Nelson finishes second to none

Victoria Sun

Monday, April 24, 2000 | 9:26 a.m.

When it was all over, Senior PGA Tour professional Larry Nelson seemed more relieved than anything else.

After finishing second at the Emerald Coast Classic, The Tradition and the PGA Seniors' Championship, Nelson played a nearly flawless round (minus a bogey on the 429-yard par-4 fourth hole) Sunday afternoon at the TPC at Summerlin to capture the $1.4 million Las Vegas Senior Classic for his first Senior Tour victory of the year.

Nelson shot an 8-under-par 64 for a three-day total 19-under 197, setting a new tournament record low. He finished five shots ahead of Hale Irwin and Bruce Fleisher and six strokes ahead of David Lundstrom. Gil Morgan was next with a total of 204 while Las Vegan Jim Colbert, Hugh Baiocchi and Dave Stockton were all tied at 11-under 205.

"It was nice to finally win," he said. "The last three weeks have not necessarily been confidence builders even though I did finish second.

"You begin to wonder if you're going to win again. You really don't know when that last tournament win is going to be. So you start to lose confidence, not that it was totally gone, but it just wasn't quite as high as it was."

If Nelson gets "down" in the future, recalling the way he coolly closed out his victory to earn $210,000 could provide a big help.

Entering the final round Nelson tied Fleisher for the lead at 11-under.

Irwin caught Nelson with six birdies on the front nine and the two were within one stroke of each other until Nelson closed out the victory over the final five holes.

Irwin, playing two groups ahead of Nelson, squandered a chance to birdie the par-3 156-yard 14th hole when he missed a putt from about 15 feet. He did birdie No. 15 with a four-foot putt to go 15-under, but Nelson had birdies on both holes to go 16 under.

The 560-yard par-5 16th hole plagued Irwin for the second time over the weekend and made Nelson's day.

Irwin hit his second shot into the water, costing him a drop, and eventually bogeyed the hole. Nelson hit his 5-wood onto the green then made an 18-foot putt for eagle.

"I was cautiously aggressive," Nelson said. "I knew where to kind of take my chances.

"The most important shot of the backside was the drive at 16. I guess it got me to a position where I had a choice of clubs. You always like to be hitting your second shot of a par-5 over the water knowing that you have two more clubs that you can hit further.

"I think ... 16 hurt Hale's chances and it kind of finished off the tournament for me."

Nelson finished the day with two eagles and five birdies.

His earnings, the biggest of his career, vaulted him to second on the money list with $670,860, behind Fleisher, who has $745,939. Irwin moved up to fifth with $517,018.

Although he said he didn't putt very well, Nelson considered his play the best it has been since he won the U.S. Open in 1983.

"I think I'm a better player now than I was when I played on the PGA Tour and when I won the U.S. Open in 1983," Nelson said. "The difference is your stamina and concentration.

"This probably was the best I played since I won the U.S. Open as far as being able to hit the ball where I wanted it."