Mark McNulty gets his first win in the U.S. in his first tournament on the Champions Tour.
By BOB HARIG
Published February 23, 2004
LUTZ - He's easy to miss, and not just because his build is slight, his voice soft. Mark McNulty has done quite well for himself, winning almost everywhere in the world but always away from the bright lights of the PGA Tour.
And that can be a big void when so many prominent figures in golf call America home.
That changed Sunday, when McNulty won his first Champions Tour event in his first attempt, shooting 3-under-par 68 to capture the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am by one stroke over Larry Nelson and two over Fuzzy Zoeller and Tom Purtzer.
"It's a dream come true," said McNulty, who earned $240,000 from the $1.6-million purse. "And to win so quickly is a big added bonus. I really enjoyed it."
McNulty, 50, became the 11th player in Champions Tour history to win his first outing. He had planned to play the previous two events in Florida but last month contracted shingles.
A winner of 55 tournaments worldwide, including 16 on the European PGA Tour, McNulty played the PGA Tour for a time in the 1980s but never finished better than fourth, something that always bothered him - a "bear bug," he called it.
"Without a doubt, the best players hail from here," McNulty said.
McNulty finished the 54-hole event at the TPC of Tampa Bay with a total of 200, 13 under par. Nelson shot 68 to finish a stroke back, with Zoeller and Purtzer (68) at 202. D.A. Weibring, who began the round a stroke out of the lead, shot 70 to finish fifth.
McNulty overcame the charging Zoeller, who was on the verge of shooting a Champions Tour-record 59, at one point birdieing seven straight holes. He took the lead after his 10th birdie in 11 holes at the 14th and needed one more over the final four holes to break 60 on the par-71, 6,813-yard course.
But his shot at history was stymied at the 18th, which he bogeyed. Zoeller had a 9-iron approach to the green, but he had a tough lie on a down slope. The ball ended up right of the green, about 25 feet from the cup, and he tried to putt through the fringe rather than chip. His ball never had a chance, then he missed the 8-footer for par.
"I didn't leave too many out there," said Zoeller, a two-time major winner who won the season-opening MasterCard Championship in Hawaii. "You can't complain about shooting 61. I missed a shot at 18. That's golf. ... You can't hit them all good. I'm not perfect."
Nelson played in the final group with McNulty and tied him with birdie at the eighth hole. But from there, he parred nine straight holes before birdie at the 18th gave him second place alone.
"I didn't birdie any of the par 5s," said Nelson, who also missed a playoff by a stroke Feb.15 in Naples. "You ... don't birdie any of the par 5s, you know you left some out there. But it was just really tough to get the ball close to the hole, except for Fuzzy. ... You shoot 68 and lose, you feel like you just got beat."
After Zoeller bogeyed the 18th, McNulty took the lead for good with birdie at the par-5 12th. He stretched it to a two shots when he chipped in for birdie at the 14th, then added another at the 16th. He led by three standing on the 18th tee. He ended with bogey for the one-stroke victory.
A native of Zimbabwe who grew up with three-time major-championship winner Nick Price, McNulty figured to be a force on the Champions Tour. In the fall, he was medalist at the qualifying tournament, and his success around the world, especially through his late 40s, was a sign of things to come.
"I would be greatly surprised if he didn't win two or three times this year," Price said earlier this year. "Mark is a prolific winner. He's won tournaments regularly. What's really hurt him is the length of the courses because he doesn't hit it long. But he always has been a straight hitter of the ball and one of the best putters around. That tour is perfect for him."
"It's absolutely amazing," South Africa's Gary Player said of McNulty. "To come out the first time and win ... this is only going to be the start. The level of play on the senior tour is only a notch below the regular tour, which tells a lot about how good he is."
McNulty has lived in a London suburb for years and recently became an Irish citizen because of political unrest in Zimbabwe. Soon, however, he'll establish residency in the United States. He plans to move into the Lake Nona neighborhood near Orlando, where Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and other prominent international players have homes.
"Nick Price always told me, "If you're going to play in America, you have to live in America,"' McNulty said.
