The Los Angeles Open : Calcavecchia Lets Chips Fall for Win

Mark Calcavecchia has the greatest respect for the Riviera Country Club course, but he said recently, “It could be had.”

Calcavecchia conquered Riviera Sunday in the final round of the Nissan Los Angeles Open. However, he did it with finesse, not the brute strength that is his trademark.

“I was chipping in all over the place,” said Calcavecchia, 28, who shot a 68 to beat Sandy Lyle by one stroke, a 12-under-par, 72-hole total of 272.

It was Calcavecchia’s second victory on the PGA Tour this winter. He had previously won the Phoenix Open and missed being involved in a playoff in the Bob Hope Classic by one shot.

Hale Irwin continued his comeback after being hit on the forehead by a ball in Wednesday’s pro-am, but it fell two strokes short of the lead.

Calcavecchia won $180,000 and became the leading money winner on the tour this year, having earned $358,952.

Moreover, in his ninth year on the tour, he ranks No. 35 on the all-time money winning list with $1,875,672.

That places him just one position behind the legendary Arnold Palmer, who has earned only $16,998 more than Calcavecchia. Palmer has won 61 events to Calcavecchia’s five.

To put the money matter in perspective, it took Palmer 13 years to earn $1 million. With the escalating purses of today, Curtis Strange won more than $1 million in 1988 alone.

“You have to get lucky to win tournaments two out of three weeks,” Calcavecchia said. “It’s amazing.”

The turning point in his round came on the par-four, 413-yard 12th hole. After hitting a seven-iron over the green, he threw down his club in disgust.

Then, he chipped in from 25 feet to catch Lyle, who parred the hole.

“When I lined up the seven-iron, I had a mental picture of the perfect shot, but the wind picked up after I hit it and the ball just one-hopped over the green,” Calcavecchia said.

“I’ve chipped great all week. I’d put my driver in the trunk before I’d put my wedge in there.”

As for the flipping his seven-iron, Calcavecchia said: “It was just a reaction. Nothing flagrant. It just showed how wound up I was.”

It was Calcavecchia’s last birdie of the final round, but he didn’t need any more.

Lyle, who had beaten Calcavecchia in the Masters last year by one stroke, then gave away his share of the lead on the par-three, 180-yard 14th hole when he three-putted for a bogey.

Both parred the remaining holes. However, Lyle had an opportunity to force a playoff on the 18th, a par four of 447 yards. His chip shot from the fringe just slid two feet past the cup.

Calcavecchia, who was on the green with his second shot, lined up a 20-foot putt. He almost holed it for a birdie, but the par ensured victory.

“It’s not easy to two-putt from 20 feet,” he said. “Ken Green found out about that when he three-putted from 20 feet at Greensboro (losing a playoff to Lyle.)”

Calcavecchia started his round two strokes behind Lyle, after both played the last nine holes of the third round in the morning.

Rain had delayed play Saturday and most of the field couldn’t complete the third round.

It was a portent of things to come when Calcavecchia chipped in from 40 feet on the 18th hole of the third round for a birdie.

Nonetheless, he was still two strokes behind Lyle starting the final round. Lyle eagled the par-five, 501-yard first hole with a five-foot putt. Calcavecchia birdied the hole by chipping in from seven feet.

Calcavecchia was three strokes behind Lyle. However, the margin became two when Lyle bogeyed the third hole. And Calcavecchia made up another stroke with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole and then caught him at No. 12.

Calcavecchia said that he felt so good that he could have played 45 holes Sunday.

As it was, he played 27 and observed that he made four birdies without a bogey.

“I had a lot of patience,” he said.

Reporters asked Calcavecchia if he was avenging his defeat to Lyle in last year’s Masters.

But Calcavecchia said: “I’ve played some of the best golf of my life with Sandy. He’s a good friend and a great player.”

Calcavecchia added that he would like to go head-to-head with Lyle in the last hole of this year’s Masters.

He is taking two weeks off before he begins preparation for the Masters, which begins April 7 at Augusta, Ga.

There was a downside to his stay here, though.

Calcavecchia said he was misinformed about his starting time Saturday for the third round and hurried to get to Riviera.

“I was pulled over by a police officer who cited me for unsafe driving in the rain,” Calcavecchia said. “He showed me no mercy.”

Calcavecchia can afford the ticket, though, adding that he has another obligation.

“I have a bad feeling that I have to buy my wife a BMW,” he said.

Calcavecchia plays out of West Palm Beach, Fla., but he said that he and his wife, Sheryl, are building a second home in Phoenix. His wife is expecting their first child in August.

Lyle, who shot a 71 to finish at 273, 11-under par, said he was delighted by his start on the final round.

“Unfortunately, I had two bogeys, which may have cost me dearly,” he said. “One in particular hurt, a three-putt from the back of the green on 14.”

Irwin got off to a poor start on the final round with a double bogey on the par-four, 460-yard second hole.

He pushed his second shot 60 yards left of the green and in front of a bunker. Then, he chunked his chip shot, finding the bunker. His third shot wasn’t much better, still leaving him five feet off the green. He chipped close to the hole for his six.

At that time, he trailed Lyle by seven strokes. But he rallied for birdies on the 10th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes to trail Calcavecchia by one stroke.

Irwin couldn’t catch him, though. He parred the 17th hole, but bogeyed No. 18. Still, he had a fine round of 68.

As for Calcavecchia, he summed up his victory at Riviera by saying, “I played well, I like the course and I have a lot of confidence in myself.”