Golf Roundup : Norman Makes Winning $207,000 in Las Vegas Look Easy

Greg Norman knew the tournament and the $207,000 first prize, the richest on the PGA Tour, was his when he ripped his drive off the 10th tee Sunday.

“That’s it, boys,” the Australian said to himself. “You’re going to have to go hard to catch me now.”

No one did. No one even seriously challenged Norman, who went on to match some tour scoring records in the five-day, 90-hole Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational and, in the process, snapped a two-year non-winning string.

“It just goes to show it just takes patience,” said Norman, a frustrated runner-up to Jack Nicklaus at the Masters and to Fuzzy Zoeller at the Heritage in his last two starts.

“If you keep knocking at the door, sooner or later it’s going to open. I guess this week I took it right off its hinges.”

It wasn’t even close over the last 18 holes on the wind-raked Las Vegas Country Club course.

Norman, his sun-bleached hair glistening in the desert sunshine, started the day three shots in front, birdied two of the first four holes and took it from there, finishing with a round of seven-under-par 65.

His margin of seven strokes matched the biggest on the tour this year, and his 90-hole total of 333 tied the total with which Lanny Wadkins won the 1985 Bob Hope Classic, also a 90-hole event.

Norman’s 27-under-par score, compiled over three courses, also equaled the largest sub-par total in PGA Tour history. The record for a 72-hole tournament, 27 under par, was set by Ben Hogan in the 1945 Portland Invitational. Wadkins’ total at the 1985 Hope also was 27 under par.

It appeared that he would set a new record until he bogeyed the 17th, his only bogey of the day, and three-putted for a par five on the 18th.

The victory was Norman’s third since joining the American tour on a full-time basis, and his first since 1984. The 31-year-old Australian also has won more than 30 tournaments around the world.

The prize pushed his winnings for the season to $343,774, tops on the tour.

Norman’s previous rounds were an opening 73 at Spanish Trail, a 68 at Desert Inn and a 63 and a 64 in earlier rounds at the Las Vegas Country Club.

For the week, he had 2 eagles, 34 birdies and 11 bogeys.

Dan Pohl was a distant second after a 69 for a 340 total. He won $124,200, larger than most winning checks on the tour.

Gene Littler shot a virtually pressure-free one-under-par 71 to score a two-shot victory over Don January in the $250,000 Sunwest Bank-Charley Pride Senior tournament at Albuquerque, N.M.

Littler, who led the event from start to finish, went into the final round with a five-shot cushion over January. He finished the 54-hole tournament at the Four Hills Country Club with a 202.

David Feherty of Northern Ireland beat countryman Ronan Rafferty in a playoff to win the Italian International Open at Albarella, Italy. Feherty and Rafferty both finished regulation play in 10-under-par 270. Seve Ballesteros, tied for the lead going into the final round, finished tied for fourth at 273.

David Ishii of Hawaii, who led all the way, shot a two-under-par 68 for a 274 total and a four-stroke victory in the $530,000 Chunichi Crowns tournament at Nagoya, Japan. Tsuneyuki Nakajima of Japan, eighth in this year’s Masters, finished second after a round of 67.