Water Shot No Hazard For Faldo

Golf

Nick Faldo won his first tournament in the United States since the 1990 Masters, surviving a drive into the water on the 18th hole Sunday to win the Doral Ryder Open at Miami by one stroke.

Faldo, playing the PGA Tour full-time this year for the first time since 1989, put his tee shot into the water on the final hole, but reached the green with a 3-wood and two-putted for bogey. He finished with a 69 and a four-day total of 273.

Greg Norman, needing only a par to force a playoff, then hooked his second shot into the water on the 18th and had his third bogey of the day after playing the first three rounds without one. He closed with a 73 for a total of 274.

Peter Jacobson had a chance to tie on the final green, but his 75-foot birdie try missed by about two inches. He also finished at 274 after a final-round 73.

Faldo, who began the day three shots back, took the lead for the first time with a birdie on the par4 14th hole. A bogey by Norman on the same hole gave Faldo a two-shot lead.

Norman drove into a bunker on No. 16, but hit within 10 feet on his next shot from 75 yards out and made the birdie to draw within one. He just missed an 11-foot birdie try on No. 17, then put his tee shot into the heavy rough on the final hole.”I knew the shot was in the water as soon as I hit it. I felt the club twist in my hand,” Norman said. “There was a big clump of grass right behind the ball. It was just sitting in the wrong place.”

That left Jacobsen with the only chance to tie, and his birdie attempt just missed.

Seniors

It may have been the first time Bruce Devlin aimed directly at a lake. Only this lake was a green under water.

With the rest of the field dismissed when the final round of the FHP Health Care Classic was rained out, Devlin beat secondround co-leader Dave Eichelberger on their second playoff hole at Ojai, Calif., to end a 23-year winless streak.

Devlin won $112,500 - his first triumph on the Senior PGA Tour. Eichelberger collected $66,000.

Devlin won when his 22-foot birdie putt skidded across the waterlogged green and into the hole at 17, which looked more like a lagoon than a putting surface.

Devlin and Eichelberger had halved the first playoff hole.

Both started the day at 10-under-par, two ahead of Dale Douglass, who finished third and earned $54,000. For the other golfers, prize money will be based on Saturday’s standings.