Stolz finds way to first

Adam Candee

Monday, Oct. 11, 2004 | 10:07 a.m.

If you had heard of Andre Stolz, Tag Ridings or Harrison Frazar before this weekend's Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, then get off the driving range and go home because your family misses you.

After Sunday's exciting final round at Las Vegas' PGA tour stop, though, golf fans know that even the less heralded names on the circuit can produce an afternoon worth some attention.

Whether sufficient attention turned from baseball playoffs and pro football to a tournament low on star power but strong on quality of play to push up the TV ratings and draw good enough galleries for Michelin to return as title sponsor is the familiar question in the event's wake.

Australian journeyman Stolz completed four days of consistently good, if not great, play Sunday afternoon with a 5-under 67 at TPC at Summerlin to move to 21-under and win his first PGA tour event by one stroke over Ridings, Frazar and Tom Lehman. Ranked a distant 217th on the money list with just more than $88,000 coming in this week, Stolz earns $720,000 and a two-year exemption for the victory.

"This is like a thank you for all the hard work," Stolz said.

Stolz, 34 and a married father of two, toiled on tours around the world from Australia to Europe and beyond in his first few professional years, finally earning a PGA tour exemption this year with a 14th-place finish on the Nationwide Tour in 2003. Until this weekend, Stolz did little with the opportunity. His best finish was a tie for 34th at New Orleans, but Stolz felt confident coming into the final round within a shot of the lead in just his 20th PGA tour event.

Stolz's experience fighting for dollars in pro-am tournaments in Australia, where winning is the only ticket to significant money, prepared him for the five-way battle he endured on the back nine with Ridings, Frazar, Lehman and Dicky Pride.

In December, Stolz told the Sydney Morning Herald: "It made me a good finisher. If I was level with a guy with three holes left, I knew I had to do everything I could to try to beat him. I've got a good record for winning tournaments when I'm near the lead going into the last day and I'm sure that comes from those days on the pro-am tour."

That scenario played out in Sunday's final round. Challenged by a course record-tying round of 61 from Ridings, a smaller charge from Frazar and pressure from playing partners Lehman and Pride, Stolz held firm with four early birdies and a final red number when it mattered at No. 16.

With Ridings and Frazar already in the clubhouse at 20-under, Lehman, the third-round leader, attacked the flag in two at the par-5, 560-yard 16th and drilled his eagle putt to join the leaders. Stolz did not flinch, sinking a putt for his first birdie in seven holes and a one-stroke lead he did not give up. Stolz easily hit the green at the 17th and 18th holes, carding two-putt pars on both holes.

"He's not exactly a spring chicken who's a first-timer," Lehman said of Stolz. "He's been around the block a few times and he's a good player."

His 3-foot winning putt drew no more than a simple wave to the crowd from Stolz, and with good reason: He thought it only tied Lehman and moved him into a playoff. Until his caddie grabbed the flag on the hole as a souvenir, Stolz had no idea he'd won.

He did not even notice his lead on the standard bearer's board that followed the group during the round. Stolz takes pride in being able to focus deeply enough to forget the score.

"That's the perfect way to be," Stolz said. "In the zone or whatever you want to call it."

Stolz did admit to sneaking a couple of looks at the leaderboard, but he quickly gave up the effort as fruitless.

"Every time I looked at one, it was scrolling through someone else's scores," Stolz said.

With the action completed, the focus returns to the title sponsorship watch, which begins anew following the expiration of Michelin's one-month commitment to the tournament.

The tire company can choose to pick up an option that runs through 2006 and tournament chairman John Sullivan said Michelin likely must make its choice by December, when the PGA tour schedule for 2005 will be announced. The last-minute scramble to apply the Michelin brand to the event succeeded in spreading the Michelin Man's presence throughout the tournament grounds.

The Las Vegas Founders, who operated last year's event with a title sponsor after Invensys backed out after 2002, do have the final two years of a three-year, $5 million commitment from Helen Morton to offset some costs. Should Michelin leave, though, the defection of the lone viable title sponsorship candidate to emerge in the past two years could be a blow to the tournament's long-term prospects in Las Vegas.

The tournament again enjoyed great weather throughout the weekend and received the added benefit of an exciting Sunday scrum for the title. Hurt by its late-season date and by its placement directly between the American Express Championship in Ireland and four straight events in the Southeast, the Michelin Championship had one of its most anonymous fields in history with only four of this year's top 30 money winners.

In fact, none of the top 10 finishers on this year's leaderboard has won a tournament since 2000, excepting Stolz's Sunday victory. Big names like Davis Love III and Chris DiMarco pulled out days before the tournament, while Tiger Woods got married and Vijay Singh tended to his hurricane-damaged home in Florida.

The galleries were typically sparse Thursday and Friday before picking up for the weekend, as a fair amount of fans filled the hill adjacent to the 18th green Sunday.

The biggest hit of the weekend was reducing the tournament from 90 to 72 holes. Although tournament organizers said it was a one-year switch, both tour officials and players would prefer to keep a four-day format. Players also largely enjoyed Bear's Best, the new course in the rotation.