Kent Jones wind first tour title

Kent Jones seemed a little surprised when he walked off the 18th green Sunday to a winner's ovation from those gathered at Southern Trace Country Club.

Jones, who finished at 15-under-par 273, had just emerged from a packed leaderboard to capture his first professional title. Jones posted a final-round 69 to win the $400,000 BUY.COM Shreveport Open by one stroke over Tripp Isenhour (68) and Keith Clearwater (68).

Joe Daley carded the day's best round, a 65, to finish fourth at 13-under par. Ted Purdy, who closed with a 71, tied for fifth with third-round co-leaders Larry Rinker (73) and Danny Briggs (73), three shots behind Jones.

"For some reason my focus was really good this week," said Jones, a member of the PGA TOUR in 1998-99. "I tried not to let things bother me and I kept working on that. All of a sudden the round's over and I got to 15 under and it was over. I am kind of shocked."

Jones had worn the same shocked look after he fired an eye-popping 29 on Friday's closing nine that rocketed him up the leaderboard.

"I guess it came down to those last 10 holes the other day. It was from nowhere," admitted Jones, who collected $72,000 for the win and jumped to No. 6 on the money list. "I played them 8 under and all of a sudden I'm in contention."

Jones shot into contention Friday with a slam-dunk 5-iron for an eagle on the par-4, 18th hole. "After that, I just played solid enough on the weekend," he said.

The 33-year-old Jones played the final 29 holes without a bogey and watched the rest of the field fall by the wayside. At one point during Sunday's back nine, five players were tied for the lead at 14-under par with another handful within two strokes. One by one, they faltered down the stretch.

For much of the day, it appeared the tournament belonged to Keith Clearwater, who was at 15 under with two holes to play. But he drew consecutive bad lies on the par-5 17th and suffered a disastrous bogey to fall out of a share of the lead.

"It's ridiculous I allowed this to happen," said a dejected Clearwater. "I played flawlessly on the back nine except for No. 17. I hit every green. I played beautifully."

Clearwater had eight birdie chances on the inward nine, all of 20 feet or less. He made only one, a three-footer at the par-3 15th.

"I rolled it over the edge on every single one," he said. "I thought I made every one."

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