For the Record, It’s Calcavecchia

Before he even hit a shot that counted in the Phoenix Open, Mark Calcavecchia shared a secret with his mother.

A simple swing adjustment had paid off. The ball was suddenly going where he wanted.

“I just kind of looked at her and said, ‘I’ve got it,’ ” Calcavecchia recalled.

Four rounds later, Calcavecchia had something else--a spot in the PGA Tour record book.

Calcavecchia wrapped up his victory in the Phoenix Open on Sunday at Scottsdale, Ariz., playing the final 28 holes in 10 under par to break a PGA Tour record for lowest 72-hole score that had stood for 46 years.

With the outcome of the tournament long since decided, Calcavecchia birdied four of the last five holes to finish at 256, one stroke better than Mike Souchak shot in the 1955 Texas Open.

“I’ve looked at that record before. But it never crossed my mind I could do something like that,” Calcavecchia said.

Calcavecchia not only broke the 72-hole scoring record, he also broke the record for most birdies in 72 holes, tapping in a short putt on the 17th hole for his 32nd birdie of the tournament.

“I know I’m streaky, but I’m not that good,” Calcavecchia said. “Looking at the board when I was out on the green and seeing a red 28, it just looked crazy.”

It might have seemed even crazier because Calcavecchia had been hitting the ball in every direction and almost went to Las Vegas on Monday for a lesson with Butch Harmon to try to straighten things out.

Instead, Harmon told him on the phone that he was overswinging, and Calcavecchia used the advice to shoot a 65 in Wednesday’s pro-am.

Calcavecchia, who took command of the tournament with a second-round 60, finished his suspended third round with a 64 Sunday morning, then came back with a 67 to win by eight shots over Rocco Mediate.

*

Grace Park found a way to tame the Blue Monster--and hold off Karrie Webb too.

“I’m glad this was the last day. I think I aged about 10 years this week,” Park said after defeating Webb by a stroke in the LPGA Office Depot on Doral’s heralded Blue Course at Miami.

“I was hitting everything left again, just like I had Friday,” Park said. “I thought I had it straightened out yesterday, but it started again today at the first tee.”

Park and Webb both shot one-under 71s as Park finished with a six-under 280 total, and earned $123,750. Webb, the tournament winner the last two years at the Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach, made $76,801.

*

Hale Irwin, given a reprieve when Jack Nicklaus holed a birdie putt to force an extra hole, made a three-foot birdie putt to win the Senior Skins Game at Wailea, Hawaii.

The three skins gave Irwin a total of seven, including the last six, and $320,000. Nicklaus could have won by purposely missing his four-footer on the final hole, but he matched Gary Player’s birdie to extend the event.

With $180,000 left in the pot, Irwin, Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player returned to the 18th for the playoff.

There, Irwin hit his approach out of a sand divot within three feet and made it for his second career Skins victory. Nicklaus barely missed his eight-foot attempt for a birdie.

Nicklaus finished with 10 skins worth $260,000. Palmer had one skin and earned $20,000. Player, the defending champion, finished with no skins.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Up Next

Schedule for golf’s major tours:

PGA

Thursday-Sunday

Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

LPGA

Feb. 8-10

Takefuji Classic, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

SENIOR

Friday-Sunday

Royal Caribbean Classic, Key Biscayne, Fla.