Tewell gains seven shot win

Doug Tewell, playing in his first PGA Seniors' Championship, shot a 5-under-par 67 today and finished seven strokes ahead of four others for his first victory on the Senior PGA Tour.

Tewell completed only one hole in the third round Sunday before play was halted for the seventh time in four days. More than nine inches of rain drenched the Champion Course at the PGA National Resort & Spa during the event, forcing officials to reduce the major to 54 holes.

That was fine with Tewell, who led from the opening round and became the seventh wire-to-wire winner at this event and first since Jack Nicklaus in 1991.

The 50-year-old Tewell finished at 15-under 201, making six birdies and a bogey during the final round. It was his first win since the 1987 Pensacola Open.

Dana Quigley, who started the day one stroke behind Tewell, shot 1 over and finished in a four-way tie for second at 8 under with Hal Irwin, Tom Kite and Larry Nelson.

A former television commentator for The Golf Channel, Tewell made his debut on the senior tour last fall. He missed the first five tournaments with a back injury he sustained the day after his 50th birthday.

He initially feared he had ruptured a disc in his back, but it turned out to be an acute sciatica attack. The injury came two days before he was scheduled to leave for his first senior tournament event, in Kansas City.

Recovering from the injury, Tewell's best finish last year was a tie for 15th. A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, he has much higher expectations for 2000.

"I do expect to win," Tewell said earlier this week. "I expect to win 10 or more times out here. I'll be very disappointed if I don't."

Vincente Fernandez and Hubert Green finished eight shots back at 7 under.

DIVOTS: Irwin, who won three consecutive Seniors' Championships from 1996-98, finished the tournament despite initially saying he would not have been able to compete on Monday because of a commitment to a charity event. ... After a quadruple bogey at par-4 No. 11 on Sunday, Quigley carded a 4 at the course's toughest hole TOday. ... Leonard Thompson, even par as he approached the par-3 No. 15, hit four shots into the water en route to an 11, the first double-digit score of the tournament. His fifth shot stopped on the fringe and he two-putted from there. Thompson started the day 4-under, but shot a 13-over 85 in the final round. ... The tournament, one of four majors on the Senior PGA Tour, was sponsored by Advil.

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