Irish Player Lands in Clover

On a day in which the early leaders left their momentum on the first tee and in which the Walrus wallowed into contention, only to founder out of it, a little-known Irishman worked his way onto the top of the leaderboard and managed to stay there.

With a little luck, naturally.

Des Smyth, 52, who began the last round of the SBC Classic six shots off the lead, walked off the 18th green at Valencia Country Club Sunday with a four-under-par 68 and then watched nervously as D.A. Weibring and Mark McNulty missed long birdie putts that would have forced a playoff.

“I was sitting there expecting one of them to hole it,” said a smiling Smyth, whose 211 total was five under par. “You have to expect that because there’s no point in wishing any of them bad luck. But I can’t tell you how happy I am that they didn’t make it.”

It was perhaps fitting that Smyth should post his first Champions Tour victory on a cool, damp afternoon, reminiscent of those in his homeland.

After all, only hours earlier his countryman Padraig Harrington had won the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

And McNulty, who began play at Valencia one stroke back, struggled mightily but was in the contest till the end, making it a day to remember for the Irish.

“If I have to be beaten I’m only too pleased to be beaten by a fellow countryman,” said McNulty, who was born in Zimbabwe but recently became an Irish citizen.

Sunday’s final round might best be described as a battle of attrition, as long rough and difficult pin placements made it hard for anyone to start any kind of streak.

Keith Fergus, the leader to begin play at seven under, birdied No. 1 but bogeyed Nos. 2, 3 and 5 and found himself tied with McNulty and Weibring at five under through five. Weibring and McNulty then bogeyed No. 6 to fall one shot back.

Craig Stadler, who began the day at even par through 36 holes, birdied four of the first six holes to move to four under, but bogeyed the par-five ninth to move back to three under. Stadler birdied No. 10 with a short putt to become one of five players only a stroke behind Fergus.

But then Stadler began to falter, as errant drives and dense rough began taking their toll. Fergus, seeking his first Champions Tour victory, had faltered from the outset. He birdied No. 1 but finished with six bogeys versus only two birdies en route to a 77, which put him in a tie for sixth place with Mike Reid, who shot a 73.

Stadler, nicknamed the Walrus, shot a 69, but with bogeys on the par-three 16th and par-four 17th he lost any realistic chance of winning his ninth Champions Tour tournament.

Stadler’s three-round total of 213 was good for a fourth-place tie with Gary McCord, who began the day three strokes back and in the final pairing with Fergus and McNulty. McCord shot a 73.

McNulty bogeyed the first two holes and never really recovered. He managed three birdies to keep his hopes alive, but he had five bogeys overall before finding himself on No. 18, having made a poor chip and needing to sink a 20-foot putt to force a playoff. He missed to the right and ended up with a 74.

“I’m not going to cry or moan or anything like that,” he said of the lost opportunity. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Nor was it meant to be for Weibring, who bogeyed only two holes, but one of them came on the par-four 17th, which necessitated a birdie on the par-five 18th to tie Smyth. He hit a poor approach shot to within 15 feet of the pin and missed his putt to the right.

Smyth, playing in the third-to-last threesome, made his charge with birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 15, which put him in first place for the first time at six under. He bogeyed the par-three 16th but finished with pars to card a 68 and sat back to watch the final groups play up.

“I feel like I stole one,” he said of a victory that was worth $232,500 and boosted his earnings to $284,500, good for fourth on the tour’s money list. “I felt a 66 or a 65 might win it, but I didn’t feel like a 68 would be low enough to win, but I’m fortunate that it was.”

Fortunate, or just plain lucky.