Golf Roundup : Green Clears His Throat, Wins $180,000

Ken Green knew it was more than the rarefied air of the Rocky Mountains causing that tight feeling in his throat.

“I’m just going to try to keep from choking,” Green said as he looked into a television camera while walking down the 13th fairway in the final round of the $1-million International golf tournament Sunday at Castle Rock, Colo.

Green kept his cool and shot a final-round six-under-par 66 to take the $180,000 first prize, more than tripling his 1986 earnings.

Green also received a tearful hug from his sister Shelley, his caddie, at the finish.

“I can’t play any better,” Green said. “The feeling is incredible. I can’t even think about how much money this is. This is a lot of bucks.

“My sister was choking worse than I was today. But I couldn’t have won it without her. I wouldn’t trade her for anything.”

His score was good for 12 points in the unique scoring system used in the inaugural International, three points ahead of 1985 Masters champion Bernhard Langer of West Germany.

Langer scrambled to a par at the final hole by sinking a six-foot putt that was worth more than $43,000, giving him sole possession of second place and $113,000.

The scoring system awards two points for a birdie and five for an eagle. One point is deducted for a bogey and three for a double bogey or worse.

There was $700,000 at stake during the final round over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Castle Pines course, and the withering pressure began to tell on player after player as they struggled on the back nine.

Kenny Knox finished the front nine with six points, but played the back nine in two-over-par 38. Donnie Hammond started the back nine with three bogeys and a double bogey, and Joey Sindelar missed two short birdie putts to drop into a third-place tie with J.C. Snead with eight points.

But Green made par-saving putts on the 13th and 15th holes, and made six-foot birdie putts on the 16th and 17th to increase his lead.

Green’s only previous tour victory came at last year’s Buick Open, and this year he finished in the top 20 only twice and was 101st on the money list with $56,645.

Sindelar and Snead each won $63,000. Next came Nick Price with six points ($45,000), Howard Twitty with five ($45,000), Knox and Bruce Lietzke with four ($37,250 each), Andy Dillard with one point ($34,000), Tom Kite and Hammond with no points ($31,000 each) and T.C. Chen at minus one ($28,000).

Pat Bradley came from eight shots behind with a nine-under-par 63 to win the $240,000 World Championship of Women’s Golf by two shots at Lake Lanier Islands, Ga., and set a single-season LPGA money record.

Bradley hit what she termed “a career shot,” a 206-yard approach for a tap-in eagle on the 16th hole.

“It was typical Bradley,” she said. “In my 21 (career) wins, 17 or 18 have been by coming from behind. But I never came from nine back on the last day to win.”

It was the fifth victory of the season for Bradley, who earned $78,000--for the largest first-place check in LPGA history. She raised her 1986 earnings to $482,496, $66,000 more than the mark set last year by Nancy Lopez.

The 63, just one shot off the LPGA record, gave Bradley a four-day total of 279, two better than Lopez and third-round leader Betsy King.

Mark James of Britain sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Lee Trevino and Hugh Baoicchi of South Africa in the $270,000 Benson and Hedges International Open at Fulford, England.

James, who had a chance to win on the final hole of regulation when he missed a three-foot putt, posted his first victory in more than a year and won $45,000.

James, who started the day tied for the lead with Gordon Brand Jr., also of Britain, shot a 70 for a 14-under-par 274. Trevino and Baoicchi caught him with 68s.

Bruce Crampton shot a final-round 72 to win a PGA Seniors’ tournament by two strokes over Don January and George Lanning at Redmond, Wash. His total was 210.

It was Crampton’s third victory in 22 senior tournaments and was worth $37,500, moving him into second place on the Seniors’ money list with $254,618.

January, who shared the second-round lead with Crampton, finished with a 74. Lanning, a left-handed former club professional from Tacoma, 60 miles south of Redmond, closed with a 70.

Cindy Mackey held a two-stroke lead midway through the final round of the $200,000 MasterCard International Pro-Am at Elmsford, N.Y., when the second thunderstorm of the day forced a postponement.

The final round will resume today with Mackey at 11-under-par 242. Coleen Walker is at a 244. Both are winless on the LPGA tour.

Kay Cockerill, formerly of UCLA, won the U.S. Women’s Amateur championship Saturday with a 9-and-7 victory over Stanford senior Kathleen McCarthy at Santa Cruz.