Zoeller charges to MasterCard victory

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

KA'UPULEHU-KONA, Hawai'i — As a swell of contenders rounded the final turn at the MasterCard Championship yesterday, the pressure of the last round finally put some teeth into serene Hualalai Golf Club. Fuzzy Zoeller, Craig Stadler and defending champion Dana Quigley bit back.

Fuzzy Zoeller is pumped after sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 18, then enjoys the spoils of victory by posing with the winner's trophy of the MasterCard Championship. Zoeller won $268,000. Photos by West Hawaii Today via Associated Press

He and Quigley scorched their way home. Last guy to birdie won.

Zoeller drained his third straight birdie putt on the 18th, from just inside 18 feet, to win by one shot over his playing partner. Quigley had birdied four of the previous six holes to grab a share of the lead for the first time all week. He drove left of the fairway on the final hole and, with an awkward lie, missed the green with his approach shot. Quigley blasted out of the bunker from 58 feet to 10 inches for par.

"I almost made it," Quigley said. "Fuzzy's caddy said the ball just looked in the hole as it went by."

Close was not nearly enough this week on a course the Champions Tour took apart. Zoeller followed by launching his fist-pumping winner, then smiled broadly and high-fived Quigley.

"I had a good feeling for the golf course last year, it's a course I enjoy, " said Zoeller, who was third in 2003. "It just sets up nice to my eye. ... You get a shoot-out because the course is in such great shape, the greens are so smooth. If you get the putt on line you can just watch it go in. It is such a nice thing. It kind of reminds me of Waialae (Country Club) way back when. There are no bumps, no bubbles. It's a marvelous thing."

Zoeller closed with an 8-under-par 64 and finished at 20-under 190, one off the tournament record and a shot ahead of Quigley (65). Stadler (63) tied the course record and still came up two short.

"I hit a few suspect irons on the way in, especially at 16 and 17," said Stadler, who finished before Zoeller and Quigley. "But I made a lot of putts. Six back on an easy golf course though ... I just don't think it will be enough to make it."

Stadler, the seniors' 2003 Rookie of the Year, played his final 40 holes in 15-under par. His only bogey came on the 14th hole of the opening round, and it cost him.

Jack Nicklaus, who designed Hualalai, came up five shots short despite a memorable charge. Nicklaus, who turned 64 Wednesday, closed with a 67 to finish sixth. It was the first time since joining the Champions in 1990 that he shot three rounds in the 60s, and his best finish since 2001.

"I was able to hold it together," Nicklaus said. "I made six bogeys in the tournament and other guys were not making many. That hurt, but I certainly don't have any complaints. It's been a long time since I've been in contention in a golf tournament and it's kinda fun."

"There's no way any golf course could be better than this," Dana Quigley said.

It wasn't until the final 30 minutes that Zoeller and Quigley separated themselves from a feisty field in the first event of the year. Zoeller started the fun with five consecutive birdies from Nos. 3 through 7. He and Tewell were both 16-under at the turn.

Tewell birdied Nos. 10 and 11, then began to miss fairways for the first time all week. Stadler, Zoeller and Quigley were missing almost nothing.

Quigley dropped birdie putts from 15 feet in on the 15th, 16th and 17th. Zoeller won it with three in a row from 15 to 18 feet. He knew every one was going in.

"The last three were all about the same," he said. "I got good vibes."

Zoeller won $268,000 for his second Champions victory. The other was the Senior PGA Championship 18 months ago. The victory drought passed without him noticing.

"I win every day I'm out here," he said. "I've had three back surgeries and I'm still walking, still playing the game, so I'm winning. ... I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world."

Quigley earned $161,000 for second.

"A helluva consolation prize," he called it, then mourned the thought of having to wait 51 weeks to return to Hawai'i.

"What a bummer," said Quigley, who went on extensively Saturday about the beauty of Hawai'i in general and Hualalai in particular. "There's no way any golf course could be better than this."

But he left without regret, saying he could not have played better.

"Fuzzy is the loosest guy in the history of golf," Quigley said. "He misses it, he makes it, he still roots for you to knock it in there. ... He is a great guy, very good for the Champions Tour. A lot of people will watch the next tournament because of the show they saw this week."

SHORT PUTTS: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and defending champion Lee Trevino will play in the Wendy's Champions Skins Game, at Wailea's Gold Course, Friday and Saturday. The event begins at approximately 1:15 p.m. each day, with the foursome playing the front nine Friday and back nine Saturday. The Pro-Am starts at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.