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McCarron wins at windy Sugerloaf

Scott McCarron survived windy conditions and a 36-hole final day to post a three-shot victory at the BellSouth Classic on Sunday. McCarron closed with a one-over 73 at the TPC at Sugarloaf to finish the 72-hole event at eight-under-par 280.

The win was McCarron's third on the PGA Tour and his first since he captured the BellSouth by three strokes in 1997.

McCarron, who shot even-par 72 Sunday morning for a one-shot lead at nine-under after three rounds, opened a six-shot lead at 10-under par with three birdies and two bogeys through 10 holes of the final 18.

But McCarron dropped three shots over the span of four holes from the 12th to the 15th to slip to seven-under, although his lead remained fairly comfortable at three strokes.

He was able to break out of his shaky stretch with a 40-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th. McCarron parred the 17th, then two-putted from 20 feet for par at the water-lined, 576-yard home hole to secure his first title in four years.

 

McCarron with the Bellsouth trophy. Allsport.

"When you are trying to get better, a lot of times you take a couple steps backward," said McCarron, who racked up only six top-10 finishes over the last three seasons. "I feel like I'm a better player now than I was back in '97."

McCarron collected a check for $594,000, over twice the amount of his previous career largest payday for winning here in 1997.

Not bad for a man who gave up golf after college to work with his father in the family clothing business for four years. McCarron laced up the spikes for Q-School in 1994 and earned a spot on the PGA Tour for the 1995 campaign. A year later he brought home his first trophy with a win in New Orleans.

Mike Weir fired a five-under 67 -- the best score of Sunday's two rounds -- to finish alone in second place at five-under 283. The Canadian lefthander, who began the final round tied for 28th, eagled two par-fives on his front nine and added three birdies and two bogeys.

Chris Smith managed a 69, the final round's only other score in the 60s, and just one of four sub-70 rounds on Sunday. He tied for third at four-under with Dennis Paulson and defending champion Phil Mickelson. Paulson and Mickelson were both within two shots of McCarron after 54 holes but each struggled to shoot 75s.

Mickelson had the lead early in the third round but began reeling with a double-bogey at his 12th hole followed by a bogey at his 13th. He was still in the hunt despite a bogey to kick off the final round, but dropped another three shots on the last two holes of the front nine to disappear from the radar screen.

Chris DiMarco, one off the pace after three rounds, also seemed to wither the afternoon winds, which were clocked at between 25 and 38 miles per hour. He bogeyed three of the first five holes and double- bogeyed the seventh. DiMarco still had a chance to tie for third but missed a five-foot putt to save par at the last. He wound up with a 77 and a tie for sixth place.

Also in sixth at three-under were Joey Sindelar (70), Duluth resident Stewart Cink (73), former NCAA champion Charles Howell (73) and Australian Mathew Goggin (74).

Davis Love III (74) and Jerry Kelly (76) were among those at minus-two.

Greg Norman, the architect of the Sugarloaf layout, was at three-over, while Ernie Els continued his rough stretch of golf by finishing alone in 44th place at seven-over 295.

Els' third-round score of nine-over 81 was his worst 18-hole score since he turned in an 84 in the second round of the 1993 Honda Classic.

The fourth-round scoring average of 74.885 was the highest on the PGA Tour since Pebble Beach served up a 75.858 average in the second round of the 2000 U.S. Open.

Sunday marked the first 36-hole final day since the 1999 B.C. Open.

Thursday's rain forced the postponement of the first round until Friday, leaving tournament officials with little choice but to schedule 36 holes over the final day. A Monday finish was an unattractive option since a number of the players in the field are heading to Augusta to begin their preparations for the season's first major, The Masters.

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