Streak buster

Victoria Sun

Monday, April 23, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

For Bruce Fleisher, the question wasn't if he would ever win again, but when.

The answer came on Sunday afternoon.

Fleisher shot a 2-under-par 70 for a total 8-under 208 to win the Las Vegas Senior Classic at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, stopping a winless streak that spanned nine months. Fleisher's last victory was at the Lightpath Long Island Classic last July.

"It's wonderful," Fleisher said. "It's a beautiful thing. There was no doubt I could win again. But there are times when you doubt yourself."

Two-time champion Hale Irwin, former champion Vicente Fernandez, Walter Hall, Jose Maria Canizares and Doug Tewell finished three strokes behind Fleisher.

The way Fleisher played the final hole wasn't as nice as the way he calmly played through the windy conditions.

He bogeyed the par-4 433-yard 18th before accepting the crystal trophy.

"I knew it was almost impossible to lose at that point," Fleisher said. "So I think the only thing going through my mind was, 'Don't three-putt, don't three-putt.'

"Of course, I did. ... Gosh, I left it just out to about 30 feet back up to about three feet. ... I was putting like I don't need the money."

But he did receive a hefty check in the amount of $210,000 for the win, vaulting him to fifth on the Senior Tour money list at $626,398.

Fleisher took the lead for good with his third birdie of the day, a 15-footer, on the 190-yard par-3 eighth hole.

He entered the day two strokes behind Jerry McGee, who was trying to get his first win in 22 years, but McGee shot himself out of contention with a bogey on No. 11, a double bogey on No. 12 and another bogey on No. 13. McGee's final-round 77 dropped him to a four-way tie for eighth.

"Jerry had a wonderful golf tournament," Fleisher said. "Today was a day of patience and Jerry lost his patience.

"He three-putted 11. I think it really got to him. Then on 12, I'm not sure what he was thinking.

"Today was just a difficult day and I was patient enough to wait for other guys to make mistakes. That's really what happened. Jerry hit the ball beautiful. He just caught a bad break."

Hall pulled within a stroke of Fleisher after he birdied No. 16, a 560-yard par-5, before making a costly mistake on No. 17.

Hall hit his 6-iron off the tee into the lake for a triple bogey.

"I'm on 17, the wind is blowing hard, left to right and I'm a fader," Hall said. "I'm trying to take the ball in the middle of the green, hook it towards the hole and really just hit it on the middle of the green.

"I hooked it and it was over then. And I tried to get cute with a chip shot I needed straight downhill to the middle of the green, and if I could have hit it about two more inches it would've rolled onto the hole. But I didn't. And it crashed into the hill, came back down towards the hazard."

Although Fleisher professed he isn't very comfortable playing in the desert and has had mixed results here in the past (he was disqualified two years ago and finished second last year), he joked that he had already written a victory speech on the way to the ninth hole.

Now that he has won again, perhaps there will be more speeches to be made.

"Hopefully this will boost my confidence," Fleisher said. "I've still got some things I've got to work on -- especially on my putting."