Golf Roundup : Strange Gains 2-Stroke Win Over Floyd

Curtis Strange overcame blustery winds and agonizingly slow greens for a 1-over-par 73 Sunday and a 2-stroke victory over Raymond Floyd in the $525,000 Daikyo Palm Meadows golf tournament at Gold Coast, Australia.

Strange, the 1988 U.S. Open champion, finished with a 72-hole total of 8-under-par 280 and earned $92,000.

Last year, Strange won the nearby Sanctuary Cove tournament and went on to become the first player to earn more than $1 million in a year on the PGA Tour.

Floyd shot a 73 for 282 and earned $55,080, and Terry Price had a 74 for 283 and collected $35,190--the biggest of his career.

Price, who last year failed in a bid to gain a U.S. Tour players’ card, had to go through qualifying rounds to get into the tournament, one of the richest on the Australian circuit.

The players had difficulty reading the tricky greens because of the windy conditions.

Australian Peter Fowler finished fourth at 284 after a final-round 74, while Japan’s Isao Aoki (75), American qualifier Jeff Maggert (73) and Australian George Serhan (72) shared fifth at 285.

“The winds made it difficult for all of us and I found it almost impossible to judge my putts,” Aoki said.

Strange said a 10-foot par putt at the par-4 10th turned his game around after the double bogey at nine.

“That made the difference,” he said. “Golf is a mental game, and if Raymond had got even with me there, no telling what he might have done.”

Floyd trailed Strange by only one shot at the 10th, but dropped shots at the 16th and 17th before finishing with a birdie to take second place.

Strange described his performance over the final nine holes as a “game of patience.”

“The course was difficult,” he said. “The greens got hard overnight but didn’t play any faster, and some of the pin placings were tricky.

“Winning is always a pleasure, and it is particularly gratifying to beat a top-class field like the one here. ... This is a nice start.”

Only 4 of the 62 players bettered par Sunday--and none was among the leaders.

Betsy King shot a 1-under-par 70 to win the inaugural $500,000 LPGA Jamaica tournament by 6 strokes over Nancy Lopez at Sandy Bay, Jamaica.

King, who led the entire way in the first LPGA event of the year, finished with an 11-under total of 202 for 54 holes. Lopez shot a final-round 69 and was second at 208, followed by Lori Garbacz and Martha Nause, each at 210.

King, who shot an opening-round 64, began the day with a 7-shot lead over Lopez and started the round with a birdie.