Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 8:56 a.m.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Mark Calcavecchia's putter gives him the shakes, but he proved at the Canadian Open that he's still got a lot of game in his bag.
The 45-year-old Calcavecchia ended a four-year winless streak on the PGA tour with a one-shot victory Sunday. His closing 1-over 71 was hardly a thing of beauty, but it was good enough to earn his first win since the 2001 Phoenix Open.
Ben Crane closed with a 66, and 2004 U.S. Amateur champion Ryan Moore had a 70 to finish tied for second.
Moore, who turned pro after the U.S. Open and missed the cut in two of his previous four events, birdied the last hole for his finest finish.
"I gave myself a couple of good opportunities that just slid by," said Moore, who earned $440,000 toward his goal of earning his 2006 PGA tour card. "I've always been an emotional player," said Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champion. "When things go good for me, I'm streaky and I'm very good, and when they go bad for me, I lose it."
Calcavecchia never lost it at Shaughnessy Golf Club, even when his putter abandoned him on the weekend. He opened with rounds of 65 and 67, then managed one birdie on the weekend. Still, he led all four rounds and collected his 12th career win.
"I've got to admit, I never thought I'd win again, let alone on a golf course like this, in a tournament this big," Calcavecchia said after becoming the tournament's oldest winner.
He has had a long-running, love-hate relationship with the putter, and has battled the yips so much that he's changed to a claw grip, but apparently it's still a work in progress.
Calcavecchia, whose only birdie since the second round came at the 475-yard, par-4 fifth on Sunday, had a 5-under 275 total, the highest winning score for a full-field, non-major PGA tour event this year.
Calcavecchia ended any chance of a playoff by sticking a 6-iron shot at No. 18 within 6 feet of the pin. He then lagged the putt to within tap-in range.
"I felt like it was a 36-hole day," said Calcavecchia, whose $900,000 winner's share pushed his career earnings past $18 million. "Thank God we ran out of holes. I saved my best drive and my best iron for the last hole and knew I could two-putt from 6 feet. How embarrassing to lag from 6 feet."
Crane, who won at Milwaukee in July and finished second at the Booz Allen Classic in June, matched the day's best round. He started the tournament with a 74 and, at that point, wasn't sure he'd be around on Sunday.
"I just wanted to see if I could slip in there and make the cut," Crane said. "Sometimes unexpected things happen."
Calcavecchia's wedge saved him throughout the final round. Three times he got up-and-down for par on the front nine, including saves from the sand on the par-3 third hole and par-4 sixth.
He also got help from the difficult Shaughnessy layout, which, with its shaggy rough and firm greens, made it tough for any of his pursuers to mount a charge. Just seven players broke par Sunday.
Calcavecchia missed short birdie putts at Nos. 2, 7, 14 and 15. He went with the driver on the 315-yard, par-4 14th and, with a slight breeze at his back, knocked his tee shot into the left greenside bunker. He blasted out to about 5 feet, but couldn't convert the birdie try. He missed again from about 12 feet on the par-5 15th.
His last anxious moment on the greens came at the 16th, where he successfully two-putted for par from about 40 feet.
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