Charity Begins at 16 for Simpson : Golf: The hole proves his undoing, and he blows a two-shot lead to Stewart to force a playoff.

Scott Simpson apparently was on his way to winning the U.S. Open Sunday with a two-shot lead over Payne Stewart with three holes to play.

Fuzzy Zoeller, who had finished, reasoned that the steady, imperturbable Simpson probably would win.

“He seldom makes mental mistakes and doesn’t give much back,” Zoeller said.

But Simpson gave enough back to force a playoff, bogeying two of the last three holes at Hazeltine National Golf Club while Stewart was getting pars. Each finished 72 holes at 282, six under par.

So it will be an 18-hole playoff today for the 91st U.S. Open championship, the third time in four years that an extra day was needed to determine a champion.

Simpson, a former USC player, and Stewart each shot par 72s on a warm day with minimal wind, compared to Saturday’s wind-blown round.

It was a match-play atmosphere in which no one made a serious run at either golfer.

Larry Nelson, who won the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania in 1983, birdied the 13th hole to pull within three shots of the lead, but he bogeyed the next hole to drop out of contention. He finished in a tie for third place with Fred Couples at 285.

Simpson, who won the 1987 Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, wasn’t devastated that he failed to put Stewart away.

“Another year, another playoff,” Simpson said. “I’m a little disappointed, but I would have taken the playoff before the week started. It should be fun.”

It seemed that Stewart was running out of holes while missing chances to tie or go ahead of Simpson.

Stewart missed makeable birdie putts to the left on the 15th through 17 holes.

“I kept telling myself I still had a chance,” said Stewart, who made some scrambling par putts to stay close to Simpson. “I just said to myself, ‘Keep doing what you’ve been doing.’ I kept grinding it out and got some help from Scott.”

Sunday’s round was similar to Saturday’s inasmuch as Simpson had a two-shot lead over Stewart through 15 holes.

On Saturday, No. 16, a treacherous par-four hole with a 200-yard carry over water from the tee, figured prominently. Simpson bogeyed that hole, bogeyed the 17th and wound up tied with Stewart after 54 holes.

On Sunday, the 16th hole tormented Simpson again.

“I made a good swing, but I pulled the ball four feet into the rough,” Simpson said.

Simpson then hit a seven-iron out of the rough, attempting to run the ball close to the green. He stayed in the rough and wound up two-putting from 30 feet for a bogey.

Simpson bogeyed the 16th hole three of the four days.

Stewart got his par on 16, two-putting from about 15 feet.

Each player parred the par-three 17th hole, Stewart missing a six- to seven-foot birdie putt.

So Simpson still had a one-shot lead going to the par-four, 452-yard 18th hole.

“Then, I pulled my drive three inches into the deep rough and I was dead,” Simpson said. “I was fortunate to get it into the fairway with a nine-iron.”

He used another nine-iron to get on the green, 30 feet from the pin.

Stewart’s drive found the fairway, and his five-iron second shot landed on the back fringe of the green.

“I had to go over a mound,” Stewart said of his 25-foot putt. “It was six feet of break and never had a chance to go in.”

Stewart’s putt went five feet past the cup and then he got his par. Simpson two-putted from 30 feet, his last putt measuring three feet for a bogey.

A sudden-death playoff is the format for two of the four “majors,” the Masters and PGA Championship. The British Open has a four-hole playoff formula, followed by sudden death, if necessary.

Advised that Couples had said a one-hole playoff is ridiculous, Simpson shrugged and said:

“I’ll go with the flow. If they say 18, I’ll go 18. If they say one, I’ll go one. My preference would be something like the British Open.”

Stewart said that the fans who attended Sunday’s round should not be deprived of a playoff.

“For the sake of the fans, there should have been a champion crowned today,” he said. “I thought it should have been a sudden-death playoff, but I’m happy to be playing tomorrow.”

As for his round, Stewart said: “I did not play very well on the front nine. I did not do what I set out to do, hit the fairways and greens.

“But I made quite a few testing par putts, and that is what I had to do to have a chance to win. And I’ve given myself another chance.”

Stewart wore the colors of the Minnesota Vikings Sunday and someone asked him if he would have the same outfit today, noting that the Vikings have lost in four Super Bowl appearances.

“Maybe I’ll take your hint,” said Stewart, who wouldn’t reveal which NFL team he will represent in the playoff.

Said Simpson: “Payne plays a great game no matter what colors he wears.”

Golf Notes

The winner will get $235,000. . . . Asked what he planned to do Sunday night, Scott Simpson said jokingly: “I’m going to lift weights.” Then, he added, “I was going to play in a Ronald MacDonald pro-am in Cleveland. I’ll be able to get out of that, I guess.” . . . Fred Couples, who shot 70 Sunday, said he was happy to get some Ryder Cup points. As for the playoff, he said: “I would not imagine anyone winning by more than one or two shots. They are compatible players”. . . . Fuzzy Zoeller had the low round of the day with a 67 and finished fifth. . . . Larry Nelson, who shot a 68, has a limited tour schedule, but he says he puts in special preparation for the Open. “Golf is not my highest priority now, but this tournament is,” he said. . . . Defending champion Hale Irwin had a 74 for a four-day total of 290. . . . It was a dismal day for Masters champion Ian Woosnam of Wales, who had an 80 to go with his 79 on Saturday. . . . Lanny Wadkins went 80-79 the last two rounds. . . . Amateur Phil Mickelson had a 75 and a 72-hole score of 300.

The Top Seven * Scott Simpson: 70-68-72-72--282 * Payne Stewart: 67-70-73-72--282 Larry Nelson: 73-72-72-68--285 Fred Couples: 70-70-75-70--285 Fuzzy Zoeller: 72-73-74-67--286 Scott Hoch: 69-71-74-73--287 Nolan Henke: 67-71-77-73--288

* IN 18-HOLE PLAYOFF TODAY

Fourth-Round Scorecards

Scorecards of the leaders in Sunday’s fourth round of the 91st U.S. Open Golf Championship played on the par-72, 7,149-yard Hazeltine National Golf Club course.

Par out 445-344-534--36 Par in 454-345-434--3672--288 Simpson out 445-344-434--35 Simpson in 354-345-535--3772--282 Stewart out 444-345-534--36 Stewart in 454-345-434--3672--282 Nelson out 445-243-434--33 Nelson in 444-255-434--3568--285 Couples out 444-344-444--35 Couples in 553-345-433--3570--285

Today’s TV

ABC-TV’s live coverage of today’s 18-hole U.S. Open playoff between Payne Stewart and Scott Simpson will begin at 1 p.m. PDT.

With the playoff scheduled to get under way at 10:30 a.m., PDT, the coverage is expected to join the golfers on the 12th or 13th hole.

This marks the third time in four years ABC has preempted programming to show a U.S. Open playoff.