Great Day for Bob May and Family

On the day that Bob May’s professional golf breakthrough finally came, his mother didn’t want to hear about it until she could see for herself.

Muriel May woke up early at her La Habra home Sunday to watch the tape-delayed final round of the British Masters with husband Jerry and daughter Kim. They saw that Bob was leading the European PGA Tour tournament, having spotted Colin Montgomerie a three-stroke lead and passing him by shooting 30 on the front nine.

“We started getting phone calls at about the 14th hole,” Muriel May said. “I told Jerry, ‘Don’t answer it, I don’t want to know what he did.’ He said, ‘Are you kidding?’ ‘No. I want to grind it out with him.’ ”

So Muriel, who works at the Southern California PGA office in Brea, kept herself in the dark as May’s three-stroke lead became two when Montgomerie birdied the 16th hole and May saved par with a 15-foot putt. May finished with two pars, making Montgomerie’s birdie on 18 too little, too late.

It was the first victory in eight years as a professional and after 22 runner-up finishes for May, who grew up in La Habra and was an All-American at Oklahoma State.

He earned 166,666 euros (about $172,000) and vaulted from 20th to 10th on the Order of Merit money list.

BOOTH ADVANCES TO FINALS

Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza, a former standout at Santa Margarita High and Arizona State, advanced to the LPGA final qualifying tournament by finishing third in sectional qualifying at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage last week.

Booth shot 70-70-75-69--284 and finished 14 strokes behind winner Jenny Rosales of the Philippines.

It was a second shot at qualifying for Booth, who turned professional after bowing out in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur last month and then missed advancing out of sectional qualifying in Florida.

The finals are Oct. 19-22 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

O.C. AMATEUR POSTPONED

The Orange County Amateur Championship, scheduled in late October for Westridge Golf Course in La Habra, has been postponed because of a delay in the course opening.

The tournament has been moved to May to allow the course to mature.

COMPUTER HACKERS

The Newport Harbor Educational Foundation will hold its inaugural Tee Off for Technology tournament Nov. 1 at Santa Ana Country Club.

Organizers hope to raise $50,000 to improve the computer networks at Newport Harbor High.

Entry fee is $295 and the format is a modified scramble. Information: (949) 723-1212.

Staff writer Peter Yoon contributed to this story.