CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- David Toms came off the 16th green
feeling "totally out of control." Order was restored on the two
finishing holes.
Toms, rebounding from a disastrous double bogey at No. 16,
birdied the last two holes Sunday to win the Sprint International.
Toms led every round in posting his second career victory on the
PGA Tour, but he had to hold off David Duval and Stephen Ames over
the final holes.
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| David Toms celebrates on the 18th green after his birdie wrapped up the Sprint International on Sunday. |
Ames had the lead at the turn Sunday, but in a wild finish it
shifted to Toms, then to Duval and finally back to Toms.
Toms, 32, finished with 47 points under the modified Stableford
scoring system used in this event -- 3 more than Duval. Ames wound
up at 43, while Chris Perry had 37 and Ernie Els and Billy Mayfair
each had 35.
A much anticipated charge from Sergio Garcia never materialized.
The 19-year-old Spanish sensation, showing the effects of injuring
a muscle under his right armpit on Saturday, had four bogeys before
finally making a birdie on 18, and finished with 30 points.
"To come back from a disastrous double at 16 is very
gratifying," Toms said. "When we walked off the green, my caddie
(Scott Gneiser) said to me, 'Just hang in there and try to play the
last two holes as good as you can."'
Toms stood at 46, Ames at 44 and Duval at 42 before calamity
struck Toms and Ames at the 209-yard, par-3 16th. Both
double-bogeyed to drop 3 points.
Toms missed the green, hit a poor pitch shot and a poor chip and
failed to make a 20-foot putt. Ames had a sidehill lie in a
greenside bunker, blasted to the safe part of the green but then
three-putted from 35 feet.
Moments later, Duval birdied the 492-yard, par-5 17th, two-putting from 25 feet to take the lead with 44 points, while
Toms had 43 and Ames 41.
But Toms and Ames, playing in the same pairing, both birdied No.
17, worth 2 points each.
Toms got more good advice from his caddie at 17.
Toms' second shot went over the green, but Gneiser advised him
to play the downhill chip with his 3-wood. He put his ball 4 feet
from the cup and made the birdie putt.
"I didn't think I had any chance of making birdie from there,"
Toms said. "I had pulled out a wedge, but Scott suggested the
fairway wood. It came out perfect."
Punctuating his victory, Toms made an 18-foot birdie putt on 18.
The format, which rewards aggressive play, awards 8 points for a
double eagle, 5 points for eagle, 2 points for birdie, zero for
par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.
Unlike the formative years of this tournament, when golfers started
from zero each day, all scores were cumulative for four rounds.
The field, cut to the low 75 players for Saturday, was cut again
to the low 36 players for Sunday's final round at 7,559-yard Castle
Pines Golf Club.
Toms' only other victory in seven full seasons on the PGA Tour
came in the 1997 Quad Cities Classic. He ranked among the top 50 on
the PGA Tour's money list the last two seasons, and with a $468,000
paycheck on Sunday climbed into the top 30.
"I had a nice day and picked up some points -- just not
enough," Duval said. "I thought I needed to make a 3 on 17, most
certainly."
Duval reached the 17th in two, but two-putted from 25 feet.
"I let go of a couple at the end," said Ames, who has won
twice on the PGA European Tour. "But I'm happy with my
performance."
Toms held a 3-point lead over Duval and Ames entering Sunday.
Toms birdied the par-5 first hole, but Ames birdied his first
three holes to take a 42-41 lead. Duval had two early birdies to
get to 40.
Ames and Toms both birdied Nos. 7 and 8, and they made the turn
with Ames holding a 45-44 lead.
When Ames bogeyed 10 after driving into deep rough and having to
lay up short of the green, they were tied again.
Toms took a 46-44 lead with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5
14th.
Duval got to 42 with a birdie on the par-5 eighth, getting a
break when his second shot hit a tree and kicked back into the
fairway. But, suddenly battling a balky putter, he had three-putt
bogeys at Nos. 9 and 11, then missed an 8-footer for birdie at No.
12.
