Golf briefs for July 11, 2005

Monday, July 11, 2005 | 9:07 a.m.

Bowie captures first tour title

At Sylvania, Ohio, Heather Bowie won her first LPGA tour title, parring the third hole of a playoff with Gloria Park in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

Park made things easy for Bowie, hitting a low hook out of the rough and into a creek on the par-5 18th hole. After hitting clutch putts on the first two extra holes to extend the playoff, Park triple-bogeyed the last hole.

Bowie, who earned $180,000 and a three-year LPGA tour exemption, closed with a 4-under 67 to match Park (66) at 10-under 274. It was the 138th start for the two-time NCAA champion at Texas.

Sung Ah Yim (68) and Hee-Won Han (73) tied for third at 9 under, and Paula Creamer (64) and Jeong Jang (72) followed at 8 under.

Clark ties record at Scottish Open

At Luss, Scotland, Tim Clark finally won outside his native South Africa, surviving seven lead changes in a wild scramble among five players, then pulling away for a 4-under 67 and a two-shot victory in the Scottish Open.

Needing only two putts from 18 feet on the last hole, Clark made the birdie putt to finish at 19-under 265, tying the 72-hole scoring record at Loch Lomond set by Tom Lehman in 1997. Darren Clarke (66) and Maarten Lafeber (69) tied for second.

Lafeber, a 30-year-old Dutchman with one European tour victory, earned a spot in the British Open as the low finisher at Loch Lomond not already exempt.

Ernie Els (68) finished six strokes back, and Phil Mickelson (69) was 14 shots out of the lead.

Gore positioned to earn tour card

At Bridgeport, W.Va., U.S. Open fan favorite Jason Gore won the Nationwide Tour's National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Doug LaBelle II.

Gore won his fourth career Nationwide Tour title three weeks after shooting a 14-over 84 in the final round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst to drop from a tie for second to a tie for 49th in the major championship.

The husky former Pepperdine player made a 2 1/2-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th and parred the final three holes -- holing a 4-footer on No. 18 -- to finish at 17-under 271 on the Pete Dye Golf Club course.

Gore, who turned down a sponsor exemption for the PGA tour's John Deere Classic this week, earned $108,000 to jump from 57th to seventh on the money list with $149,579. The top 20 at the end of the season will earn 2006 PGA tour cards.

LaBelle finished with a 66.

-- Sun wire services