Roberts’ Sand Shot Leads to Playoff Win

Loren Roberts atoned for his worst swing of the day--his approach on No. 14 that led to a double bogey--with one of his best--a fairway bunker shot on the first playoff hole that led to a birdie and a victory over Steve Pate at the Byron Nelson Classic on Sunday at Irving, Texas.

Roberts’ shot from the left bunker got within two feet of the hole, while Pate was in the right bunker, came up 12 feet short and missed the putt.

Roberts won $540,000 for his first victory in two years. Pate was the runner-up for the second time this year--the other was when David Duval shot 59 in the Bob Hope Classic.

Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation making his first professional start in America, birdied the 18th for a 69 that left him tied for third at 269 with Lee Janzen, Brian Watts and Chris DiMarco.

Roberts and Pate broke by one stroke the 72-hole tournament record set by Tiger Woods in 1997. But after a week of birdies, Roberts wound up winning for the sixth time on the PGA Tour with his decisive par on the 18th--the hole used for the playoff.

A playoff was needed mainly because of Roberts’ approach shot on No. 14 that bounded off the side of the hill and into the water. His double bogey ended a streak of 32 holes at no worse than par on the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas.

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Meg Mallon’s nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole gave her a one-stroke victory over Kris Tschetter and Annika Sorenstam in the final Sara Lee Classic at Nashville, Tenn.

Mallon, the only player to win the tournament more than once, earned her third championship in the 12-year history of the event with a tournament-record 17-under-par 199.

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Argentina’s Vicente Fernandez, who finished second in the 1998 Las Vegas Senior Classic, won this year’s title with a 13-under-par 274, two strokes better than Dave Eichelberger, at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin.

Fernandez broke a tie with Eichelberger by making a 30-foot putt for an eagle 3 on the 560-yard, par-5 16th hole.

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Colin Montgomerie, Europe’s leading money winner the past six years, shot a four-under 68 to win the Benson and Hedges Open at Thame, England, by three strokes. Montgomerie finished at 15-under 273 with 17 birdies.

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Final Results

Top scores after Sunday’s final rounds:

GTE BYRON NELSON CLASSIC--Par 70

Loren Roberts: 68--262 -18 $540,000

Steve Pate: 66--262 -18 $324,000

Chris DiMarco: 68--269 -11 $144,000

Brian Watts: 68--269 -11 $144,000

Lee Janzen: 69--269 -11 $144,000

Sergio Garcia: 69--269 -11 $144,000

Up next: MasterCard Colonial

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LAS VEGAS SENIOR CLASSIC--Par 72

V. Fernandez: 67--274 -13 $210,000

D. Eichelberger: 68--276 -11 $123,200

John Mahaffey: 67--277 -10 $100,800

Frank Conner: 70--278 -9 $75,600

Tom Wargo: 69--278 -9 $75,600

Up next: Bell Atlantic Classic

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SARA LEE CLASSIC--Par 72

Meg Mallon: 68--199 -17 $112,500

Kris Tschetter: 70--200 -16 $60,384

A. Sorenstam: 71--200 -16 $60,384

Michelle McGann: 73--201 -15 $39,627

Up next: The Phillips Invitational

* Complete results, Page 12