GOLF ROUNDUP : Kite on Money Again, Wins With 65

Tom Kite won 15 tournaments and more money than any golfer in history. Then he lost his confidence.

Kite, 42, went 16 months without winning a tournament before shooting a seven-under-par 65 Sunday to win the Atlanta Classic at Marietta, Ga.

“Self-doubt creeps in after so long,” Kite said after becoming the first golfer to surpass $7 million in earnings.

The $180,000 first prize gave him career earnings of $7,104,454, far ahead of runner-up Tom Watson, who has $5,914,836.

“It’s not something that any of us plays for,” Kite said of his record earnings over a 21-year career. “We’re trying to win tournaments. Luckily the timing is right to be playing for so much money.

“This win means so much. To get back in the Masters and the World Series is great.”

Kite used a string of six birdies on the front side and an eagle-three on the final hole for his three-shot victory over Jay Don Blake.

Kite finished at 16-under-par 272 on the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course for his first victory since winning the Tournament of Champions last year.

Blake, who finished with a 68, birdied the 18th to cut the lead to one shot before Kite sank a 10-foot eagle putt.

Amateur David Duval, a junior at Georgia Tech who led after 54 holes, had a three-shot lead after birdies on two of the first three holes before he hit a shot into the water on the fourth hole and fell apart and finished with a 79 for 284.

Russ Cochran and Larry Mize tied for third at 279 after each finished with 69s.

George Archer still has Tommy Aaron’s number.

Archer beat Aaron in a playoff, as he did twice 20 years ago, to win the Murata Reunion Pro-Am senior tournament at Frisco, Tex.

Archer’s eight-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole gave him the $60,000 first place prize.

Archer defeated Aaron in playoffs in the Los Angeles and Greater Greensboro tournaments in 1972.

Aaron has not won a Senior Tour event and has lost twice this year in playoffs.

Archer won his first senior title of the year and ninth overall to become the 14th player to top $2 million on the over-50 tour with $2,048,646.

The 6-foot-6 Archer bogeyed the last hole to send the tournament into a playoff. Archer shot a one-over-par 73 on the final round and Aaron had a 69 to tie at five-under-par 211 for 54 holes.

Jennifer Wyatt of Canada shot 33 in windy conditions on the back nine to complete a round of two-under-par 70 and win an LPGA tournament at Chesapeake, Va., for her first tour victory.

Wyatt, 26, a fourth-year LPGA Tour member from Vancouver, was one of three players to break par in the final round.

Donna Andrews, who was seven-under after 36 holes and tied for the lead with Dana Lofland, was two shots back at 210 after a 73.

Lofland, bidding for her second victory in five weeks, wound up with a 77 for 214.