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Posted at 11:07 a.m., Sunday, July 1, 2007

Golf: Nielsen gets first Champions Tour victory

By Jim O'Connell
Associated Press

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Lonnie Nielsen, who didn't win in five years on the PGA Tour and had made 91 starts on the Champions Tour without a victory, shot a 2-under 69 today for a two-stroke victory over Loren Roberts in the Commerce Bank Championship.

Nielsen, who turned 54 on Friday, won 32 titles on smaller tours, including the New York State Open in 1985 and 1989. He entered the final-round at the 7,021-yard Red Course at Eisenhower Park with a three-stroke lead and was never threatened in taking home the $225,000 top prize from a purse of $1.5 million.

He came into the tournament with one top-10 finish this year and was 45th on the money list with $187,921. He has won over $2.2 million since joining the Champions Tour in 2003.

Nielsen's best previous finish as a senior came in a playoff loss to Eduardo Romero in last year's Jeld-Wen Tradition, one of the tour's five majors.

This is the third straight year a player got his first tour win at this tournament. John Harris won last year and Ron Streck won in 2005. Six players have won their first title at this tournament, which started in 1988.

Roberts, who had a one-stroke lead after opening the tournament with a 64, shot a 66 today, closing with a short birdie on the 18th. His second-round 71 proved to be his undoing.

Nielsen shot a 64 on Saturday to take the three-shot lead that tied the tournament record for 36 holes. It was the first time he held the lead alone entering the final round on the Champions Tour.

When he birdied the par-3 5th, he went to 14 under and had a five-stroke lead. He gave a stroke back on the next hole but he kept the comfortable lead with six straight pars before making a two-putt birdie on the par-5 12th that put him four in front of Roberts.

Roberts got within two shots with birdies on 14 and 18 while Nielsen closed with six straight pars.

Nielsen played on the PGA Tour on a full-time basis from 1978-83 before becoming a club professional near Buffalo. He earned $119,416 in 124 starts on the PGA Tour from 1979 to 1996, making 75 cuts with two top-10 finishes.