Verplank gets sentimental win

Scott Verplank, who as a teenager growing up in Dallas got to know and play several rounds with Byron Nelson, used three consecutive birdies and an incredible par save from a bunker at the 17th hole to win the first EDS Byron Nelson Championship played without its namesake.

After the victory Sunday at Irving, Texas, Verplank dropped into a squatting position and looked skyward, almost in disbelief -- and to say thanks to the golfer he revered.

“There’s no question in my mind that the stars lined up and I got a little help from upstairs. I just haven’t been playing that good,” Verplank said. “I think Byron had a hand in this week.”

When his final two-foot par putt at No. 18 dropped for a one-stroke victory over Luke Donald, Verplank no longer had to hold his emotions.

“I just kept saying, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it!’ I couldn’t believed that it happened. It was a dream,” Verplank said. “Then I looked up and said, ‘Thank you.’ Incredible.”

Nelson died Sept. 26 at age 94, but his wife, Peggy, was there clutching one of her husband’s famed fedoras as she hugged Verplank in congratulations.

“Byron would be very, very happy for Scott. I am too,” Peggy Nelson said. “The friendship they had, it’s great to see it culminate this way.”

In 1968, Nelson became the first golfer to have a PGA Tour event named after him, and he would always greet players finishing their rounds at the 18th green before taking part in the award ceremony. Verplank closed with a four-under-par 66 for a 267 total, a stroke ahead of Donald (68). It was Verplank’s fifth PGA Tour victory, his first since the 2001 Canadian Open.

Clinging to a one-stroke lead, Verplank hit his tee shot at the 196-yard 17th hole into a bunker far away on the side opposite the hole. But he saved par after blasting to less than two feet. Before hitting his final tee shot at No. 18, Verplank got an unexpected comforting feeling.

“I had some help there on the last hole. There’s no doubt,” he said. “I felt a cool breeze, and it wasn’t cool out there.”

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Silvia Cavalleri became the first Italian winner in LPGA Tour history, closing with a seven-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Mexican star Lorena Ochoa and Paraguay’s Julieta Granada in the tournament at Morelia, Mexico.

Cavalleri finished with a 20-under 272 total. She had seven birdies in her bogey-free final round in light rain. Ochoa, the 2006 winner playing her first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world, shot a 68. Granada finished with a 68 too.

A crowd of thousands, including Mexico President Felipe Calderon, crowded around the 18th hole to cheer Ochoa, who closed with a birdie to shouts of “Mexico! Mexico!” and “We love you Lorena!”