Thursday, August 28, 2003
Don Pooley captured the Champions Tour Allianz event by three strokes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Candie Kung overcame a slow start and shot a 2-under-par 70 for a two-stroke victory over defending champion Se Ri Pak and Meg Mallon at the Wachovia LPGA Classic.
Kung finished at 14-under 274 for her second title of the season. She won the Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas in April.
Mallon, one stroke off the lead entering the final round, shot a 71 to finish tied with Pak (68) at 12-under.
Carin Koch closed with a 70 and was alone in fourth at 11-under.
Allianz Championship
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Don Pooley pulled away from a six-man scramble with an eagle on No. 11 and went on to shoot a 4-under 67 to win the Allianz Championship by three strokes.
It was the second Champions Tour victory for Pooley, who won the 2002 U.S. Senior Open but was laid up the first five months of this year after shoulder surgery on Jan. 3.
Starting the day with a one-stroke lead, Pooley finished at 13-under 200 and with a more comfortable margin than the early play might have indicated.
Jim Thorpe, Bruce Fleisher and Bruce Lietzke each closed with a 69 to finish 10-under. Former major league pitcher Rick Rhoden also shot a 69 to tie Tom Kite (68) and Doug Tewell (66) at 9-under.
Pooley earned $225,000 as the 22nd different winner in 23 Champions Tour events this year. Only Lietzke has won twice.
U.S. Amateur
OAKMONT, Pa. -- Nick Flanagan became the latest out-of-nowhere winner in this summer of golfing surprises, wasting a four-hole lead before rallying to win the first playoff hole and upset Casey Wittenberg in the U.S. Amateur final.
Flanagan never trailed in the 37-hole match, but the top-ranked Wittenberg -- an overwhelming favorite -- won two of the final four holes during the afternoon round, including No. 18, to force the playoff.
But Wittenberg hit his 3-wood into the rough on the playoff hole, the 462-yard No. 10, and his second shot found the rough again behind the green. Flanagan hit an excellent drive, an approach to 25 feet, then calmly two-putted to win the championship.
Flanagan is the first Australian to win the Amateur in 100 years -- Walter Travis won in 1903 -- and he did so in Oakmont Country Club's 100th year. Just as Travis did, Flanagan won only a few years after picking a golf club for the first time. He never played until watching Tiger Woods win the 1997 Masters.
Reno-Tahoe Open
RENO, Nev. -- Kirk Triplett shot a 9-under-par 63 to win the Reno-Tahoe Open at 17-under par, tying both the course and tournament records with a three-stroke victory over Tim Herron.
Triplett charged from behind with nine birdies -- four in a row on the front nine -- to claim only his second victory in 14 years on the PGA Tour.
Herron shot a 71 to finish second at 14-under 274.