GOLF ROUNDUP : Cook Runs Out of Luck in Vegas

For a second Sunday, John Cook thought his 95-yard sand wedge was going to give him a miracle victory in the Las Vegas Invitational.

But the shot, which would have been a birdie on the first hole of a playoff had it stayed in the cup, hit the bottom and spun out, landing 15 feet away.

Bob Tway then two-putted for par and collected $234,000 from the $1.3-million purse for winning the 90-hole tournament that was played over three desert courses.

Was Cook disappointed, upset or angry about the ball that disappeared in the cup for the winner, then came out?

“Not in the least,” Cook said. “Not in this game. These things happen.”

Tway, the leader by three shots at the start of the final round at Las Vegas Country Club, struggled all day.

His lead was gone by the eighth hole, and when Cook birdied from 10 feet at the 11th, Tway was behind.

It stayed that way until Cook made his first mistake of the day, three-putting for bogey on the 16th. Each birdied the final hole to force a playoff.

They finished 90 holes at 334, 26 under par. Cook had a closing 67 and Tway a 70.

On the first playoff hole, the par-four 12th, Cook pulled his tee shot behind a tree and had to play out into the fairway. With 95 yards to the hole, he hit his sand-wedge shot into the hole--and out.

Tway reached the green in two and two-putted for the par that became the winner when Cook missed a 15-footer from the front fringe.

Corey Pavin and Phil Blackmar missed the playoff by three strokes at 337. Pavin came from a tie for 15th with a bogey-free, nine-under-par 63. Blackmar had a 67 that included a three-putt par on the par-five 18th.

Cathy Gerring shot a one-under-par 71 and beat Beth Daniel by one stroke in the LPGA World Championship at Cely, France.

Gerring, who led through every round, shot 10-under 278 to win her third title this year.

Daniel, needing a victory to clinch player-of-the-year honors, finished with a 68. Patty Sheehan, who tied for fourth, remained in the running for the honor.

Sheehan can catch Daniel by winning the last official LPGA Tour event, the Mazda-Japan Classic in Tokyo, Nov. 1-4. If Sheehan wins and Daniel finishes below the top five, they would end in a tie.

Gerring led from the 18th hole on the first day. She started the final round with a three-stroke advantage and increased it to seven with four birdies through five holes.

But she then saw her lead shrink over the back nine, where she bogeyed three times.

Gerring hit through the 14th green to drop a shot, then missed the 15th green to bogey again.

Defending tournament champion Betsy King had a 72 Sunday to finish third at 282.

Cindy Rarick and Dottie Mochrie both carded 70 and tied at 284 with Sheehan, who shot 68.

Bruce Crampton shot a three-under-par 69 to win the Gatlin Brothers Southwest Senior Classic at Abilene, Tex., by four shots over Lee Trevino.

Crampton had three consecutive sub-70 rounds for a 12-under-par 204 on the par-72, 6,843-yard Fairway Oaks Country Club course.

Chi Chi Rodriguez and Terry Dill finished tied for third at 210, two shots behind Trevino.

“It wasn’t a precise shot-making round like the other two rounds,” said Crampton, who had rounds of 67 and 68 to enter the final day with a three-shot lead over Robert Ganoa. The final two days were played in winds that gusted more than 20 m.p.h.

Crampton never led by less than three, as he started his round with a pair of birdies. Ganoa pulled to within three on the fifth hole with a 25-foot birdie, but Crampton topped it with a 20-foot par. Crampton pulled away from Ganoa on the seventh when Crampton birdied and Ganoa bogeyed.

Trevino got to within three shots, but he bogeyed the 17th hole to deny him a chance at winning his seventh tournament this year.