Golf Roundup : Player Overcomes Hole-in-One With 4 Birdies

Gary Player shot a 70 on Saturday that he felt should have been closer to a 60, but a five-under-par 67 did him just fine Sunday.

Player made four straight birdies on the back nine to overcome Dave Hill and win the $300,000 PGA Seniors Aetna Challenge at Naples, Fla.

“I was so frustrated on Saturday,” said Player, who was in second place coming into the final round. “It was like fighting the law of averages. I told my caddy after we made the turn in 36 (Sunday), ‘I’m going to come back in 30.’ Actually I came back in 31.”

Hill, who also had a 67, made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole to take a one-stroke lead, but Player replied minutes later with a tee shot that landed six inches from the cup on the par-3, 157-yard hole. Player made the putt to pull even and birdied No. 17 to take the lead.

Player won $45,000 with a total of nine-under-par 207 and remains atop the Senior PGA Tour money list with $132,500.

Harold Henning shot a 70 and finished third, three shots back of Player. Second-round leader Bob Charles had a 72 and ended up four shots out in fourth place.

Greg Norman shot a four-under-par 68 to score a seven-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer in the $175,000 ESP Open at Canberra, Australia.

Norman finished the four rounds at 19-under-par 269. He coasted after shooting a course-record 62 on Thursday’s opening round.

“The last three rounds in fact were pretty boring,” he said after accepting the winner’s check of $31,950. “I just played conservatively today and tried not to do anything stupid.”

Langer, from West Germany, recorded a round of 69 to go 12-under for the tournament, despite suffering from a back ailment that has interfered with his swing and putting.

Noel Ratcliffe of Australia had a 70 to register his best finish in his home country in 13 years, finishing third at 278.