Golf Roundup : Sullivan Gets 1-Shot Win at Woodlands

Mike Sullivan had a sudden change of plans Sunday after shooting a final-round seven-under-par 65 for a one-shot victory in the $800,000 Independent Insurance Agent Open at The Woodlands, Tex.

Sullivan’s first PGA Tour victory since 1980 earned him a trip to next week’s Masters at Augusta, Ga.

“I’ve already thought of that,” Sullivan said. “It’s nice to be able to change plans to go to Augusta.”

When Sullivan started the day seven strokes off the pace, all he was thinking about was moving up in the standings.

But he had five birdies over a six-hole span starting at No. 8. After reaching the green on No. 13, he started thinking about winning.

“I remembered something Curtis Strange told me once: That what happens the first three days don’t matter,” he said. “The final nine holes are the dog fight.

“I was aware of what I was shooting, but I never started thinking about pars. What was uppermost in my mind was making birdies.”

Sullivan was an early starter Sunday. After finishing with a 72-hole total of 280, he sat in the clubhouse watching his challengers fall.

Craig Stadler, who led after 12 holes, shot a 70 to finish second at 281, but lamented his chance to pull into a tie at 15th hole, where he took his second bogey of the day.

He survived the water hazard that plagued others, but missed a two-foot putt that would have tied him for the lead with Sullivan.

Sullivan’s first victory since the 1980 Southern Open was worth $144,000.

Seve Ballesteros, who moved into contention with a long, curving eagle putt on No. 13, double bogeyed No. 15 and finished with a 72 for 282 and a tie for third.

Also at 282 were third-round leader Mike Donald, who had a final 74, and Mike Reid, who shot a 70.

Don Bies, who played near-perfect golf for two days, struggled to a one-over par 73 at Frisco, Tex., but it was good enough to win the Senior Reunion Pro-Am title by a record six shots.

Bies, 1988 Seniors PGA rookie of the year, earned $45,000 for his first victory of the 1989 season. He nearly doubled his winnings for the year, boosting them to $89,612.

Bies started the day nine-under par after rounds of 68-67 but struggled to a two-over par 38 on the front nine. He came home in 35 for a 54-hole total of eight-under par 208.

It was the largest margin of victory in the five-year history of the tournament. Peter Thomson and Don January won by two shots in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

Harold Henning challenged Bies, shooting a two-under par 70 over the 7,064-yard Stonebriar Country Club course. He earned $26,000 for second place with a 214 total.

January, one of the designers of the course 30 miles north of Dallas, shot a 73 and finished at 217.

Bies didn’t make a birdie until the 12th hole but he didn’t need many after making 10 in his first two days in winds that gusted at times to 50 m.p.h.

“Obviously Don Bies has been training for the tournament on some kind of anti-wind vitamin pills,” Henning said. “It was incredible golf. I played a solid round but he was impossible to catch. It was like trying to fly to the moon on a kite.”

It was Henning’s third second-place finish on the tour this year. He was second six times in 1988.