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Henry holds on to win
despite final round 73
J.J. Henry struggled to
a one- over 73 on Sunday, but held on for a one-shot victory at the Buy.com Tour
Knoxville Open. Henry finished with a four-day total of 15-under 273 to earn
his first victory of the year and a first-prize of $72,000.
"It really hasn't sunk
in yet," said Henry, who recorded his fifth top-10 finish of the year and jumped
into seventh on the money list. "Everyone says the first one is the hardest.
I'm really proud of the way I hung in there."
Tripp Isenhour, Gene Sauers,
Chris Smith and Spike McRoy tied for second at 14-under. Isenhour and Sauers
carded final-round 68s, while Smith shot a two-under 70 on Sunday and McRoy carded
a one-under 71.
However, only McRoy had
a real chance to catch Henry, playing in the final group with the overnight leader.
Henry started the final round with a three-shot lead and needed each one.
McRoy birdied the first
three holes of the round, while Henry birdied the first, leaving his lead at
just one shot. McRoy then birdied the eighth hole after a generous bounce from
a tree on his drive left him in good shape.
Henry bogeyed the 12th
hole to give McRoy the lead, but McRoy gave the shot right back with a bogey
on the next hole, leaving the two tied at 16-under par.
"That was a complete let
down right there," said McRoy, "hitting a good shot into the green and missing
a short putt. It wasn't a tap- in, but it was short enough. I hadn't missed one
all week until then."
The two then bogeyed the
par-three 16th and McRoy bogeyed the following hole to give Henry the lead. McRoy
could not come up with the birdie he needed on the par-five 18th to force the
tie and Henry made a three-foot par putt to win it.
Isenhour's tie for second
gave him a check for $26,400 and increased his lead atop the money list to nearly
$41,000 over Jeff Gallagher. Isenhour, who led after the first round on Thursday,
has $169,126 in earnings this year.
Paul Gow finished alone
in sixth at 12-under par after closing with a final-round 67. Mike Smith and
second-round leader Matt Peterson tied for seventh, while Mark Hensby, Don Reese
and Jimmy Johnston were next at 10-under.
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