This Time, Morgan Is Second to None

Gil Morgan never thought of himself as one of the best on any tour. That changed Sunday with his runaway victory at the Senior Tour Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

All year, Morgan was second in money, victories and prestige to Hale Irwin. And when they were two strokes apart and clear of the field with a round to play, many figured Morgan to wind up behind again.

Instead, it was Morgan with the large lead and, despite two bogeys down the stretch, the spotlight he missed out on most of the year.

Morgan earned $328,000 after his 71 left him at a record 16 under at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club. He became the third--joining Irwin and Tiger Woods--to win more than $2 million in a season.

Morgan’s year would easily be enough for Senior player of the year--if not for Irwin, whose record-tying nine victories and $2,343,364 make him the front-runner.

Morgan, up by three shots on the final hole, gave himself some anxious moments when his approach landed beside the bleachers. But Irwin missed his birdie attempt and Morgan tapped in a bogey to win.

Isao Aoki was third at nine-under after a 67.

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Mark Calcavecchia birdied four of his first six holes to take a 10-stroke edge, but struggled on the back nine before holding on to win the $2-million Sarazen World Open at Braselton, Ga.

Lee Westwood had gotten within two strokes after Calcavecchia’s fourth bogey on the back nine, at No. 17.

Calcavecchia, who led all four rounds after a tournament-record 62 the first day, had a 39 on the back nine to wind up with a one-under-par 71 after a 32 on the front that included five birdies and a bogey.

His four-round total of 271, 17-under-par, broke by a stroke the tournament record set last year by Frank Nobilo.

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Davis Love III put his stamp on the final Kapalua International at Kapalua, Hawaii.

The 1997 PGA Championship winner finished with a record 22-under 268, closing with a five-under 68 to win the $1.2-million event for the second time. In nine other appearances at the event, he finished second three times and third twice.

David Toms finished second at 19-under 271 and Olin Browne was a stroke back in third.

After a 16-year run, this was the last Kapalua International. After a one-year hiatus, the Kapalua Resort will be turned over to the PGA Tour for the Mercedes Championships in 1999.

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Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann won the Japan Queens Cup at Otsu, Japan, closing with a birdie for a five-under-par 67 and a one-stroke margin over former Canadian amateur star Lorie Kane.

Neumann, also the 1991 winner, earned $112,500 for her second LPGA tour victory of the year.