Golf briefs for June 27, 2005

Monday, June 27, 2005 | 11:09 a.m.

Travis Long second, wins spot in PGA

At Kiawah Island, S.C., University of Illinois golf coach Mike Small shot a 69 to beat Lake Las Vegas assistant pro Travis Long by three strokes to win the PGA Club Professional Championship. Both Long, a Henderson resident, and Small earned berths in the PGA Championship in August, as did the other top 25 finishers.

Small finished at 1-over 289 to beat Long, who shot a final-round 71.

For the win, Small got $67,000 and exemptions into six PGA tour events.

Kraft gets first victory

At Moosic, Pa., Greg Kraft shot a 1-under 70 on Sunday, holding off Tim O'Neal by two strokes to win his first tournament on the Nationwide Tour.

Kraft started the final round with a seven-stroke lead. But O'Neal shot a 65 and Bubba Watson carded a 66.

Kraft, a 41-year-old Floridian, finished at 17-under-par 267. Watson was three shots back at 270 and Joe Daley (66) and David Branshaw (68) tied for fourth, five back.

Kraft's last victory was on PGA tour at the 1993 Deposit Guaranty Classic. "This is wonderful," said Kraft, who collected $81,000 for this win.

Kraft opened with birdies at Nos. 1 and 5 to get to 18-under, but just ahead of him, O'Neal was running off five birdies in the first six holes and closed the gap to four.

O'Neal's sixth birdie of the day at the par-3, ninth pushed him to 15 under, and Kraft bogeyed the same hole to cut the lead to two strokes.

A birdie by Kraft at the par-5, 10th increased his lead to three. A failed up-and-down on the 16th resulted in Kraft's second bogey of the day and the lead was back to two.

He parred the final two holes.

Van de Velde loses in playoff

At Versailles, France, Jean-FranEcois Remesy won his second consecutive French Open title, beating Jean Van de Velde in a playoff.

Van de Velde led by a shot with one hole remaining in regulation, but he hooked his drive into the water and eventually bogeyed the hole to finish tied with Remesy at 11-under 273. Both players shot 2-under 69s in the final round.

Aussie wins by five

At Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Australian Terry Pilkadaris won the inaugural Brunei Open by five strokes, closing with a 4-under-par 67 in the Asian Tour event.

-- Sun wire services