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A Special Win for Tataurangi

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From Associated Press

Phil Tataurangi didn’t know he was leading as he played the back nine Sunday at the TPC at Summerlin in Las Vegas. He wasn’t certain how much money he made after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour.

About the only thing Tataurangi was sure of was he was very happy indeed.

“It’s out of my wildest dreams to have won,” Tataurangi said after shooting a 10-under-par 62 to win the Invensys Classic with a 90-hole score of 330. “No way did I start out the day thinking I had a chance to win.”

In a year of unlikely first-time winners, Tataurangi became the latest, coming from five shots off the pace in a tournament that was destined to be decided by a lot of birdies.

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Tataurangi made 10 of them in 18 holes, good enough to move past David Duval, three-time Las Vegas winner Jim Furyk and others to win his first tournament by a stroke.

“It’s pretty bizarre, isn’t it?” Tataurangi said. “To beat the players who were in the field this week is very special to me.”

The New Zealander posted his score of 29 under, then went out to the driving range to wait nervously as Furyk, Stuart Appleby and Jeff Sluman all missed birdie tries on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff.

Tataurangi played his entire round without looking at a leaderboard, sticking to a game plan to try to shoot a 62. After he did, he wasn’t about to watch as his trio of pursuers had their chances on the final hole.

Even after he was presented the winner’s check, he wasn’t sure just how big the payday was.

“How much did I make?” he asked.

For the record, it was $900,000, more than he had won in his entire career before this year. He’s the 15th first-time winner this year, breaking the record set in 1991.

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The win not only secures his tour card for two years, but will likely put him into next year’s Masters after he moved to 33rd on the money list.

Appleby, who shot a 66, had the best chance to tie after nearly making a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. But he missed a 10-footer for birdie on the last hole that would have gotten him to 29 under.

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Se Ri Pak birdied four of the last five holes to overtake Carin Koch and defend her title in the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions at Mobile, Ala.

Pak closed with a six-under 66, eagling the par-five fourth hole and taking control with consecutive birdies on Nos. 14-17. She finished with a four-stroke margin over Koch and Catriona Matthew.

Pak, 25, finished with a tournament-record 20-under 268. She earned $122,000 for her fourth victory of the year and 17th in five full seasons on the LPGA Tour.

Annika Sorenstam fell short in a bid for her 10th tour victory of the year, three-putting for bogey on the 18th hole for a 70 to tie for fourth--five strokes behind Pak.

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Tom Kite won his third title of the year on the Senior PGA Tour, shooting an even-par 72 for a one-stroke victory in the Napa Valley Championship.

Kite had a 12-under 204 total on the Silverado Resort’s South Course in Napa. He earned $195,000 to jump from sixth to fourth on the money list with $1,570,147.

Fred Gibson (66) and Bruce Fleisher (67) tied for second. Jim Thorpe shot a 69 to finish at 10 under.

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