John Cook made a 6-foot birdie putt on the
first playoff hole today to win the Fred Meyer Challenge with
Mark O'Meara for the second time.
The Cook-O'Meara team shot an 11-under-par 61 today and
finished 36 holes at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club tied at
19-under 125 with Jim Furyk and John Frost in the best-ball event.
O'Meara, Furyk, and Frost all made pars on the par-5, 578-yard
18th -- with O'Meara's and Furyk's birdie putts rolling just wide of
the cup -- but Cook made his to win the 15th annual charity
tournament.
O'Meara and Cook will split $180,000 in prize money. They played
in the Challenge five times together and last won the event in
1994.
Furyk and Frost had started the day in second place after
shooting a 63 Monday. They shot a 62 today to force the playoff.
Jack Nicklaus and his son Gary, playing in the Challenge for the
fourth time together, matched O'Meara-Cook for today's best
score. Team Nicklaus had 11 birdies, including the final four
holes. The last of those was a short chip-in by Jack Nicklaus from
the edge of the 18th green that left them one stroke out of the
playoff.
Fuzzy Zoeller and Jay Haas led the field after Monday's first
round with a 62, but only made five birdies today and finished
fifth.
Furyk and Frost made a birdie on No. 10th to take the lead and
maintained a one-stroke advantage over Cook-O'Meara through the
16th.
The last of three straight birdies by Cook came at No. 17 and
brought them into a tie for the lead at 18 under. Both teams
birdied 18 to force the playoff.
Instead of the legendary green jackets of The Masters, the
winners were awarded the tournament's traditional "jean jackets''
-- showing the casual, playful nature of the event.
Much of the crowd followed the group consisting of the teams of
Arnold Palmer and Peter Jacobsen and the Nicklauses.
On the 18th hole, Palmer and Nicklaus walked alone together on
to the green as the fans in the bleachers gave them a standing
ovation. Jacobsen then threw his arm around Gary Nicklaus and
walked dramatically onto the green -- to cheers and laughs from the
crowd.
Final standings
J.Cook/M.O'Meara #-19 (64-61=125)
J.Furyk/D.Frost -19 (63-62=125)
J.Nicklaus/G.Nicklaus -18 (65-61=126)
B.Andrade/B.Faxon * -17 (64-63=127)
J.Haas/F.Zoeller-16 (62-66=128)
B.Henninger/S.McCarron-15 (64-65=129)
P.Jacobsen/A.Palmer -14 (65-65=130)
T.Herron/S.Cink -14 (64-66=130)
C.Martin/J.Van de Velde -13 (66-65=131)
J.Sluman/C.Stadler-10 (65-69-134)
# - won in playoff
* - defending champions
First Round Report
