GOLF ROUNDUP : Barrage of Birdies Brings Victory to Douglass, Coody

Dale Douglass and Charles Coody, who waltzed to a seven-shot victory in the 1990 Legends of Golf, worked much harder this year, winning the PGA Senior Tour tournament Sunday at Austin, Tex., by one stroke.

The team of Chi Chi Rodriguez and Jim Dent eagled the 18th hole to tie with that of Bob Murphy and Jim Colbert for second.

Douglass and Coody had led by two shots, then fell behind by a stroke at the 10th hole. They made five birdies in a row on the back side to shoot 64 for a 28-under total of 188 in the two-man, better-ball event at the Barton Creek Country Club.

They cut it close on the final hole. Leading by one stroke, Douglass drove the ball into trees on the right and Coody found the right rough.

With his partner having to lay up, Coody hit a four-iron 175 yards uphill, the ball falling within two feet of a canyon that cuts in front of the green. He pitched on and two-putted for the par that saved the victory.

“I was pretty close,” Coody said, appreciating the victory if not the artistry. “But it was over the hazard. That’s what counts. I just wish I’d hit a little bit better shot.”

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Laura Davies continued a hot streak with a four-under 68, beating Meg Mallon by a stroke in winning the Sara Lee Classic at Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville, Tenn.

Mallon, the defending champion, missed a birdie putt on the par-four 18th that would have forced a playoff. She finished with a 69 and was one behind Davies’ 54-hole total of 203.

It was the seventh tour victory for Davies, who won the Standard Register Ping tournament in March and finished second in the Nabisco Dinah Shore a week later.

She and Mallon shot identical scores of 65 and 70 over the first two rounds.

Davies finally took a one-stroke lead with a birdie on the par-five 11th. Mallon slipped two strokes off the pace with a bogey on No. 16 before a birdie on No. 17 pulled her within one stroke.

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Seve Ballesteros is a winner again, ending a 26-month drought with a three-stroke victory over Nick Faldo in the Benson and Hedges Open in Plymouth, England, that will qualify him for next month’s U.S. Open.

Ballesteros birdied two of the final three holes to stave off a late charge by Faldo and shoot a two-under 70 to finish at seven-under 281 and win $163,000.

His last victory had been in March of 1992.