Golf

Bohn has 66 twice for first PGA win

By wire services
Published July 18, 2005

ENDICOTT, N.Y. - Jason Bohn won his first PGA Tour event, closing with a second straight 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory and a tournament-record total at the B.C. Open on Sunday.

After driving into the right trees at No. 18, Bohn salvaged par with a 7-foot putt to finish with 24-under 264. The 32-year-old Bohn won $540,000 in becoming the 13th player to make this tournament his first triumph.

Bohn, in only his second year on tour, had six birdies in a bogey-free round and edged J.P. Hayes (66), John Rollins (66), Ryan Palmer (67) and Australian rookie Brendan Jones (68). Jones, who held a one-shot lead entering the day, rallied with four straight birdies on the back nine but his erratic play early cost him a shot at the title.

Ben Crane (64), Michael Allen (64) and Mathias Gronberg (66) of Sweden were in a group at 266.

The tournament record in relation to par was 22 under, set in 2001 by Jeff Sluman and Paul Gow. The tournament record score was 265 by Calvin Peete in 1982. He finished 19 under when the course at the En-Joie Golf Club played to a par of 71.

LPGA: Meena Lee became the tour's record-tying fourth straight first-time winner, closing with 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over playing partner Katherine Hull in the Canadian Women's Open at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

"I didn't think about winning at the start, so I felt very free," Lee said through an interpreter. "Later, I was getting nervous and very intense."

The 23-year-old South Korean finished at 9-under 279 and earned $195,000 to jump from 13th to seventh on the money list with $643,933. The top player on the money list in the field, she opened with rounds of 73, 68 and 69.

Janice Moodie, who led after the first three rounds, shot 75-282. Brittany Lincicome of Seminole shot 72-287 to tie for 22nd and Dawn Coe-Jones of Tampa tied for 27th with 70-289.

NATIONWIDE TOUR: Jason Gore won his second straight event, closing with 3-under 67 for a four-stroke victory over Bill Haas at the Scholarship America Showdown.

Coming off a victory at the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, Gore finished at 14-under 266 at Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, Wis. He is the first Nationwide player to record back-to-back wins twice.

Gore joined former University of Florida golfer Chris Couch as the only two-time winners on the Nationwide Tour in 2005.

Gore, 31, was tied for the lead after two rounds of the U.S. Open last month, then tied for second, three back, heading into the final round, where he shot 14-over 84 and finished tied for 49th.

WOMEN'S STATE AMATEUR: Heather Hagerman of New Port Richey shot 76-225 to beat Ali Kicklighter of DeLand (82-229) in Bonita Springs. Terrell Italiano of Tampa tied for third with 79-230 and Brittany Jones (78) of Oldsmar and Eri Maeda (81) of Bradenton tied for 11th at 239.

FUTURES TOUR: Seon-Hwa Lee, 19, turned a three-shot lead Saturday into a record-tying 54-hole total of 14-under-par 199 (par 71) to beat Charlotte Mayorkas of Temecula, Calif., and Natalie Wong of Montebello, Calif., by seven shots in the Pro Golf Classic at Albany, N.Y. The South Korean shot 67-66-66 to earn $9,800 and take the No. 1 spot on the season money list. Her three-day total tied Christina Kim and Lorena Ochoa at the 2002 Hewlett Packard Garden State Summer Classic for lowest winning score. Kelly Lagedrost of Brooksville shot 72-215 to tie for 38th and earn $359. Jenny Gleason of Clearwater tied for 55th after 74-218, worth $227.

CELEBRITY GOLF: Former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver overcame bogey on the last hole to win the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe. Tolliver, the 1996 champion who squandered a final-round lead last year, closed with 1-over 73 for 76 points in the modified Stableford scoring system. He was four points better than Cleveland Browns and former Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer.

[Last modified July 18, 2005, 01:38:10]