Golf Roundup : Mowry Wins by 2 Shots After Palmer Falters

Larry Mowry, who came from four shots back to charge past crowd-favorite Arnold Palmer, shot a six-under-par 66 and won the $250,000 Senior Challenge by two strokes Sunday at Roswell, Ga.

The 50-year-old Mowry played a near-perfect round with six birdies and no bogeys. Mowry, in his first full year on the senior tour, finished at 13-under-par 203 over the 54 holes to earn $37,500 and increase his season’s money total to $169,766 It was his second win in three weeks.

Gene Littler shot a 66 for a 205 total to take second place. Palmer shot a 77, including a triple bogey 8 on the 18th hole and finished tied for fifth place at 210.

Defending champion Bruce Crampton shot a 69 and was third at 209 along with Bob Charles, who had a 67.

Palmer had a four-stroke lead entering the round after leading the first two days over the par 72, 6,702-yard Horseshoe Bend Country Club course.

Palmer, who has won 61 regular PGA tour events and nine on the over-50 tour, has not won since taking the Senior Tournament Players Championship in June of 1985. He appeared as if he would end that drought until he played the ninth hole.

The 58-year-old Palmer, with the gallery cheering his every shot, held a a two-stroke lead at that point after Mowry gained two shots with birdies on Nos. 1, 6 and 8. Palmer birdied the first hole.

Then Palmer missed a five-foot par putt on No. 9 and Mowry knocked in a 10-foot birdie to move into a tie.

Doug Tewell shot a three-under-par 68 in a final round that included his third eagle of the tournament and won the Pensacola Open by three strokes over Danny Edwards and Phil Blackmar.

The Edmond, Okla., pro shot a 72-hole total of 15-under-par 269 to collect the $54,000 winner’s share from the $300,000 purse and bring his winnings for this year to $145,893.

Former U.S. Open champion David Graham of Australia shot a six-under-par 66 and eased to a seven-shot victory over Vaughan Somers, also of Australia, in the $50,000 Queensland Open at Tweed Heads, Australia.

The Texas-based Graham finished with a 13-under-par 275 over the 6,723-yard, par-72 Coolangatta-Tweed Heads course.

Graham, the only Australian to have won both the U.S. Open and the PGA championship, ended a two-year winless drought by winning the opening event of the 1987-88 Australian circuit.

Somers was second with 282 after a final-round 72.

Overnight leader Mike Colandro staggered home with a 77 and finished tied for fourth with 285.

Jane Geddes shot a three-under-par 69 to rally from a three-stroke deficit and win the $276,000 Takara Invitational in Gamo, Japan, by one shot. Her four-round total of 10-under-par 278 was a course record.

She clinched the victory with a birdie on No. 18. Third-round leader Ayako Okamoto parred the hole and finished second.

Sandy Lyle of Britain defeated Bernhard Langer of West Germany on the second playoff hole to win the $400,000 German Masters in Stuttgart, his first victory in Europe in more than two years.

Lyle finished with a par-5 while Langer had a 6 after driving out of bounds.

Lyle shot a six-under-par 66 for a 278 to catch Langer, who posted a 70, dropping a shot at the 15th when his ball bounced off the green into a bunker. He missed a par putt from 5 feet.

Spain’s Severiano Ballesteros, who started the day one stroke behind Langer, finished third with a 70 for 279. He suffered a triple-bogey 7 at No. 11.