Golf Roundup : Hoch Wins in Playoff by Sinking 8-Foot Putt

Scott Hoch, who lost the Masters by blowing two putts--one in regulation and one during a playoff--showed he can play under pressure Sunday by winning a tense match in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Hoch made an eight-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole to beat Robert Wrenn for the title at Las Vegas.

Hoch, who missed a short par putt three weeks ago that would have won the first of golf’s major tournaments for the year, struggled through the five extra holes Sunday before claiming the top prize of $225,000.

Hoch and Wrenn each birdied the 90th hole--the last in regulation of the five-day event--to finish in a tie for first at 236, 24-under par.

Wrenn had a bogey-free 66 Sunday, that included birdies on his first four holes. Hoch, the leader through 72 holes, had a closing 70.

Hoch, who lost the Masters after missing a two-foot putt in sudden death, had to one-putt from about that distance on the first three playoff holes to stay alive.

This time he made them, but he cast his eyes to the sky and drew a deep breath after a four-footer on the third playoff hole.

The fourth extra hole was the par-5 18th at the Las Vegas Country Club.

Hoch hit a metal-wood second shot to the green and Wrenn needed only a 3-iron. Both were on the putting surface, but both had long putts. Both two-putted for birdie and went to the fifth extra hole, the par-4 12th.

Wrenn put his second shot into the left fringe, 15 to 18 feet from the flag.

Hoch’s long drive left him with a little sand wedge pitch that he put eight feet from the flag.

Wrenn missed his putt from the fringe and Hoch made his, claiming the fourth victory of his career and his first since 1984.

Al Geiberger and Harold Henning birdied the final three holes to take a one-shot victory over Bob Charles and Bruce Devlin in the $650,000 Legends of Golf at Austin, Tex., with a record-tying 29-under-par total.

Their 72-hole score of 251 tied the record set in 1987 by Orville Moody and Bruce Crampton, and earned the winners $120,000.

After giving up a two-stroke lead with a bogey 5 on the 417-yard fourth hole, Geiberger and Henning fell behind Charles and Devlin in the two-man, better-ball tournament.

They made six consecutive pars on the back nine while several other teams caught fire, including Dale Douglass and Charles Coody, who had a final-round 10-under-par 60.

Kathy Postlewait shot a final round three-under-par 69 to earn a one-stroke victory over Val Skinner in the $425,000 LPGA Sara Lee tournament at Nashville, Tenn.

The victory was the fourth title in 15 years on the LPGA tour for Postlewait, of Casselberry, Fla. She won $63,750, tops on the tour for a 54-hole tournament.

She finished with a 13-under-par 203 for the tournament. Skinner, who came back from a four-stroke deficit on the back nine Sunday, finished at 204. Patty Sheehan and Nancy Lopez tied for third at 205.

Postlewait had only two bogeys in three days.