Parry Finally Gets His First PGA Tour Victory

Craig Parry had endured so many crushing losses in 10 years and 235 starts on the PGA Tour that he wasn’t about to celebrate too soon Sunday in the NEC Invitational at Sammamish, Wash.

Only when his lead was four strokes, and another raucous cheer at Sahalee Country Club told him his second shot had reached the green on the par-five 18th hole, was the 36-year-old Australian unable to contain a sly smile.

Tied for the lead going into the final round, with Tiger Woods and Ernie Els among those in position to track him down, Parry put together a masterpiece by closing with a six-under 65 and playing the final 48 holes without a bogey.

“It’s a long time coming,” Parry said. “To win on this tour means everything to me.”

Parry finished at 16-under 268, four strokes ahead of Robert Allenby (69) and Fred Funk (68).

Woods was trying to become the first player in 75 years to win the same tournament four years in a row. Starting the final round two strokes behind, he simply couldn’t keep pace with Parry and finished fourth with a 68--five strokes back.

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Ricky Barnes of Stockton used a combination of power and finesse to beat Hunter Mahan, 2 and 1, in the 102nd U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Barnes, 21, who will be a senior at Arizona, won the final three holes in the morning round of the scheduled 36-hole final, building a 2-up lead he never relinquished.

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Chris Riley won the Reno-Tahoe Open at Reno, Nev., for his first PGA Tour title, beating Jonathan Kaye with a par on the first hole of a playoff. Riley, coming off a third-place finish in the PGA Championship, two-putted from eight feet on the playoff hole--the 429-yard 18th--to claim the $540,000 first-place prize.

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South Korea’s Se Ri Pak birdied the final four holes for a nine-under 63 and tournament-record 21-under 267 to win the Betsy King Classic at Kutztown, Pa.

Pak had an eagle, nine birdies and two bogeys.

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Morris Hatalsky won his first Senior PGA Tour title, using seven final-round birdies to finish with 42 points in the Uniting Fore Care Classic at Park City, Utah.

Jay Sigel finished second with 30 points under the modified Stableford format.