Monday, June 23, 1997

Abilene golfer comes from behind to win

By TED DUNNAM / Abilene Reporter-News

John Grace was waiting to see Err Jordan. He never did.

Playing flawless golf tee-to-green, Abilene's Conway Jordan put together a remarkable 4-under-par 68 in miserable conditions Sunday to win the 69th annual Men's West Texas Golf Championship at Fairway Oaks Country Club.

Starting the day three shots back, Jordan was unflappable in conditions that featured gusting winds, intermittent rain and one heavy downpour throughout the rain-delayed final round. Despite the discomforting weather, Jordan turned in a bogey-free round that was practically mistake-free in taking the one-stroke victory over Grace.

After converting a tough up-and-down at the fifth hole, Jordan putted for birdie on every hole afterward, making four of those 13 attempts.

And when he wasn't sinking putts, he burned the rim of the cup on the birdies that didn't fall.

Grace, the defending champion of this tournament, turned in a solid even-par 72.

"I thought if I shot even par, I'd win today," Grace said. "Conway deserved to win. He just played super. I really have no bad feelings about the outcome.

"I would like to have won, but I'll take second. Conway just didn't make any mistakes out there."

Jordan's win is magnified by the fact that he opened the tournament with a 76. However, he followed with rounds of 72, 69 and 68 to finish at 3-under-par 285.

"I never got nervous out there which surprised me," Jordan said. "I didn't really know what I wanted to shoot today, I just wanted to go out there and not make a bogey. In these type conditions, you just have to draw on everything you've got."

Grace opened a four-stroke lead after birdieing the second hole. However, Jordan birdied the difficult par-4 sixth hole from eight feet and then drained a 15-footer at the par-4 ninth to make the turn in 2-under 34.

Grace bogeyed the seventh hole and finished the outward nine holes in 36 as Jordan trailed by only a stroke entering the back nine.

Jordan remained a stroke back until the 13th hole where a two-stroke swing gave Jordan his first lead of the day. Grace lipped out a par putt and Jordan smoothly rolled in another 15-footer for birdie.

"I thought that was a turning point," Jordan said. "And then the rain just came pouring down. When I got on the tee box at 14, I was just hoping to hold on to my club."

By the time the players reached the 14th green, the downpour had stopped. Both Grace and Jordan had makeable birdie putts that just missed, leaving the latter with a one-stroke lead.

Grace then birdied the 15th hole, coaxing in a 20-footer to tie for the lead. Jordan, though, responded with a perfect 7-iron shot at the treacherous 16th, leaving his shot just eight feet below the hole.

Jordan then drilled that putt into the heart of the cup to go 4 under for the day and assume his one-stroke lead again.

Grace didn't give himself a good birdie opportunity at No. 17, and Jordan easily two-putted to maintain the one-stroke edge entering the final hole.

Both players reached the par-5 18th in three shots, but Grace's approach surprisingly checked up, leaving him with a 12-foot birdie attempt and it - along with his title hopes - died inches short of the hole.

Jordan left himself 30 feet from the hole after his third shot into No. 18, but his approach putt nestled up nicely two feet below the hole and he coolly sank his par putt for the victory.

"I really didn't expect to win after opening with the 76," Jordan said. "I just wanted to put three good rounds together. If I had to have one putt to make on that final hole, that was it. I didn't want a sidehill putt.

"This is the biggest individual tournament win for me. John Grace is a great player, and there are a lot of good college players in this field. I guess the last time I played in this in '91, I played in the final group and shot 80. I was kind of thinking about that today."

Jordan, though, responded to the pressure, hitting 15 greens and put himself back in the tournament after the front nine Sunday.

Ty Cox, who shot 69, finished third, just one stroke behind Grace. Cox birdied four of the last five holes, but was never really in contention.

"You can't expect to win tournaments when you have to birdie the last six holes," Cox said. "But I'm happy with the way I played. My worst round on this course was a 73, and that's not bad out here.

"There were only three scores under par for the entire tournament, so that tells you how tough it was. Conway was just rock-solid out there today. I knew it was going to take a score like that to win it."

Jordan had only one bogey over the final 36 holes and shot 7 under for the final three rounds.

"The first day, I was 2 under after four holes and just absolutely went to sleep," Jordan said. "Then I shot a pretty good 72 on Friday, and the last two rounds, I played really solid golf. This is definitely the biggest individual tournament I've won."

On Sunday, there was no doubt. Jordan ruled.