May 24, 2004 8 min read

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Steve Flesch lost his focus when he realized he had a two-stroke lead with two holes to play at the Colonial. That momentary lapse cost him a stroke, but not his second PGA Tour win.

Even after missing the 17th green with an approach shot from the middle of the fairway and then needing two chips before making bogey, Flesch won the Colonial on Sunday with an 11-under 269 total, one stroke ahead of Chad Campbell.

Flesch was the only golfer with four straight rounds in the 60s. The left-hander’s closing 3-under 67 came on his 37th birthday.

A week after withdrawing from the Byron Nelson Championship because of a sore back and mental fatigue, Flesch was feeling fine wearing the winner’s plaid jacket at Hogan’s Alley.

“I wouldn’t change the way any of it worked out,” Flesch said. “I was tired from playing so many events. Physically, I think I can play every week but mentally, I can’t. That’s the best decision I’ve made all year.”

Flesch also got a $954,000 winner’s check, the biggest in his seven PGA Tour seasons, and moved to ninth in the Ryder Cup standings.

Flesch, having already missed three birdie chances of 5 feet or less, curled in a 16-footer at the 188-yard 16th hole. He was in the middle of the 17th fairway at 12 under, two strokes ahead of Campbell.

But he missed the green, and left his chip in the rough. Once Flesch got on the putting surface, he sank a 5-footer to salvage bogey. He recovered with a closing par.

“I hit it so well, it would have been a shame not to win,” Flesch said. “This is a ballstrikers’ course. It’s not a power course. If I had a chance, it was here.”

Flesch’s other win came at the 2003 HP Classic of New Orleans. He had two top-10 finishes in his first 15 tournaments this year, including a tie for fifth at the Wachovia Championship before withdrawing last week.

Campbell, who charged into a tie for the lead with a course record-tying 61 Saturday, couldn’t take advantage of Flesch’s mistake. At No. 16, he rolled a 13-foot birdie putt 3 feet past, then bogeyed 17 after his approach landed in a greenside bunker.

“That was a stupid bogey on 17,” Campbell said. “I guess I used up my luck (Saturday). After that last round, it’s hard to come back.”

Campbell made a 5-foot birdie putt at the 433-yard 18th to finish alone in second after a closing 68.

Stephen Ames’ 64, the best round of the day, put him in third place at 271. It was his fourth straight top-10 finish and fifth in six events. He also finished 13th at the Players Championship.

“Unfortunately, I’m only doing it on Sundays,” said Ames, who has been below 70 in eight of his 12 Sunday rounds this year.

Craig Perks (68) was fourth, his best finish since his only win at the 2002 Players Championship.

Jesper Parnevik, who hasn’t won in three years, was within a stroke of the lead when he started his back nine. He fell out of contention with a 41 on the back nine that included three bogeys, a triple bogey, double bogey and two birdies.

Brian Gay, playing in the last group, saw his chance for his first PGA Tour win end when he lost three strokes in two holes after starting with eight straight pars.

After starting the round in a three-way tie for the lead, Flesch didn’t have sole possession of the lead until a 6-foot birdie on the 432-yard 7th hole. He had two short birdie misses in three holes before blasting to 11 feet from a greenside bunker at the 611-yard 11th to get to 11 under.

Parnevik started his round with an eagle at No. 1, hitting a shot 268 yards from a fairway bunker to 12 feet. By the time he finished his front nine with consecutive birdies, he was 9 under and a stroke within Flesch and Campbell.

Then the struggles began.

After missing the fairway left at No. 10, Parnevik hit out of a greenside bunker 24 feet past the hole and bogeyed. He got that stroke back when with a 3-foot birdie, despite finding another bunker at No. 11.

Parnevik missed the green with his approach at No. 12, and couldn’t make the 19-foot par save. At the par-3 13th, his tee shot dropped in the water and he wound up with double bogey.

His 72 left him tied for 14th at 3-under 277, the same as Gay (75).

“It’s a positive. It’s better than I’ve been doing,” said Gay, who had missed four of five cuts since also finishing 14th at the BellSouth Classic.

Gay was steady until missing the fairway at No. 9 and having to lay up in front of the water surrounding the green. His 16-foot par putt lipped out. A double bogey followed when he hit the ball way right at No. 10, took a drop and then hit over the green.

LPGA Sybase Classic

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Sherri Steinhauer was walking with two friends just minutes after she won the Sybase Classic.

“Are we dreaming? Did this happen?” she asked following her first victory since 1999. “It’s amazing.”

The 19-year LPGA Tour veteran shot a 2-under 69 to finish two strokes in front of Grace Park. It was Steinhauer’s sixth career victory and the first since winning this tournament and the British Open in 1999.

More importantly it wiped out memories of 2003, by far her worst year on tour, one she called “miserable” and that almost caused her to consider retiring.

“After last year, playing so horribly, it’s an unbelievable feeling at this point,” she said.

Steinhauer tied for the lead on Saturday with an eagle on the closing par-5.

While co-leader Becky Morgan had an up-and-down front nine with four birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey, Steinhauer had nine pars. They were still tied at 10 under making the turn, with Park one shot back.

Steinhauer made birdies on Nos. 10, 14 and 15 to go up three strokes over Park. A bogey on 16 cut the lead to two, but Steinhauer had a great par save on 17 and parred 18 to finish with a 12-under 272 and get the win.

“If I’d never been in this position before I wouldn’t know what it felt like,” the 41-year-old Steinhauer said. “I was extremely nervous but I was doing my best to stay calm and I’m really proud of myself because I did do that. Even after I missed the putt on 16 and didn’t hit a good drive on 17, my goal was to just stay calm and not panic in the situation.”

Allianz Championship

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – D.A. Weibring still plays his best in the Midwest.

Weibring capped a solid three days of golf by shooting an even-par 71 in blustery, overcast conditions to win the Allianz Championship by three strokes.

The Quincy, Ill., native survived an early double bogey and challenges by Tom Watson and Tom Kite to win for the second time on the Champions Tour. His fifth victory in the Midwest was worth $225,000 and came two days short of his 51st birthday.

Weibring finished at 9-under 204, his fifth top 10 finish in his last six tournaments.

Four of Weibring’s five victories on the PGA Tour came in his home state – three in the Quad Cities tournament near Moline, Ill., and one in the Western Open outside Chicago.

Tom Jenkins closed with a 70 to finish at 6 under.

Watson was next at 5 under after an up-and-down 71 – an eagle, three birdies and five bogeys. Kite had a 72 to finish 4 under.

Weibring won handily despite a shaky start, plunking his tee shot on No. 2 into the water and making double bogey. He recovered from with a birdie on the next hole, bogeyed No. 4 and then made an 8-footer for birdie on 5.

From then on, Weibring played mistake-free and secured his victory with a nice approach to 6 feet on No. 15. He rolled in the putt for birdie and a four-stroke lead.

Weibring, who joined the Champions Tour last June, cruised after that.

Kite pulled to within a stroke of the lead with a birdie on 9. But Weibring quickly went up by two with a birdie on 10 after sticking a 5-iron from 179 yards into the wind to about 2 feet, and Kite faltered down the stretch. His birdie putt curved left from 6 feet on No. 11, he missed a 4-footer for par on 13 and bogeyed the last two holes.

Watson trailed by just two strokes after an eagle on No. 9 dropped him to 6 under. But he, too, had problems on the green on the back nine.

A birdie putt that would have gotten him within one stroke of the lead lipped out on No. 11, he missed a 3-footer for par on 12 and three-putted for bogey on 14 to fall out of contention.

Bobby Walzel started the day at 8 under and one off the lead, but his game fell apart quickly on with three double bogeys in his first eight holes. He soared to an 80 to finish 1 over.

Walzel, who had prostate cancer surgery in 2002, admitted he’d be nervous playing in the final group and it showed. He made double bogey on No. 2 after hitting into the water, made another on No. 3 and did it a third time after hitting his tee shot into the tall grass on 8.