Birdie Run on the Back Gives Love the Victory

Davis Love III, starting the final round of the Buick Invitational four shots back, birdied five holes on the back nine and won by two strokes over local favorite Phil Mickelson on Sunday at Torrey Pines north of San Diego.

Love, who lives in Sea Island, Ga., closed with an eight-under par 64 for a total of 19-under 269.

Love had been one stroke back when the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was canceled a week earlier because of a flooded fairway.

Mickelson, whose 1993 victory in this event was his first as a professional, missed crucial putts coming in and shot a 67 in his attempt to add this title to victories in Tucson and Phoenix.

“After I birdied 10 and 11, I really expected to,” Mickelson said. “I think that’s why it’s a little more disappointing.”

While the middle rounds had been a battle between hometown underdog Lennie Clements, from nearby Poway, and another non- winner, Kirk Triplett, established stars Love and Mickelson broke from the pack on the back nine on the 7,000-yard Torrey Pines South Course.

Mickelson entered the day three back of Clements.

Said Mickelson: “I lost it on the greens. I feel I gave three shots back the last three holes. I don’t mean to take anything away from Davis, who had a phenomenal round, I’m just disappointed that I had a chance to tie him and I didn’t capitalize on it.”

Mickelson needed an eagle on No. 18 to force a playoff. But his approach shot went into the rough and he chipped past the hole.

“You want to get out in front of everybody, away from the crowd. If I had been playing with Phil or Lennie, with the local crowd pulling for them, it would have been a lot harder,” said Love, who won for the first time this year and for the 10th time in 11 seasons on the tour.

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Al Geiberger shot a 71, including a key birdie on the 17th hole, to win the Senior PGA Greater Naples IntelliNet Challenge at Naples, Fla.

It was Geiberger’s first victory since 1993.

Geiberger finished the 54-hole event at 14-under-par 202, one shot in front of Isao Aoki, who closed with a 67.

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John Daly dominated the final day of the Australian Skins at Gold Coast, boosting his earnings to $78,000 by winning five holes outright. Only Laura Davies, the first woman to play in a major skins game, was able to bring a temporary halt to Daly’s run of success, winning $6,000 at the par-five 11th hole on Sunday. . . . At Adelaide, Australia, Greg Norman shot a three-under-par 69 to rally and win the Ford Open by one stroke over Jean-Louis Guepy.

Jack Nicklaus, scheduled to hold a news conference in New York today, is expected to announce, among other things, that his next British Open appearance won’t be until the year 2000.