Duval’s Putts Fail to Drop as He Fades to Black in End

There were two golfers in the last two groups who figured to give fourth-round leader Rory Sabbatini a run for first place in Sunday’s final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at Bermuda Dunes Country Club.

After all, they had the pedigrees: Jesper Parnevik, sixth in the Mercedes Championships, third in the Sony Open and first in the hearts of anyone who has never managed to dress according to styles of the day; and David Duval, second in the world rankings and golf’s new No. 1 poster boy for physical fitness.

Parnevik made his charge early and his statement late, with his six-under-par 65 and one-stroke victory over Sabbatini. But Duval, like Parnevik clad in black head to toe, never got anything going and might as well have been using a medicine ball on the greens for all the putts he coaxed into the hole.

OK, so Duval was actually dressed in midnight blue, but that’s closer to black than he got to the leaders Sunday. He played the first nine in even par as Parnevik and Sabbatini pulled away. He wound up with a two-under 69 to finish tied for fifth at 23-under 335, four shots behind the winner.

Duval’s problem was basic. “I didn’t make any putts,” he said, which creates some difficulties in a birdie-fest like the Hope. “I had plenty of looks to get to 26-27 under but didn’t make any.”

Duval didn’t help himself by hitting his tee shot into the lake on the 10th hole and taking bogey.

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Third-round leader Rich Beem finished with a 72 and 20 under par, unable to break 70 in either of his last two rounds.

“I’ve been fighting my swing the last two days; it just never felt right on the range,” said Beem, who won the Kemper Open last year, finished 30th in the Mercedes Championships to open this season then missed the cut at the Sony Open. “It’s disappointing, but I guess it’s something to build on the rest of the year.”

His $60,750 paycheck gives him $105,750 so far, which is something to build on for a second-year tour pro. It also puts him ahead of some pretty good names on the money list, including Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples.

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Spectator Bill Jeffries, 26, of Santa Monica got an unexpected Parnevik souvenir while standing in the right rough along the 15th fairway. Parnevik’s errant tee shot smacked flush into the left side of the forehead, sending him to the turf in a heap.

When Parnevik approached, looked down at the fan and saw the size of the welt his ball left over Jeffries’ left eye, he mumbled, “Oh boy.”

Jeffries, who was smiling weakly, looked up and told Parnevik to just win the tournament. Parnevik lost 18 yards on the ricochet but still reached the green on his second shot and parred the hole.

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Stephen Ames of Trinidad, only two strokes out of the lead going into the final round, had to withdraw because of injuries to his neck and shoulder. Ames finished in a tie for third at the 1998 Nissan Open, his PGA debut.