GOLF L.A. CITY CHAMPIONSHIP : Consistent Turner Wins by Three

Mike Turner had two things going for him in Sunday’s final round of the 73rd annual Los Angeles City Golf Championship--consistent drives and a comfortable lead.

Turner used both to his advantage and won the tournament by three strokes at the Rancho Park course.

Turner, 33, of Woodland Hills, shot a three-over-par 74 for a 72-hole total of one-under 285, followed by Ed Susolik, 27, of Arcadia (71-288) and Ken Cruz, 21, of Yorba Linda (77-291).

Turner won this tournament in 1987, but said a few losses earlier in his career best prepared him for Sunday’s championship.

“The first time I ever led a tournament going into the last round, I lost,” said Turner. “But I learned from that. When you’re in contention, you have to stay relaxed and capitalize on it.”

While his younger competitors were hitting long but missing some fairways, Turner was content with keeping his ball in play. It was a simple strategy, but it was one of the biggest reasons he led entering the final round.

“I knew I was going to have to go after (Turner). I knew he wasn’t going to fall, he’s too consistent,” said Cruz, a student at UC Irvine. “I figured he wasn’t going to shoot above a 74, so I had to play aggressive, going after flags wherever they were. I missed too many greens that led to too many bogeys.”

Turner knew that if anyone was going to overtake him, it was going to happen on the par-five holes. Since the 17th and 18th are both long holes, he knew that if he didn’t maintain his lead, the ending could be agonizing.

Turner ran into trouble on the par-four, 393-yard fifth hole. His drive was wide into the trees and his approach was just short of the green. But he was able to get a decent line on the hole and sank a 20-foot putt for par.

On the par-three, 206-yard 12th hole, Turner’s drive found a bunker, about 30 yards from the cup. He was on an incline and was simply hoping to get in the vicinity of the cup.

Instead, he nearly holed the shot, the ball stopping four feet from the cup.

Meanwhile, Susolik, who trailed Turner by six strokes at the beginning of the round, had narrowed the margin to three.

He also struggled on the 12th, and it may have cost him a legitimate run at the championship.

Susolik’s drive landed about 15 feet left of the green. He chipped to within four feet of the pin but missed the putt.

“It was something nine times out of 10 you make without even thinking about,” he said. “I ended up two-putting mine for a bogey and I think that was the turning point.”

Notes

Ken Cruz, who won the Pasadena City championship earlier this year, had the tournament’s only hole-in-one last Saturday at Wilson’s Harding course. He used a six-iron on the par-3, 178-yard fifth hole.