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Triple doesn't stop title team

LUTZ - Triple bogeys are not uncommon in pro-ams. They can become a problem, however, when the professional and the amateur do it on the same hole.

That was the predicament for Mike McCullough and St. Petersburg's Steve Chapman at the par-5 seventh hole Sunday, but the team recovered and held off 11 others for the inaugural pro-am title.

"We turned up the dial and came through at the end," Chapman said. "It was a great experience."

The team started the final round in the lead, but several other groups lurked after it fell from 25 under to 23 under on the seventh hole (Chapman's 18 handicap allowed him a stroke so it counted as double bogey). Tom Purtzer and Outback co-founder Bob Basham, playing alongside, took the lead on that hole and held it until the par-5 12th, when Chapman made birdie-net-eagle to put the team back in the lead for good.

Chapman and McCullough shot 9-under 62 for a three-round total of 30-under-par 183. Jim Thorpe and Tampa's Bob Joyce, who shot a final-round 60, tied Purtzer and Basham for second at 28 under.

"Basham, every time I turned around he was making a birdie or a par. We were pushing each other," said Chapman, CEO of a publishing company.

The McCullough-Chapman team claimed the Coca-Cola Cup (a crystal vase) and complimentary Outback cards, good for a year.

TIRED HOST: Tampa's Gary Koch, wearing hats of player and host, finished 3-under 68, his best round of the tournament. "The last couple of days I was actually able to think about playing golf, I seemed to play a little better," said Koch, who attended several tournament functions early last week and was consulted for the pro-am pairings.

In Naples on Feb.15, he finished tied for the lead but lost in a playoff. He will not play again until mid April because of broadcast responsibilities with NBC, which airs all of the upcoming PGA Tour events in Florida.

A DIFFERENT HURT: William Floyd didn't get hit by a linebacker all tournament, but he still needs a break. The former Florida State fullback who last played in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers in 2002 competed in his first pro-am with D.A. Weibring.

"I have total respect for these guys," Floyd said after he and Weibring finished 12th. "(Saturday night) I needed to get in the hot tub, I was hurtin' so bad, my back, my legs. It's a lot of work out there."

Floyd nearly took out a group of spectators on the 18th green Sunday with an errant shot. "You really have to relax," he said. "Just thinking about hitting bad shots and hitting people made it worse."

LOOKING AHEAD: The work will begin almost immediately, tournament director Amy Hawk said, on securing more celebrities and implementing a yearlong plan to attract more spectators to the event.

Hawk did not begin her duties until October.

"We have a long punch list of things we can do better next year," Hawk said. "I'm impressed with what we've done our first year."

Hawk said the hope is to have eight to 10 celebrities for the amateur portion of the event next year. This year, there were five. Hawk attributed that to the relatively short time to secure them. Although Hawk said she was pleased with Sunday's attendance, the tournament suffered at the gate compared with previous years. Last year, the tournament announced 40,000 attended on Sunday, with 116,000 for the week. Figures were not available for this year.

AROUND THE TPC: Eamonn Darcy made the third hole-in-one in tournament history, holing a 6-iron from 174 yards on the 11th. ... Gary Player shot two under his age with 5-under 66. ... Bruce Fleisher finished in a tie for 11th, the first time he has finished out of the top three in six starts in Tampa. ... Gil Morgan has finished in the top 10 of all four Champions Tour events this season.

2004 - Mark McNulty, 13-under 200

2003 - Bruce Fleisher, 8-under 205

2002 - Doug Tewell, 10-under 203

2001 - Bob Gilder, 8-under 205

2000 - Bruce Fleisher, 13-under 200

1999 - Larry Nelson, 8-under 205

1998 - Jim Albus, 6-under 207

1997 - David Graham, 9-under 204

1996 - Jack Nicklaus, 2-under 211

1995 - Dave Stockton, 9-under 204

1994 - R. Thompson, 12-under 201

1993 - Jim Albus, 7-under 206

1992 - Jim Colbert, 13-under 200

1991 - Bob Charles, 6-under 210

1990 - Mike Hill, 9-under 207

1989 - Bob Charles, 9-under 207

1988 - Dale Douglass, 11-under 205

- Name changes: 1988-96 GTE Suncoast Classic; 1997-2000 GTE Classic; 2001-03 Verizon Classic; 2004 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am

Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty fired 68 to win his first Champions Tour event in his first start.

Fuzzy Zoeller created a buzz when he birdied seven straight holes and 10 out of 11 to briefly take the lead before settling for 61 and a tie for third.

You could not have asked for better golf weather; not a drop of rain all week.

Former tournament champion Larry Nelson was in position to win but could not get anything going on the back nine, settling for second.

D.A. Weibring was in position for his second Champions Tour victory, tied for the lead with four holes to go, but made two bogeys coming in.

Mike McCullough was in contention, on e stroke off the lead, when an 8 at the par-5 seventh doomed him. He tied for 11th.

"I hit the ball very, very close. There were a lot of short putts. I had the pin-seeker going. I was aiming and firing and picking all the right clubs."

- Fuzzy Zoeller after shooting 10-under-par 61

If Fuzzy Zoeller's birdie attempt at the 11th hole had not spun around the cup, he would have made 11 straight birdies. The Champions Tour record is eight.

No. 12, par 5, 495 yards

This is ultimately where the tournament was won for Mark McNulty because none of the pursuers other than Fuzzy Zoeller was able to make birdie on the hole that played the easiest of the final round. There were 32 players who birdied the hole, but of the top seven finishers, only McNulty and Zoeller birdied it. McNulty did so by chipping to 18 feet and making the putt, which gave him a one-shot lead at the time.

3: International players to win the Champions Tour event in Tampa. Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty joined New Zealand's Bob Charles (1989 and 1991) and Australia's David Graham (1997) as winners of the tournament.

4: Rounds of 60 shot in Champions Tour history.

7: Birdies in a row by Fuzzy Zoeller starting at No. 5.

11: Champions Tour players who won the first tournament they entered, including Outback winner Mark McNulty.

13: Strokes under par for winner Mark McNulty, equaling the tournament record of 200 set by George Archer and Jim Colbert in 1992 and matched by Bruce Fleisher in 2000.

61: By Fuzzy Zoeller, his career-low round, tying the TPC of Tampa Bay record and missing the Champions Tour record by one.

66: By Gary Player, breaking his age by two strokes.