Golf Roundup : Despite a 72, Azinger Holds On to Win by One Stroke

Paul Azinger knew it wasn’t as easy as his third-round 63, but he found that a one-over-par 72 is sometimes good enough.

Azinger sank an eight-foot par putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Greater Hartford Open by one stroke at Cromwell, Conn.

Dan Forsman finished with a 67 and Wayne Levi had a 70 to put the pressure on Azinger, who won his third tournament of the year. He earlier won the Phoenix Open and the Las Vegas Invitational.

Azinger rolled a 25-foot “good-grief putt” eight feet past the cup before making the winner.

“When I put the putter head down, it was quivering a little bit in my hand,” Azinger said. To reassure himself, he thought of his 25-foot winning putt at Las Vegas two months ago.

“I said to myself, ‘People won’t think I choked because of the one I made in Las Vegas,’ ” he said.

Azinger earned $126,000 and regained the PGA money lead from U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson. Azinger has won $576,462 to $465,896 for Simpson.

Azinger had 11 straight pars until a bogey on the 12th hole, but he birdied the next hole to regain his two-shot lead.

He wavered again with a bogey on 17 after hitting his tee shot into a lake. He drove into the rough on 18 but got a lucky bounce out onto the fairway and saved the real excitement for the green.

Gene Sauers shot a 70 and tied for fourth place with Lee Trevino, who shot a 66.

Deb Richard shot a final round of par 72 to hold off several challengers and win the LPGA’s $300,000 Rochester International at Pittsford, N.Y., for her first tour victory.

Richard earned $45,000 by finishing with a 72-hole total of 280, eight under par.

Lori Garbacz, Laurie Rinker, Amy Alcott and Shirley Furlong all finished two strokes back.

Garbacz, a nine-year pro also seeking her first tour victory, birdied three of the first four holes and had a one-stroke lead over Richard. But Garbacz had six bogeys in the final 13 holes.

Alcott had a 69, best round of the day. She birdied the first two holes and added another birdie at 17th, but never got closer than two shots.

Rinker was two strokes behind at the start of the round but shot a 72 and couldn’t gain any ground, while Furlong shot 71, closing with two birdies and a bogey.

Billy Casper shot a seven-under-par 64 to win the $250,000 PGA Seniors tournament at Grand Rapids, Mich.

Casper finished at 13-under-par 200 to beat Miller Barber by three strokes for his second Senior victory of the year. Casper also won the Arizona tournament and has won seven Senior events overall.

Barber tied the course record with a 63, matching Bruce Crampton’s mark set last year.