Golf Roundup : Palmer Has First Win Since 1985

Arnold Palmer shot a 2-under-par 70 Sunday to win the Crestar tournament in Richmond, Va., by four strokes for his first victory on the PGA Seniors Tour in three years.

Palmer finished at 13-under 203. Jim Ferree, Lee Elder and defending champion Larry Mowry finished at 207, and none seriously threatened over the final 18 holes.

“I never really thought I was home-free. . . . When you haven’t won in a couple of years, you always have to wonder,” Palmer said.

Palmer started the final round with birdies on the second and third holes of the 6,644-yard Hermitage Country Club course in suburban Richmond.

Palmer’s last Seniors victory was in 1985 in the Tournament Players Championship. The Crestar victory, Palmer’s 10th on the tour, was worth $49,750.

Palmer led throughout the tournament. He matched the 18-hole record with a 7-under-par 65 in the first round Friday. That mark was broken Sunday by George Lanning, who fired a final-round 64.

Palmer, 59, shot a 68 on Saturday and took a three-stroke lead into the final round. On Sunday, his only major trouble was on the ninth hole, where he hit his tee shot 50 yards into the trees. He used a 4-iron to recover and get to the fringe of the green, but he three-putted the par-4 hole for his only bogey of the day.

Mark Calcavecchia, taking advantage of a late collapse by Fuzzy Zoeller, sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory in the $600,000 Bank of Boston tournament in Sutton, Mass.

For Calcavecchia, who has finished second by one stroke in three 1988 tournaments--including the Masters--it was the first PGA victory of the season. He earned $108,000 by shooting a 5-under-par 66 for a 72-hole total of 10-under 274.

Don Pooley, an early starter, shot a 63, matching the course record at the 7,110-yard Pleasant Valley Country Club, to finish second at 275.

Calcavecchia pulled even with Zoeller on the 16th hole, then put a wedge onto the green before sinking his putt on the 18th.

Zoeller took himself out of contention with a pair of double bogeys on the back nine. He had a 6 on the 394-yard, par-4 13th hole when he needed two shots to get out of the woods. Then he double-bogeyed the 17th hole for the second consecutive day.

Seve Ballesteros coasted to a four-stroke victory in the $680,000 Lancome Trophy tournament in St. Nom La Breteche, France, his sixth title of the season. Ballesteros fired a final-round par 71 over the 6,148-yard Saint Nom course for a 269 total. It was his fourth title in his last five starts in Europe.

Juli Inkster, 28, of Rancho Murieta, Calif., earned her 11th career LPGA tour victory by capturing the $225,000 Safeco Classic at Kent, Wash., by three strokes.

Inkster’s closing 68 gave her a 278 total, 10 under par for 72 holes on the 6,222-yard Meridian Valley Country Club course. South Korean Ok-Hee Ku finished second with a 69 for 281.