McLachlin loses large lead

BRIDGEPORT, Va. » Seven shots were not enough for Punahou's Parker McLachlin.

McLachlin led the Nationwide Tour's Pete Dye Classic by seven strokes going into the final round yesterday, only to lose it and finish in fourth place.

Jimmy Walker, who made up an eight-shot deficit to win the tournament on the final day in 2004, pulled off another amazing comeback yesterday by shooting a 5-under 67 to McLachlin's 77.

Walker began his assault on McLachlin early, making birdies on four of his first eight holes. McLachlin lost the lead when he double-bogeyed the eighth hole after bogeys on three previous holes.

McLachlin had two more bogeys on the way in, but birdied No. 17 to slip into the top five and earn $26,400. McLachlin, a PGA Tour rookie, led the tournament every day.

Justin Hicks finished second and Matthew Jones took third. Tom Carter ended up in fourth, tied with McLachlin. It was McLachlin's first tournament on the Nationwide Tour this year after playing 32 events on it in his career.

"It just kind of snowballed and I couldn't stop it," McLachlin told PGAtour.com. "I was in a nightmare. I shouldn't have let circumstances dictate how I played the course. I played passive and was trying to protect the lead when I should have been attacking the course like I did the first three days."