GOLF ROUNDUP : ‘Other’ Australian Elkington Wins Greensboro

Steve Elkington has watched fellow Australians such as Greg Norman make their mark on the PGA Tour for the past three years. Now, he’s ready to make a name for himself.

“I’ve just proven to everybody that there’s more Australian players than the (Ian) Baker-Finches and the Normans and the (Wayne) Gradys,” Elkington said Sunday after he shot 31 on the back nine for a six-under-par 66 to win the Greater Greensboro (N.C.) Open for his first PGA Tour victory.

Elkington, who started the day seven shots behind Mike Reid, took his 72-hole total of six-under-par 282 to the clubhouse and watched all challengers fade.

Elkington won $225,000 from the $1.25 million purse, raising his 1990 winnings to nearly $350,000.

On the back nine, Elkington hit a nine-iron within 10 feet for birdie at 11. He also made short birdie putts on 12, 13, 17 and 18 for the score that withstood challenges from five other golfers.

Elkington finished his round tied with Jeff Sluman at six-under. But the possibility of a playoff disappeared when Sluman bogeyed 15 and 17 and finished with a 71 for 284, tied with Reid.

Charles Coody and Dale Douglass completed a runaway victory in the Legends of Golf tournament at Austin, Tex., coasting to a seven-shot victory and setting a scoring record in the process.

Coody and Douglass won $70,000 each and shot a final-round 66--by four strokes their highest of the tournament--to break the 72-hole scoring record for the Senior Tour event. They finished at 249, 39 under par on the Barton Creek Country Club course.

That compares with the old mark of 251 set by Al Geiberger and Harold Henning last year at Onion Creek, a par-70 course.

“There was really nothing we could do with the leaders,” said Geiberger, who again teamed with Henning and finished a distant second. “They just took off and ran away. They kept it under control and nobody else did anything.”

In the Legendary Champions division for players 60 and over, Bob Toski and Mike Fetchick scored a three-stroke victory over Roberto deVicenzo and Charles Sifford.

Toski-Fetchick combined for a 66 and completed 72 holes in 264, 24 under par. Each won $17,500.

Bernhard Langer of West Germany shot a five-under-par 67 to win the Madrid Open despite a course-record 61 by Brett Ogle of Australia.

Langer’s total of 18-under-par 271 gave him a one-stroke victory over Australia’s Rodger Davis. Ogle finished third at 272.