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FARMINGTON, Pa. - The collapse never came, even as a once-sizable lead dwindled to a single precarious stroke. This time, Sunday didn't crush Jason Gore. It belonged to him.
Gore, whose last-day unraveling is part of U.S. Open lore, stood up to the 84 Lumber Classic field with big drives and steely nerves to win on the PGA Tour barely a month after being stuck in golf's minor leagues.
Gore's four-stroke lead with five holes to play was down to one over runnerup Carlos Franco by No. 18, but Gore landed his approach shot on the 468-yard par 4 on the lower fringe of the green. With a playoff looming if he didn't get up and down, Gore deftly lagged his putt from 911/2 feet to within 22 inches, and tapped in for a final-round 2-under 70, a $792,000 paycheck and the PGA Tour victory he once thought might never come.
"I hit the best putt of my life," he said. "What made it easier is the putt was so hard - I had to go up and down two elephants and over the windmill. It worked out, luckily."
His 14-under 274 denied Franco (69) his first PGA victory since 2001 and was three shots better than third-place finisher Ben Crane (67). He joins Paul Stankowski (1996) as the only golfers to win on the developmental Nationwide and PGA tours in the same year.
David Toms took some driving range swings and said he's ready to go for this week's Presidents Cup matches despite his heart-related medical scare Thursday. Toms needs corrective surgery that could last as long as six hours, but will delay it until after the United States vs. International team matches in Gainesville, Va.
LPGA: Annika Sorenstam closed with 2-over 73 and withstood a late charge from rookie Paula Creamer of Bradenton to win the John Q. Hammons Classic in Broken Arrow, Okla., for the second straight year and third time in four years.
Sorenstam made 15 straight pars to start the final round and overcame bogeys on two of the last three holes to finish one shot ahead of Creamer at 5-under 208 for her seventh LPGA Tour win in 14 starts this season and 63rd overall. She also won a European tour event in Sweden this year.
The 19-year-old Creamer, who paced the USA to a 151/2-121/2 victory over Sorenstam and the European team in the Solheim Cup Sept. 11, started the final round five strokes off the lead.
The rookie opened with six straight pars and closed out the front nine birdie-bogey-birdie. After three pars on the back nine, she birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to get to 5 under, but gave the strokes back with bogeys at the 16th and 17th as Sorenstam's lead reached four strokes.
Creamer, a two-time winner this year, birdied the 18th for 2-under 69 and 4-under total. Moira Dunn of Tampa finished tied for 13th at 2 over, and Bradenton's Aree Song shot 4 over to tie for 21st.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Bob Gilder shot 5-under-par 67 to capture the Constellation Energy Classic in Hunt Valley, Md., by four strokes over Morris Hatalsky. It was Gilder's first victory on the senior tour in more than two years. He never trailed after opening with 64 on Friday. Gilder built a three-shot lead with nine holes to play and coasted to the finish with 18-under 198 to tie the tournament record set by Christy O'Connor in 1999.
EUROPEAN PGA: U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell won the World Match Play Championship in Virginia Water, England, defeating Paul McGinley 2 and 1 in the final by capitalizing on his opponent's errors in the closing holes. Campbell wrapped up the match at Wentworth with a chip to 1 foot of the cup on the 35th green. He won the 33rd and 34th holes when McGinley bogeyed after poor shots. Campbell earned $1.8-million, the largest prize in golf. The New Zealander also advanced to the top of the European Order of Merit ahead of Retief Goosen. He beat the South African in the semifinals Saturday.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: Money leader Troy Matteson picked up his second title of the season at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Matteson parred his final 10 holes for 13-under 271 to win by two.