Finishing Flourish Gives Nicklaus a Senior Title

In typical fashion, Jack Nicklaus birdied two of the last three holes Sunday at La Costa to win the Senior PGA Tour division of the Mercedes Championships.

Nicklaus rallied with a four-under-par 68 for a 72-hole total of 279, nine under and one stroke better than Bob Murphy.

Murphy, in the twosome behind Nicklaus, birdied No. 17 with an 18-foot putt. After a drive to the center of the fairway at 18, the senior rookie of the year made his third in a series of shots during the last round that would have upset even a duffer.

Two of the mistakes were with a five-iron, the other on a 50-foot chip on nine. The first duffer shot was into the water on the 185-yard seventh hole and the five-iron on 18 cost him the tournament.

He was in the center of the fairway, 160 yards from the flag uphill and into the wind. He hit the ball over the green into the deep rough only 10 feet from Nicklaus, waiting in the scorer’s tent.

“Despite a couple of squirrelly shots today, I played well,” Murphy said. “But when I saw the ball down in the high Kikuyu, I knew I’d be lucky to get out of it at all.”

His sand-wedge shot reached only to the fringe and his chip to tie and force a playoff slid past the hole.

It was an unhappy last nine for Dave Stockton, who led most of the time through the first 63 holes. A birdie on nine gave him the lead at nine-under Sunday.

But his usually reliable putting failed him and he soared to a 40 to finish five under at 283. Al Geiberger, trying for a three-peat, finished at 288, eight strokes worse than a year ago.

It was the 20th tournament for Nicklaus as a senior and his seventh victory. In addition to the first prize of $100,000, he also won a Mercedes. Nicklaus, who won the event five times on the regular tour when it was the Tournament of Champions, tied the senior record in his first try.

But on the last day, the seniors could not keep pace with the juniors, and Nicklaus wasn’t surprised.

“I played very well for a senior tournament, considering the long layoff,” he said. “But it certainly wasn’t good enough to win on the regular tour. I said they figured to break out. Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have thought much of my play.

“But I’m really encouraged. The way I feel right now, I will play more often. It looks like I’ll play in the L.A. Open.”

Nicklaus, who hadn’t played in this tournament since 1985, might have broken open this event earlier, but he wasn’t putting well. He said he was hitting the ball 40 yards farther than he did when he left the tour last summer.

His best putting distance was five feet. From that distance, he made birdies on 16 and 17 and saved par on 18. He three-putted from nine feet for his only bogey on the par-five second hole. He missed three three-footers and numerous birdie tries in the nine-, 10- and 12-foot range.

“When you’re hitting the ball well, that’s the way it is,” Nicklaus said. “You keep getting chances for birdies. You, or at least I, don’t make them all. But if you keep getting the opportunities, you will make some.”

Could he still win on the regular tour?

“If I didn’t think I could, I would stop playing with the younger people,” he said. “But I am encouraged to think I still can.

“I would think my best chance would be in the Masters. I just don’t have the strength to hit out of the rough and there isn’t any at Augusta. But I can’t compete with the kids if it’s cold, either. When the weather is cold, I get stiff and sore. I’ll play next in the senior skins, then at the AT&T; at Pebble Beach. I’m pretty sure I’ll play (in the L.A. Open), and then we’ll see.”