Golf Roundup : George Burns’ Victory Is a Long Time Coming; Nancy Lopez’s Is Not

George Burns scored his first victory on the PGA Tour in five years Sunday when he shot a five-under-par 66 to win the $400,000 Bank of Boston tournament by six strokes.

Burns’ four-round total of 17-under-par 267 was three strokes better than the tournament record set by John Mahaffey in 1978 and tied by George Archer last year.

The victory was Burns’ third in his 10-year career and his first since the 1980 Crosby.

“It’s been a long time,” Burns said. “I’ve had about eight or nine second-place finishes. A lot of times I’ve gone into the final round with a lead or close to the lead.”

Mahaffey, Greg Norman, Leonard Thompson and Jody Mudd finished in a four-way tie for second at 273, while Calvin Peete had a 66 to finish sixth at 274.

Nancy Lopez sank a five-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the $175,000 Ping tournament at Portland, Ore.

Lopez, a winner for the fifth time this year on the LPGA tour, finished the regulation 54 holes tied with Lori Garbacz at one-under-par 215.

Lopez, the leading money winner on the LPGA tour, squandered a chance to win on the first extra hole when she missed a two-foot birdie putt.

Garbacz’s tee shot on the third playoff hole barely made the green, some 30 feet from the pin. Lopez hit her tee shot just six feet from the hole and made the putt to get the 34th tournament victory in her eight-year LPGA career. The $26,250 first-place prize gives her $382,122 in earnings this year.

Garbacz, 27, was going for her first LPGA victory. She moved into a tie for the lead with a birdie on the 15th hole after firing her caddy midway through the final round.