Bettencourt earns first PGA Tour title

Matt Bettencourt eagled the 11th hole, then held off Bob Heintz by a stroke to win for the first time on the PGA Tour.

Bettencourt capped his 4-under 68 with a bogey on No. 18 after a birdie on 17, finishing the Reno-Tahoe Open in Reno, Nev., at 11-under 277 Sunday. After his eagle on the par-5 11th, he played the final seven holes in 1 over par. He also bogeyed the par-4 14th at Montreux Golf & Country Club.

Heintz (69) missed a three-foot birdie putt on the 18 that would have forced a playoff.

He started the week trying to qualify for a Nationwide Tour event in Ohio before he was notified he’d qualified for Reno and hopped plane to Nevada on Tuesday.

John Merrick and Mathias Gronberg each shot 69 and tied for third at 9-under.

Robert Gamez (68), Kent Jones (68), Alex Cejka (69), Kevin Stadler (70) and Craig Barlow (72) all finished another stroke back at 8-under.

Bettencourt won the money title on the Nationwide Tour in 2008 and tied for 10th at the U.S. Open last year. He finished 111th on the PGA money list with $740,037 that year.

This win qualified him to play in the PGA Championship for the first time.

Billy Joe Tolliver won his third title at the American Century Championship, setting a record with 84 points in the modified Stableford system at the celebrity tournament in Stateline, Nev.

The former NFL quarterback eagled the last hole at Edgewood Tahoe and had two birdies in his final round. He finished 19 points ahead of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz and actor Jack Wagner.

His 84 total points broke the previous record of 78 set by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Chris Chandler in 2007.

Elway had a chance to finish alone in second place, but made double bogey on the last hole. He also reached the 546-yard, par-5 16th in two, but missed his eagle putt.

Shadle Park and Washington State grad Mark Rypien finished sixth with 60 points.