Johnson gains narrowest of victories

Turnabout was fair play at the $450,000 Buy.com Monterey Peninsula Classic. Eight weeks ago Richard Johnson took a one-stroke lead over Pat Perez and Pat Bates into the final round of the Ozarks Open only to shoot a 76 and finish in a tie for 13th.

After Saturday's round, Perez held a four-stroke lead over Arron Oberholser and was seven strokes ahead of Johnson. This time it was Johnson's turn to steal the limelight as he finished with the best round of the day, a 4-under-par 68. Johnson ended with a 3-under-par 285, the $81,000 winner's check and his second tour victory.

Michael Allen finished alone in second, one stroke back. Perez (77) and Tim Clark (70) tied for third at 1 under. Darron Stiles (70) and R.W. Eaks (72) tied for fifth at even par, while Jason Gore (71), Conrad Ray (72), Kris Cox (73) and Oberholser (75) rounded out the top 10 at 1 over.

"I figured if I shot 5 under I might finish second. I was planning on second or third," said Johnson, who jumped from No. 65 to No. 19 on the money list with two events to go before the Buy.com Tour Championship. "So, I was trying to get around and finish close. I guess this course really did it to him."

"I was kind of surprised Pat fell back. Pat is a great player. His swings are solid, (he) hits it good and putts good," he continued. It was the biggest come-from-behind victory this season and tied for third best in the history of this tour.

Perez and Oberholser, playing in the last group, began the day on the right foot with birdies but for the second day in a row, Perez bogeyed the next two holes. Oberholser birdied No. 2 and after parring the third hole the lead was cut to one.

Perez recovered with a birdie on No. 4 and two holes later Oberholser recorded his first bogey of the day on the par-3 hole. Things only got worse for Oberholser as he strung together three more bogeys on holes 9-11.

Fortunately for Oberholser, Perez continued to struggle as well with bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8. The golfers made the turn with Perez holding a two-stroke lead, 4 under to 2 under, after a 38 on the front. Perez birdied No. 10 but his fifth bogey of the day took him back to 4 under. The two combined for 13 bogeys and played the final round at a combined 8 over.

Meanwhile, Johnson playing three groups in front of Perez, was quietly sneaking up on him. After four birdies and two bogeys on the front, he began the back nine at 1 under. He moved to 2 under at No. 12 and when he sank another birdie at the 16th hole, he pulled himself into a tie with Perez, who had bogeyed No. 13.

Johnson faltered with a bogey on No. 17 to drop back into a tie for second with Allen, who had moved to 2 under with a birdie on the 15th hole.

"When I hit that awful tee shot at No. 17, I saw Pat was at 3 under," said Johnson, who had pulled his 6-iron into the heavy rough, managed to knock it on the green and then two-putt for the bogey. "That's when I figured I needed to birdie the last hole to even have a chance. I didn't figure Pat would bogey coming in."

Johnson knocked a lob wedge from 80 yards out in the fairway to three-feet and made the birdie putt. What Johnson didn't know as he approached the 18th green was that Perez had made bogey and a birdie putt would give him the lead.

"This is more nerve-wracking, I can tell you that. Pat has a bunker shot I think he is going to hole it. Last year, I was in complete control," said the winner of the 1999 Florida Classic. "Here, you feel kind of helpless watching."

Perez knocked his bunker shot to about eight feet but two-putted to finish in the tie for third and give Allen sole possession of second place.

"I think overall I played very, very well all week. Mentally, I hung in there when it's easy to let down because it's so tough and I never did," said Allen, who moved up to No. 48 on the money list with his $48,600 check. "I only made a few mental errors which you are going to make periodically out here. I only 3-putted one green, the first hole today. So, overall I can't say much more."

Joe Daley had the shot of the day, a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. He used a 5-iron from 205 yards to record the first ace in tournament history and the 19th of the Buy.com season.

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