Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Golf briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2001

A little negativity doesn’t keep Durant from scoring mark

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Joe Durant credits his wife with resurrecting his career by getting him to quit thinking negatively. She could not have been happy after learning what her husband was doing the night before the final round of the Bob Hope Classic.

Having negative thoughts.

"I just didn't want to come back here today and talk about how I blew a five-shot lead," Durant said Sunday.

Durant worried needlessly. He never gave anyone a chance, shooting a final-round 65 to not only win the Hope by four shots over Paul Stankowski but set a PGA Tour scoring record.

It was the second win for Durant, who was trying to make a living selling insurance eight years ago when his wife, Tracey, talked to him about his attitude and his choice of careers.

"She said, 'You're not going to have that attitude. You're going to play hard,' " Durant said. " 'If you play bad, I don't want to hear you whining.' "

Chastened, Durant went out and worked his way through the Buy.com Tour up to the PGA Tour. He won the 1998 Western Open and established a reputation as one of the best ball strikers on the tour.

Not until winning again Sunday was all that validated.

"This almost means more to me than my first tournament because I feel like after I won, things did not work out like I wanted," Durant said. "I feel like I've gone full circle now and I'm back where my game should be."

Stankowski, who shot a final-round 63, crept within three shots at one point, but the only real suspense on the back nine was whether Durant would break the 90-hole PGA Tour scoring record of 35-under par set at La Quinta by Tom Kite in 1993.

He did, making birdies at the 16th and 17th holes before missing an 8-footer for par at the final hole for a 90-hole mark of 36-under 324.

"I was just fortunate that I got in my mind that I had to shoot low today and I went out and did it," Durant said.

It was the second scoring record in two days for Durant -- he set the mark for most under par through four rounds at 29 under -- and the third PGA Tour scoring record to be set this year.

Durant's final-round playing partner, Mark Calcavecchia, set the low 72-hole mark of 256 last month in the Phoenix Open.

Durant's lead was never in danger. He made seven birdies on the perfectly manicured PGA West Palmer course that yielded a final-round 59 to David Duval two years ago.

Stankowski, playing a group in front of Durant, made the biggest move of the day but was able to gain only two shots with his 63.

"I'm a little disappointed because I wanted it and I wanted it bad," Stankowski said. "I wanted to go out and make a bunch of birdies early."

MALAYSIAN OPEN: Masters champion Vijay Singh won on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Padraig Harrington at Shah Alam.

Singh's final-round 68 wiped out Harrington's two-stroke lead from the rain-delayed third round, completed earlier in the day, leaving the pair tied at 14 under after four rounds.

The players traded pars, then birdies on two extra-hole runs at the par-5 18th at the Saujana Golf and Country Club. They then moved to the dogleg 17th.

Unfazed by a final-round double bogey on the 17th when his tee shot went out of bounds, Singh smashed his drive to the heart of the green to set up an eagle chance from 60 feet. He putted to within a foot, then sank it for birdie.

Harrington failed to match Singh. He ended up short with his drive, hitting a tricky chip from off the front past the pin and missing the return putt.

In regulation play, Singh took the lead with four birdies in six holes before seeing the advantage swing back to Harrington when his ball carried into palm trees at No. 17. Harrington birdied the 16th behind him to go two ahead.

"It hit somebody's shoe, then the cart path and went over. It was a little bit of a bad break," Singh said of the 17th. "When I was walking down 18 I said to myself that I had given it away. But then I made birdie."

Harrington dropped a shot at the 17th as Singh sank his putt on No. 18, leaving himself four strokes from the tee to win in regulation.

"If you'd offered me second place coming out here, I would have been thrilled, not knowing what my form was," Harrington said.

He said his normally reliable putting cost him.

AUSTRALIAN MASTERS: Colin Montgomerie shot 3-under 69 to win the tournament for the first time.

Montgomerie, who had not played since Dec. 6, finished at 10-under 278 on the Huntingdale course at Melbourne, one stroke ahead of Nathan Green.

Green's final-round 71 included a hole-in-one.

"I wasn't actually going to come down here, but I got a late invite, which was very kind," Montgomerie said. "I went to Houston for two days' coaching and then came here. It's a long way down, but I'm glad I came."

Green's ace on the 176-yard, par-3 12th hole moved him from four shots off the pace to within two strokes of Montgomerie after 12 holes. He gained another stroke with a birdie at the 13th.

Brett Rumford, who shot a course-record 8-under 64 Saturday and was the third-round leader at 12 under, bogeyed three of his first four holes and fell from contention.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright