Off-Day Doesn't Keep Parnevik From Winning in Record Style

Off-Day Doesn’t Keep Parnevik From Winning in Record Style

L.A. Times Archives

April 26, 1999 12 AM PT

<i> From Associated Press</i>

Jesper Parnevik shot a two-under 70 despite hitting only five fairways to close out a record-setting victory Sunday at the Greater Greensboro Classic in Greensboro, N.C.

Parnevik finished at 23-under par, breaking by six shots the 72-hole scoring record for the tournament since it moved to Forest Oaks Country Club in 1977. Sandy Lyle and Ken Green set the previous mark of 17-under-par 271 in 1988. Lyle won that year in a playoff.

Parnevik’s four-day 265 was the best on tour this year, beating by one stroke David Duval’s 266 at the season-opening Mercedes Championships. He missed by four shots the all-time tour record for most strokes under par (28) set by John Huston in the 1998 Hawaiian Open.

Jim Furyk, who played with Parnevik on Sunday, shot a 69 to finish 21-under par. Furyk started the day three shots behind the leader, but closed the gap to one with a 30-foot chip-in for birdie on the 11th hole.

But Parnevik countered with a chip-in for birdie from the back fringe on the par-three 12th, and holed a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 13 to push the lead back to three.

Parnevik bogeyed the 14th hole, but Furyk settled for a par after missing a 20-foot birdie attempt. He got no closer than two shots the rest of the way.

Rachel Hetherington birdied two of the final three holes to force a playoff with Lorie Kane, then won the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship at Stockbridge, Ga., on the first extra hole when Kane missed a four-foot putt.

Hetherington, one of five players tied for the lead beginning the final round, made the turn with a two-shot lead but gave it up with a double-bogey at No. 10. When the Australian bogeyed 15 to fall two shots off the lead, Kane seemed poised for her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

Instead, she settled for her sixth runner-up finish since 1997, failing to sink the easy birdie putt that would have forced another playoff hole.

“I expected Lorie to make it,” Hetherington said. “I was disappointed for her. You don’t want anyone to miss a putt like that.”

On the playoff hole, a short par-five that provides easy birdie opportunities, both players, using five-woods, failed to hold the green with their second shots. Hetherington’s ball rolled onto left fringe, about 50 feet from the cup, while Kane’s shot sailed past the flag and slid off the back, propped up against the second, higher cut of rough.

Another playoff hole seemed likely when Hetherington chipped to within two feet of the flag and Kane punched her ball just four feet away. But the Canadian missed the putt and Hetherington tapped in for birdie--and the victory.

Barb Mucha, who tied an LPGA record Saturday with 11 birdies for a sizzling round of 62, began the day tied for the lead at 10-under with Hetherington and three other players. But Mucha could only manage a 72.

Bruce Fleisher shot his third successive sub-70 round and won the $1.2 million Home Depot Invitational senior tournament at Charlotte, N.C. Fleisher’s 69 gave him a 205 three-day total and a one-stroke victory over Jim Holtgrieve, who also finished with a 69, and Terry Dill.

Dill, who shared the second-round lead with Fleisher and Allen Doyle, shot a 70 and Doyle had a 71.

Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden won the Spanish Open at Barcelona by four strokes, and Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old Spaniard playing as a pro for the first time, tied for 25th, 12 shots off the pace. Garcia, the top amateur at the Masters, closed with a three-under-par 69.

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Final Leaders

GREATER GREENSBORO CLASSIC--Par 72

Jesper Parnevik 65-63-67-70--265 (-23)

Jim Furyk 67-63-68-69--267 (-21)

Jeff Maggert 68-62-75-68--273 (-15)

Dudley Hart 66-65-71-72--274 (-14)

CHICK-FIL-A CHAMPIONSHIP--Par 72

x-Rachel Hetherington 67-67-70--204 (-12)

Lorie Kane 67-68-69--204 (-12)

Annika Sorenstam 70-69-66--205 (-11)

Jean Bartholomew 74-63-68--205 (-11)