Golf Roundup : Stewart Wins--but Pooley Makes Million-Dollar Shot

Even in victory, Payne Stewart had to take a back seat.

Stewart ended one of the most frustrating non-winning streaks in PGA history by shooting a six-under-par 65 Sunday to win the Bay Hill tournament by three strokes at Orlando, Fla.

“Now, maybe they’ll say I’m a winner,” Stewart said after his first victory since 1983. “That’s what I wanted all along. A little respect from the people who didn’t think I was a winner.”

However, the biggest story of the day was a hole-in-one by Don Pooley that was worth $1 million, making it the most lucrative swing in the history of golf.

“I’m shocked,” the 36-year-old Pooley said after his 4-iron shot on the 192-yard 17th hole hit the flagstick and dropped into the cup for the first hole-in-one of his 12-year PGA Tour career. “What a time to make it.”

Pooley will receive $500,000 of the prize offered by Hertz, with the other $500,000 going to the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Fla.

Joe Russo, vice president of Hertz, said the money will be paid over a 20-year period in monthly installments of $2,083.33 each to Pooley and the hospital.

“I think I’ll retire,” joked Pooley, whose only victory came in 1980. He finished with a 67 and a 284 total.

Stewart’s streak started after he won the 1983 Walt Disney World tournament, about 20 miles away. In between, there were 32 tournaments in which he had finished 10th or better. There were nine runner-up finishes, three of those playoff losses.

“It’s been three years of patience,” said Stewart, who owns a home at Bay Hill. “I knew I’d win again. I knew if I kept getting in position my time would come.”

The third victory of his seven-year PGA career, secured on a record 264 total, was worth $108,000.

David Frost of South Africa finished second at 267 after shooting a 67. Dan Pohl birdied the final hole to complete a round of 70 and gain third place at 275.

Billy Casper, who played the whole tournament without a bogey, rolled in four birdie putts on the back nine and won the $200,000 Del E. Webb Arizona Classic by five strokes at Sun City West, Ariz.

Casper, who earned $30,000, shot a four-under-par 68 that gave him a 54-hole total of 201.

It was Casper’s first PGA Senior Tour victory since the 1984 Legends of Golf. He sank birdie putts on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 15th.

Bob Charles, who tied a course record at 64 Friday, and Dale Douglass tied for second at 206.