NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : SENIOR CLASSIC AT MESA VERDE : Course Grooming Decried

Bob Murphy made some impressive shots Sunday in the final round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Mesa Verde Country Club, and then he took some more at the greens.

Murphy made seven birdies and two bogeys to close with a five-under 65.

“I think they (greenskeepers) should have jumped on the course a lot faster than they did,” Murphy said. “I know there has been a lot of rain here, and you can say what you want about that. But once they double-cut and rolled the greens Thursday, it sure brought them around. They were a lot more bumpy earlier.”

Murphy started Sunday one-over-par, but began with three consecutive birdies. He lipped out two more birdie putts on the fourth and fifth holes.

His birdie on the 424-yard first hole was one of only seven made there Sunday.

Murphy made a 25-foot uphill putt on nine to reach three-under.

“I had a dream start,” said Murphy who has won four Senior Tour events in the last two years.

Murphy drove under a tree on the par-five 10th, but cut a two-iron under one tree and around some others and onto the green. He two-putted for birdie to reach four under.

He moved higher up the leader board with a 15-foot birdie putt on 11 and seemed poised to continue the charge.

But Murphy started going backward with a three-putt bogey at 16, then missed the par-four 17th with his second shot and made another bogey.

Murphy finished strong by making a six-foot putt for birdie on the par-four 18th. He finished in a tie for eighth and won $20,267.

“Still,” he said, “this is a good course. You have to drive your ball in the middle of the fairway.”

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Not the only game: Loud roars in the distance are common during a golf round, but the one that came late Sunday afternoon didn’t make much sense--at first.

Tom Wargo, playing in the final group, was about to hit a four-foot putt for birdie, when a sudden cheer rang out a few holes over.

The reason for the cheer was the UCLA’s last-second basket to beat Missouri.

Some fans in a hospitality tent had changed the channel to the basketball game.

By the end of the game, about 35 or so had gathered and yelled loudly when the Bruins won.

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Attendance: The actual attendance at a golf tournament is always a bit of a mystery, but Sunday’s crowd was believed to be around 15,000, according to a Costa Mesa police spokesman.

The tournament drew a three-day total of about 30,000, which was close to the goal set by tournament director Don Andersen.