It’s a Friendly Win for Azinger : Golf: He pars the 18th hole to beat his playing partner, Australia’s Ian Baker-Finch, by one stroke.

Paul Azinger and Australia’s Ian Baker-Finch were paired together for the last three rounds of the $750,000 MONY Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

They conversed while playing and there was obvious mutual admiration even until the end of what amounted to match play competition.

Fittingly, the tournament wasn’t decided until the 18th hole Sunday when Azinger got his par and Baker-Finch took a bogey five.

So Azinger, regarded by Tom Kite as one of the most promising young players on the tour, was rewarded with the first-place check of $135,000.

Baker-Finch, who has won only one tour event, the Colonial in 1989, was hardly dispirited by being the runner-up to Azinger.

“I’m very, very happy with myself the way I came back today. I took the maximum penalty on No. 4 with a double bogey, but I came back to birdie seven of the next 10 holes. I played as well as I ever have in that stretch.”

So Azinger and Baker-Finch, who had left the field behind by the 12th hole, came to the par four, 421-yard 18th tied at 16 under par.

Azinger’s drive was safely near the middle of the fairway. Baker-Finch said he rushed his tee shot and it found a bunker 153 yards from the front edge of the green.

Baker-Finch used an eight-iron to get over the lip of the bunker and his shot landed short of the green, 40 yards from the pin. Azinger’s five-iron shot landed approximately 18 feet away from the pin, while Baker-Finch’s chip shot was a few inches farther way.

The Australian putted first, needing a par to force a possible playoff. It was a left to right putt that Baker-Finch described as going three inches across the hole.

So Azinger needed only to two-putt to win the first tour event of the 1990 season.

“I wasn’t nervous until Baker-Finch missed his par putt,” said Azinger, who celebrated his 30th birthday Saturday. “Then the whole thing was thrown in my lap.”

Azinger, who was frustrated by two second and three third-place finishes on the tour last year, didn’t squander his opportunity. He left his putt only six inches from the hole and tapped in as the winner.

Azinger, who had a two-stroke lead over Baker-Finch at the outset of the round, shot a three-under-par 69 for a 72 hole total of 272. It was the second lowest score for four rounds in the history of the tournament, surpassed only by Calvin Peete’s 267 in 1986.

Baker-Finch, who shot a 68, earned $82,000 by finishing second. Mark O’Meara, who had a 65 Saturday, finished third. He had a 69 for a 276 total.

Mark Calcavecchia, who was only three shots behind Azinger going into the final 18 holes, dropped back with a 75.

“It’s incredible how that guy can putt,” Azinger said admiringly of Baker-Finch. “We really had fun out there. We played together three days and conversed the entire time. It didn’t matter who was ahead. He was just a fun guy to play with. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Said Baker-Finch: “Paul played great golf. He was a perfect gentleman and a pleasure to play with. It’s a good start to the season and, when I come back, I’ll have something to build on.”

Pros aren’t always that chummy when so much money is at stake.

The 29-year-old Baker-Finch returned to Australia Sunday night, where he’ll play five tournaments on his country’s tour before returning to the United States.

After a bogey on the first hole, Azinger got birdies at the third, fourth, sixth, eighth, 11th and 12th holes. He said he didn’t three putt at any time during the tournament.

However, it was an unlikely par at the par-five, 526-yard second hole that might have won the tournament for him considering the alternatives.

“I got lucky,” Azinger said. “I was 240 yards from the hole and I hit a three wood that I just killed. I pulled it and it rolled way down left of the cart path.

“I took a nine-iron and killed it. It took off across the green and was going for the water when it hit a rake and stayed up--and I got up and down for a par. I was very fortunate.”

What was Baker-Finch’s reaction?

“He just laughed,” Azinger said.

Even though Azinger was the third leading money winner last year with $951,649, he won only one tournament, the Greater Harford Open.

“What I learned was that I got ahead of myself every time,” he said of his runner-up finishes. “I made myself nervous thinking about what was coming up instead of staying focused on what needed to be done at that particular time.

“Today I tried to play like I was one shot behind. I didn’t see a leader board until I walked up to the 12th green. By then, I knew it was a two-man battle.”

And so the battle came down to the final hole.

“I needed to hit my chip shot inside of Paul’s shot on the 18th and I thought I had done that,” Baker-Finch said.

Instead, he had to putt first and he barely missed his par.

Azinger’s reaction? “I thoroughly expected him to make it. He had made every putt he had to make.”

Not the last one, though.

Golf Notes

Steve Jones, the defending champion, and Ken Green, withdrew from the tournament. Jones had a stiff neck and Green was suffering from the flu. Neither player was in contention.