to win the Nelson Classic, closed
with 66s to finish at 263.
Verplank turned in a gritty performance
with birdies on three of the last four holes. The final one was
a birdie putt from 15 feet that forced the third straight Nelson
playoff. He never had birdie putt longer than 18 feet in the playoff,
and three of them were one turn away from falling.
Woods, in his first tournament since winning
the Masters four weeks ago to make it a clean sweep of the majors,
wasn't particularly sharp. Still, he required only 21 putts and
was tied for the lead until Damron and Verplank pulled away.
“I'm very pleased that I was able to
hang in there and not really have my best stuff,” Woods said.
He leaves Monday evening to play the Deutsche Bank in Germany.
It was the second straight year Woods went
into the final round chasing the lead and closed with a 63, only
to come up just short. A year ago, he finished one stroke out
of a three-man playoff.
This time, he ended up three strokes back
and tied for third with David Duval (67) and Nick Price, who had
control of the tournament until giving up shots on the 16th and
17th holes and settling for a 67.
That set stage for Verplank and Damron,
and both handled the pressure and hot temperatures with one clutch
shot after another.
Verplank chipped in from 20 feet on the
15th to tie Damron at 15 under, then holed a 15-foot birdie putt
on the next hole after Damron had blasted out of the bunker to
2 feet for a sure birdie.
Damron appeared to seize control with a
6-iron to a perilous pin position, just over the water, the ball
landing 10 feet away. He stuck out his tongue and widened his
eyes in mock relief, and was all smiles when the putt fell for
a one-stroke lead.
But Verplank grinded away, stuffing his
approach from 186 yards into 10 feet on the 18th and making the
birdie putt to force yet another playoff on the TPC at Las Colinas.
Woods started the day six strokes behind
Verplank and Damron, the co-leaders after 54 holes, and prospects
of a comeback looked dim when he hit only one out of his first
five greens. Even with a little rust, however, Woods can turn
it on in a hurry.
Starting on No. 6, he birdied three straight
holes, executed a delicate chip to save par and then poured it
on with three more birdies, two of them from about 30 feet. Suddenly,
the chatter ceased and Woods locked in on contending for another
title.
He had a chance at a fourth straight birdie,
but his 10-footer on the 13th broke just below the hole and Woods
sank to his knees in shock. He slammed a sign post on the way
to the next tee.
He missed the next green, hit his only poor
chip of the day to about 10 feet and missed that to make bogey.
Woods headed up to his hotel room to watch
the rest of the round, and only when Verplank and Damron hit it
close on the 17th with a two-stroke lead was it safe to leave.
Price, whose last win came in 1998, lost
control of the tournament down the stretch.
Tied for the lead, he hit into a greenside
bunker on the 16th, then blasted out over the green and had to
make a nice up-and-down for par on the second easiest hole at
Las Colinas. Then, he went right at the flag on the par-3 17th,
only to have a gust of wind knock his ball short of the green
and close to the rocks guarding the water, leading to a bogey.
“I'm getting to an age I don't know
how many more chances I'm going to get,” the 44-year-old
Price said. “I just wish I had a little more confidence.
I haven't been there in a while.”
Damron had never there at all, but that
changed with one putt.
Divots:
It was the eighth time in Woods' career that was in the 60s all
four rounds, and the third time that wasn't good enough to win.
The other two came late last year at Disney and the Tour Championship.
... Cameron Beckman played with Woods for the first time, and
relished the moment — just not the score. While Woods had
a 63, Beckman made only one birdie in a round of 76. “Man,
it was a blast,” he said. “I would have liked to have
played better, but either way was going to be a positive. I learned
a lot.” ... Verplank is 2-2 in playoffs. He went four holes
with Jean Van de Velde in the Reno-Tahoe Open and won. It was
Damron's first playoff.
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