Golf Roundup : Calcavecchia Gets Fans Home Early, Wins by 7

Mark Calcavecchia was so far in front he sent the crowd home at halftime.

When he made the turn Sunday on the TPC course at Scottsdale, Ariz., during the final round of the $700,000 Phoenix Open, Calcavecchia held a 5-shot lead.

With the televised start of the Super Bowl fewer than 2 hours away and Calcavecchia on a romp, thousands of spectators formed a steady stream pouring through the gates, heading for the parking lots.

The gallery was announced at 44,000, but fewer than half stayed to watch Calcavecchia finish his final round 7-under-par 64, good for a 7-stroke victory. He finished with a 263 total, 21 under par.

By Calcavecchia’s estimate, the victory was a week late. He held a 2-shot advantage going into the final round of the Bob Hope Classic last week.

“I expected to win that one,” he said. “I was playing so good I expected to win. And I blew it.”

There was never any chance of a repeat performance.

Calcavecchia extended his lead to 4 shots after 4 holes, led by 5 at the turn and was 6 in front over much of the back 9.

He wasn’t even close to making a bogey and ran away from any would-be challengers with 4 birdies in a 5-hole stretch beginning on the 12th.

“This is, by far, the best I’ve ever driven the ball for 4 straight days,” he said.

The victory was worth $126,000--the largest check of his career--from the total purse of $700,000, and pushed his season’s earnings to $176,575.

Chip Beck shot a 67 to finish second at 270 and made $75,600, and Paul Azinger (67), Bill Glasson (65) and Scott Hoch (68) were another shot back at 271.

Mark McCumber, who had a 70 with a chip-in birdie on the final hole, finished at 272 and was the only other player within 10 shots of Calcavecchia.

Isao Aoki shot a 1-under-par 71 Sunday and scored a 1-stroke victory in the $525,000 Coca-Cola tournament at Melbourne, becoming the first Japanese golfer to win a major tournament in Australia.

Aoki, 46, the overnight leader, finished at 9-under-par 279. He earned $94,000.

Rodger Davis of Australia finished in a four-way tie for second at 280 after a final-round 71 when he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole that could have forced a playoff.

“That birdie putt on 18, I thought I’d holed it,” Davis said.

He tied with Japan’s Tommy Nakajima (69) and Australians Peter Fowler (68) and Peter O’Malley (69).

Aoki hit his tee shot on the 18th hole 40 yards to the right of the fairway and into the spectators’ parking lot.

After receiving a drop because television equipment blocked his path, Aoki hit a 4-iron 165 yards onto the green and to within 20 yards of the pin.

Aoki 2-putted to take the title.

“I was thinking too much about the type of shot I wanted to hit in the wind and I just hit it right off the heel,” said Aoki of his poor tee shot on the 18th.

The victory was the fourth overseas victory of his 24-year career. He is the only Japanese to win outside Asia.

Aoki also has won in Europe and the United States. He has posted 50 victories in Japan and earned $2.5 million.