Finally, after so many tries, Scott Verplank won the tournament he has always wanted to win. This victory at home was for the late Byron Nelson.
“There’s no question in my mind that the stars lined up and I got a little help from upstairs. I just haven’t been playing that good,” Verplank said. “I think Byron had a hand in this week.”
Verplank, who as a teenager growing up in Dallas, got to know Nelson and play several rounds with the former star, used three straight birdies and an incredible par save from a bunker at No. 17 to win the first EDS Byron Nelson Championship played without its namesake.
When his final 2-foot par putt at No. 18 dropped Sunday for a one-stroke victory in Irving, Texas, over Luke Donald, Verplank no longer had to hold his emotions. After initially dropping his head into his hands, he looked up with a smile on his face.
“I just kept saying, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it!’ I couldn’t believed that it happened. It was a dream,” Verplank said. “Then I looked up and said, ‘Thank you.’ Incredible.”
Verplank closed with a 4-under-par 66 for a 13-under 267 total, a stroke ahead of Donald (68) for his fifth PGA Tour victory, his first since the 2001 Canadian Open. Phil Mickelson (65), Jerry Kelly (64), Rory Sabbatini (64) and Ian Poulter (66) tied for third at 10-under.
LPGA: Silvia Cavalleri became the first Italian winner in LPGA Tour history, closing with a 7-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Mexican star Lorena Ochoa and Paraguay’s Julieta Granada in the Corona Championship in Morelia, Mexico.
Cavalleri finished with a 20-under 272 total on the Tres Marias course and earned $195,000. She had seven birdies in her bogey-free final round in light rain.
“I’m very happy to win this tournament in Mexico,” Cavalleri said. “To me, it is very similar to Italy, so it’s like I’m winning at home.”
Ochoa, the 2006 winner playing her first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world, shot a 68. Granada, also second last year, also finished with a 68.
European PGA: Charl Schwartzel of South Africa won the Spanish Open in Madrid, Spain, after shooting a 5-under 67 to finish at 16-under 272.
