GOLF ROUNDUP : Mickelson Wins International

Phil Mickelson took an 11-point lead at the turn Sunday and cruised to an overwhelming victory in the International tournament at Castle Rock, Colo.

The 23-year-old left-hander gained his second tournament victory of the year by an impressive eight-point margin over Mark Calcavecchia under the modified Stableford scoring system used for this event.

Under the scoring system, medal scores do not count. Points are awarded for a player’s performance on each hole: five for eagle, two for birdie, none for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or higher.

Mickelson finished with 45 points, 16 coming during a final round that included nine birdies and two bogeys. His medal score was 65.

Phil Blackmar came on to finish third with 33 points.

Scott Simpson, who lost four points on the last two holes after a wild shot hit a spectator on 16, tied for fourth with Greg Norman.

Both had 31 points.

The victory was worth $234,000 from the total purse of $1.3 million, pushing Mickelson’s earnings for the year to $542,765 and providing him with another milestone in a pro career that began only last summer in the U.S. Open.

A three-time NCAA champion, Mickelson won the 1990 U.S. Amateur and joined Jack Nicklaus as the only men to win both the national amateur and national collegiate titles in the same year.

“It’s a compliment. I appreciate it,” Mickelson said of comparisons between him and a young Nicklaus. “But there’ll never be another Jack Nicklaus. He’s the greatest player of all time.”

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Dave Stockton shot a final-round five-under-par 67 and pulled away from the field to win the GTE Northwest Classic at Kenmore, Wash., his second consecutive victory on the Senior PGA Tour and fourth of the year.

He earned $75,000 and became the first senior tour player this year to lead an event from start to finish. He almost became the second player in senior tour history to shoot under 200 in consecutive tournaments.

Stockton finished at 16-under 200. He shot a 197 last week to win by nine strokes at Park City, Utah. He has been in the 60s in each of his last six rounds, and under par in 13 of his last 14.

Dale Douglass, who started the final round tied with Bert Yancey one stroke behind Stockton, shot a 70 and was second alone at 204.

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Hiromi Kobayashi equaled the tournament record with a final-round seven-under-par 65, then made a three-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to beat Cindy Rarick in the Minnesota LPGA Classic at Brooklyn Park.

Kobayashi, who won her first LPGA event last month, had five of her eight birdies on the back nine of the soggy 6,141-yard Edinburgh USA course. She equaled the tournament record set by Barb Bunkowsky in 1990.

Kobayashi, a native of Japan, and Rarick, the second-round leader, finished 54 holes at 11-under 205. Both played most of the back nine in a constant drizzle.