Golf : Peete’s 66 Holds Off Weibring for a $162,000 Victory in TPC

Calvin Peete figured a moderately good final round would enable him to capture the $900,000 Tournament Players Championship, but D.A. Weibring forced him to exceed his expectations.

Peete added luster Sunday to his reputation as one of the best players on the PGA Tour by winning the prestigious tournament by three shots--but he had to shoot a 6-under-par 66 to accomplish that.

“When I went out this morning, I thought if I shot 11-under (for 72 holes), I would win by a shot or two,” said Peete, who finished 274, 14 under par. “But, with the heat D.A. put on me on the back nine, I couldn’t get enough birdies.”

Weibring, who had a 69 Sunday, matched Peete’s back-nine 32 but never got within two strokes down the stretch.

Peete, winner of this year’s Phoenix Open and eight other tournaments since 1979, said: “I had been playing aggressively all week and saw no reason to change in the final round. But my mouth was dry when I got to 17 (a water-surrounded par-3). I took a double-bogey there Saturday. But I didn’t want to play it safe, so I took it right to the hole.

“When I saw the ball land on the green (four feet from the cup), I gave a sigh of relief and went and got a drink of water.”

The victory was worth $162,000, vaulting Peete into second place on this year’s money list with just under $270,000 after only seven tournaments.