Franco Becomes a PGA Millionaire

Carlos Franco is following in big footsteps--those of Tiger Woods.

The son of a greenskeeper at one of Paraguay’s three golf courses, Franco shot a five-under-par 66 Sunday to win the Greater Milwaukee Open, his second tour victory in nine weeks.

Franco earned $414,000, making him the first PGA Tour rookie to win more than $1 million in a season and putting him in the top 10 on the 1999 money list. The last player to win two titles as a rookie was Tiger Woods in 1996.

It’s just the latest twist in the likable Franco’s amazing rise from an impoverished childhood, followed by years on the Japan Tour, to golf’s upper echelons.

“This has been a wonderful year for me, like a dream,” he said.

Franco played a fourth consecutive day of solid, unspectacular golf. He finished with a four-day score of 20-under 264, the best 72-hole mark in the tournament’s history.

“I played very simple this week, no nervousness,” Franco said. “I came here to practice, so to win is just unbelievable.”

He trailed Jerry Kelly by one stroke entering the final round. But Kelly, a Wisconsin native cheered by scores of fans, fell off the pace early and never caught up.

Tom Lehman birdied the last two holes to take second at 266.

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Dave Eichelberger gained three strokes on one hole to break out of a tie for the lead and win the U.S. Senior Open by three shots at West Des Moines, Iowa.

Eichelberger was tied with Ed Dougherty for the lead at seven under par and then birdied the par-5 No. 15 while Dougherty double-bogeyed No. 14, a par three.

Dougherty got into trouble when his eight-iron tee shot hit the front of the green and rolled off to the fringe. His chip left him 10 feet short and he three-putted, his bogey putt from two feet spinning completely around the cup before coming to rest two inches away.

Despite landing in three bunkers, Eichelberger scrambled to a four-under 68, his best round of the tournament. He finished at seven-under 281 at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club, where massive crowds gathered each day to watch the first major tournament ever played in Iowa.

The victory was worth $315,000 for Eichelberger, whose best finish this year had been second at the Las Vegas Classic. His last victory had come in the 1997 Transamerica.

Crowd favorite Dougherty, the leader through the first three rounds, closed with a 72 to finish second at 284.

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Annika Sorenstam was pushed to three playoff holes before continuing her remarkable streak in the LPGA Michelob Light Classic at St. Louis.

Rallying from four shots off the pace early in the day, Sorenstam shot a three-under 70 to pull into a tie, then birdied the third playoff hole to defeat Tina Barrett and win her first tournament of the year.

It was Sorenstam’s third consecutive Michelob Light Classic victory and her fourth victory in the last six years at the tournament.

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Final Results

GREATER MILWAUKEE OPEN--Par 71

Carlos Franco: 66--264 (-20)--$414,000

Tom Lehman: 66--266 (-18)--$248,400

Jerry Kelly: 71--268 (-16)--$156,400

U.S. SENIOR OPEN--Par 72

Dave Eichelberger: 68--281 (-7) $315,000

Ed Dougherty: 72--284 (-4) $185,000

LPGA MICHELOB LIGHT CLASSIC--Par 72

x-Annika Sorenstam: 70--278 (-10)--$120,000

Tina Barrett: 72--278 (-10)--$74,474

x-Won on third playoff hole

* Complete scores, Page 9