Golf roundup: Morgan wins his first major in record-breaking fashion

Monday, April 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

Winning a major was more than Gil Morgan could accomplish on the regular tour. He didn't let the opportunity slip away on the senior tour.

It took six months and one try for Morgan to win a senior major. He did it in style Sunday at Scottsdale, Ariz., finishing what had been a cautious round with an eagle on the final hole to capture the Tradition by a record six strokes.

"To win a major championship on the senior tour is probably the highlight of a player's senior career," Morgan said. "You try to win as many championships as you can, and every win is nice and enjoyable, but, from a record-book standpoint, we all look toward the majors."

Morgan, who began the day with a five-shot lead, fired a 5-under-par 67.

His rounds of 66-66-67-67 added up to 22-under 266, a Tradition record and the lowest score relative to par since Raymond Floyd did the same at Indian Wells, Calif., in 1993. That year, Tom Shaw won in Scottsdale with 269, the mark that stood until Morgan's unusually mistake-free tournament.

Morgan had the best score or tied for it each day and played the last 33 holes without a bogey.

Isao Aoki, who lost to Jack Nicklaus in a playoff in this tournament two years ago, shot a 68 for 272, two shots ahead of John Jacobs.

"I tried to make a 68 today, and I was feeling really good," Aoki said through an interpreter. "But that guy (Morgan) was much too good. No bogey today."

Only 23 players among the 77 finishers broke par for 72 holes, evidence of the problems others had on the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain during three days of rain, cold and, when the sun finally came out, stiff breezes.

Larry Gilbert, who closed with a 67, took fourth at 276, Jay Sigel was a shot behind him, and Jim Dent was sixth at 278.

Nicklaus, a four-time winner, started the round with no real chance at his third straight title. He shot 73 to finish with his worst performance ever (289) on the course he designed.

Morgan set a record by claiming his only other senior title 11 days after he turned 50 last fall, a bright beginning after seven wins on the regular tour.

But the closest he had come to winning a major was in 1992, when he was the first ever to 10 under in a U.S. Open and led Tom Kite by one stroke after three rounds at Pebble Beach.

In the final round, he fell apart with an 81, dropping to a tie for 13th.

That memory haunted him, but seemed to help his resolve in his first senior major.

"My basic game plan was not to hit it into a place where I couldn't play from," he said.

Although he had to get up and down to save par on three holes, including the 17th, Morgan avoided errors that could have encouraged his pursuers. He picked up a $180,000 check that boosted him to second on the senior money list at $415,204 in five events.

"I've always felt like demons could come out, you know," he said. "Even though I had a five- or six-shot lead throughout the day, all you had to do was make double-bogey and have someone make birdie. Do that a couple of times, and you're back to Square One."

It never reached that point.

When Aoki birdied No. 12 to reach 14 under, Morgan had the antidote - his third birdie of the round to get to 20 under.

After Aoki's third of four birdies got him within five shots on No. 14, Morgan parred out until No. 18, a 511-yard par-5 with by a small bunker in front.

With a four-shot margin, Morgan cut the dogleg left with his second shot, got the ball on the green 13 feet from the pin, and strolled up the fairway a certain winner.

Then he knocked home the putt.

* PGA: At New Orleans, Brad Faxon admitted he's been irritated many times by the way people flock to the big hitters on the PGA Tour, giving celebrity status to the guys who can drive a long way. If the fans were as enamored of putters, Faxon might be the most popular man in golf. "I'd love to hit precision shots every time I get up there," said Faxon, who needed just 101 putts in four rounds to win the $1.5 million Freeport-McDermott Classic. "But you rarely see a guy come down the stretch and have putts of two feet. A guy always has the hole to putt to. No matter how good you hit the ball, you always have to use your short game." That short game was strong enough for Faxon to break a drought of nearly five years and collect $270,000 Sunday. Faxon putted his way to a 16-under-par 272 total, closing with a 3-under 69. "I'm a good putter," Faxon said. "I can read putts well. You have to be able to see the line and know the right speed. I do my best job when I just worry about keeping it on the right line even if I miss the putt."

* LPGA: With 155 places separating them on the money list, Annika Sorenstam and Pamela Kometani couldn't be more apart in their respective golfing careers. Yet there they stood, tied after 72 holes and headed for a playoff in the Longs Drugs Challenge at Lincoln, Calif. Sorenstam parred the second playoff hole and claimed the victory Sunday over the unheraded Kometani. It was the third win of the young LPGA season for the Swedish star. "The key is that I love to play golf again," said Sorenstam, the 1994 LPGA rookie of the year and winner of the last two U.S. Open titles. "There was a lot of pressure last year. It was almost like I was forced to play."