PROFESSIONAL GOLF
Wilson finishes in a tie for third
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE » Richard S. Johnson knows there was one shot that gave him the confidence to win his first tournament on the PGA Tour.
"It all started out with that first day. I made that hole-in-one and all of a sudden I felt like I could make some birdies. I haven't had that feeling for a while," said Johnson, who had struggled the last few years on tour.
Johnson birdied three of his last four holes yesterday to shoot 6-under par 64 and win the U. S. Bank Championship by a stroke over Ken Duke. He finished 16-under par on the 6,759-yard Brown Deer Park Golf Course to win the $720,000 first prize.
Former Kaneohe resident Dean Wilson shot a final-round 65 to finish tied for third.
Johnson, the sixth golfer from Sweden to win on tour and seventh first-time winner this season, had to go through qualifying school last fall to get his tour card back and he had only made the cut in three of 10 events this season before coming here.
His ace linked him with Tiger Woods, who was the last player to make a hole-in-one there in his professional debut in 1996.
Johnson got the birdies when he needed them the most, first sinking a birdie putt of about 12 feet on the par-4 17th-hole to break away from a tie with Duke at 14 under. He then birdied the par-5 18th from less than 2 feet.
The birdie putt came after Johnson hit a great second shot to reach the green.
"I hit a 3-wood just straight at the pin and it rolled up to 20 feet and I two-putted for birdie," he said.
That final birdie was vital to his victory because Duke, playing in his threesome, also birdied the final hole.
Duke, who shot a 5-under 65, birdied the hole even though his second shot landed in a greenside bunker. It was a disappointing finish because Duke has never won a tournament, but he felt good that he stayed with Johnson to the end.
"I holed a couple of putts on him early, but he holed a couple back on me," Duke said. "I had a great week. Shoot 5 under on Sunday and just get beat by one. You got to take your hat off to him."
Chad Campbell (65) and Chris Riley (66) tied for third with Wilson at 13 under.
Oh wins first LPGA tourney
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. » When a red-eyed Michelle Wie left the clubhouse at Panther Creek Country Club on Saturday, it looked like she took all the drama the State Farm Classic had to offer with her.
The 18-year-old golfer, on the verge of playing her way onto the LPGA Tour and playing her best golf of the year, was disqualified for failure to sign her scorecard.
But yesterday afternoon, a pair of young golfers did their best to fill the gap.
Second-year pro Ji Young Oh of South Korea won her first tournament, sinking a 6-inch putt for par to win the State Farm Classic in a playoff over 19-year-old Taiwanese rookie Yani Tseng.
Tseng, the leader coming into yesterday, chipped her third shot over the green and into the rough, then pitched her ball to about 6 feet from the cup.
But the 20-year-old Oh's third shot, from just inside the rough, left her with the tap-in that gave her the win.
Eaks wins the 3M title
BLAINE, Minn. » R.W. Eaks was the runaway winner in the Champions Tour 3M Championship yesterday, posting the lowest score in the tournament's 16-year history.
Eaks shot a 7-under 65 in the final round to finish with a 54-hole total of 193, four shots better than Ed Dougherty's finish in 2000. Gary Hallberg and Bernhard Langer tied for second at 17-under 199.