GOLF ROUNDUP : Colbert Safely Holds Off Floyd and Geiberger

Raymond Floyd made a late charge, Al Geiberger made a 60-foot putt and Jim Colbert made sure their efforts were in vain.

Colbert, who began the final round of the Royal Caribbean Classic with a five-shot lead, managed a one-under-par 70 Sunday to edge playing partners Floyd and Geiberger by one stroke at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Overcoming three bogeys, including one on No. 18, Colbert played safe when he could and took risks when necessary.

“You get the same trophy and the same money, whether you win by one shot or win by six or eight,” Colbert said. “You’d like to win by six or eight because it’s fun and you can giggle and stuff, but I wasn’t going to lose my cool.”

Final-round collapses are almost a tradition on The Links at Key Biscayne: Gary Player and Jim Dent both blew big back-nine leads in recent years. But Colbert withstood the pressure, and his 54-hole total of 14-under-par 199 broke Player’s tournament record of 200 set in 1991.

Floyd, seeking his fourth title since joining the Senior PGA Tour in September, began a run of three consecutive birdies at No. 15 to pull within two shots.

But on No. 18, Floyd missed a birdie try from 18 feet and settled for a 65. Colbert then missed a meaningless four-foot try for par.

Geiberger trailed by three shots going to the final hole, where he sank a 60-foot birdie putt to finish with a 66.

J.C. Snead and 63-year-old Don January tied for fourth at 204 in the first full-field event of the Senior season. George Archer finished at 205.

Colbert earned $112,500 for his sixth title since joining the Senior Tour in 1991.

Tammie Green made a downhill 20-foot putt on the first sudden-death playoff hole to beat Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner for the Palm Beach Classic championship at Lake Worth, Fla.

Green, 33, began the final round at Wycliffe Golf and Country Club two strokes behind Canada’s Jennifer Wyatt and one stroke behind Carner, 53, who birdied No. 15 and 17 to force the playoff.

Green shot a three-under-par 69 for a 208 total. Carner shot a 70.

On the first playoff hole, the par-four 18th, Carner put her approach 40 feet from the flag. Green put it within 20 feet and made the putt for the $60,000 first prize, her second victory and first since 1989, when she won the du Maurier Classic.

England’s Nick Faldo shot a two-under-par 68 to hold off Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie by one shot in the Johnnie Walker Classic at Singapore.

Faldo finished at 11-under-par 269, ahead of Montgomerie, who shot a final-round 66.