Hatalsky Putts Along

1 Who’s hot: Putting wizard Morris Hatalsky, who finished eighth at the FleetBoston Classic in Boston and tied for second at the 3M Championship in Minnesota.... Tom Purtzer, fourth in Boston, 10th in Minnesota.

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2 Who’s not: Howard Twitty, who hasn’t recorded a top-50 finish since April.... Joe Inman, without a top 25 in 17 events.

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3 Biggest surprises: D.A. Weibring, who followed his fifth-place finish at the British Open in Turnberry with a fourth in Boston and a 10th in Minnesota.... James Mason, eighth in Boston, 16th in Minnesota.

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4 Biggest disappointments: Fuzzy Zoeller, who played well at the Senior Open and the PGA but has yet to win this year.... Billy Kratzert, 70th on the money list.

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5 Best round: Allen Doyle’s course-record second-round 63, paving the way for his three-shot triumph in Boston. Doyle passed the $1-million mark in earnings for the fifth year in a row.

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6 Worst round: Johnny Bench’s opening 97 in Minnesota. Too bad golf doesn’t allow for pinch-hitters. Bench came back the next two days with an 82 and an 84.... Purtzer shot a closing 74 in Minnesota, which featured a quadruple bogey at 17.

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7 Best shot under pressure: Wayne Levi’s chip shot at the final hole in Minnesota, setting up the four-footer for his first senior victory.... Tom Watson’s 325-yard drive on the second playoff hole that put him in position to beat Englishman Carl Mason in Turnberry.

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8 Worst shot under pressure: Mason’s tee shot on the final hole of regulation at Turnberry. All Mason needed was a bogey to follow Hilary Lunke and Ben Curtis as this summer’s major shockers. A double bogey forced him into the playoff with Watson.... Ben Crenshaw’s hooked tee shot at 14 that led to a double bogey. Crenshaw, who tripled the same hole on Saturday, squandered an excellent chance for his first victory since the 1995 Masters.

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9 Coming attractions: The end-of-month Jeld-Wen Tradition in Oregon, the final of five majors. Why not make it six next year? After that, a string of nondescript events until October’s season-ending Tour Championship in Sonoma. With Hale Irwin slowed by a back injury, the player-of-the-year race is undecided.

Michael Arkush

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Champions Money Leaders

*--* Name Tourn Money 1. Bruce Lietzke...16 $1,439,046 2. Tom Watson...11 1,204,608 3. Allen Doyle...20 1,077,418 4. Hale Irwin...14 1,055,313 5. Dana Quigley...21 1,020,917 6. Gil Morgan...18 991,640 7. Tom Jenkins...20 965,820 8. Bruce Fleisher...20 924,777 9. Vicente Fernandez...14 884,854 10. Bob Gilder...21 848,763 11. Morris Hatalsky...19 828,799 12. Tom Purtzer...16 777,602 13. Doug Tewell...19 764,928 14. Larry Nelson...16 739,731 15. John Jacobs...20 715,567

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Champions Tour at a Glance

RESULTS

*--* Date Tournament Winner Jan. 25-26 Conagra Foods Skins Game Lee Trevino Jan. 31-Feb. 2 MasterCard Championship Dana Quigley Feb. 7-9 Royal Caribbean Golf Classic Dave Barr Feb. 14-16 The ACE Group Classic Vicente Fernandez Feb. 21-23 Verizon Classic Bruce Fleisher March 7-9 The MasterCard Classic David Eger March 14-16 SBC Classic Tom Purtzer March 21-23 Toshiba Senior Classic Rodger Davis April 18-20 Emerald Coast Classic Bob Gilder April 25-27 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Bruce Lietzke May 2-4 Bruno’s Memorial Classic Tom Jenkins May 9-11 Kinko’s Classic of Austin Hale Irwin May 16-18 Bayer Advantage Invitational Jay Sigel May 23-25 Columbus Southern Open Morris Hatalsky May 30-June 1 Music City Championship Jim Ahern June 5-8 Senior PGA Championship John Jacobs June 20-22 Farmers Charity Classic Doug Tewell June 26-29 U.S. Senior Open Bruce Lietzke July 10-13 Ford Champions Players Championship Craig Stadler July 24-27 Senior British Open Tom Watson Aug. 1-3 FleetBoston Classic Allen Doyle Aug. 8-10 3M Championship Wayne Levi

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UPCOMING EVENTS

*--* Date Tournament Site Friday-Sunday Long Island Classic Red Course at Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, N.Y Aug. 22-24 Allianz Championship Glen Oaks CC, West Des Moines, Iowa Aug. 28-31 Jeld-Wen Tradition The Reserve Vineyards & GC, Aloha, Ore Sept. 5-7 Kroger Classic TPC at River Bend, Mainesville, Ohio Sept. 12-14 Constellation Energy Hayfields CC, Hunt Valley, Md Classic Sept. 19-21 SAS Championships Prestonwood CC, Cary, N.C Sept. 26-28 Greater Hickory Rock Barn G&CC;, Conover, N.C Classic at Rock Barn Oct. 10-12 Turtle Bay Turtle Bay Resort, Palmer Championship Course, Kahuku, Hawaii Oct. 17-19 SBC Championship Oak Hills CC, San Antonio Oct. 23-26 Charles Schwab Cup Sonoma, Calif. GC Championship

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