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Hal Sutton wins by three

Hal Sutton fired a three-under 69 Sunday to post his first victory of the season under windy conditions at the Houston Open. His 72-hole total 10-under-par 278 left him three shots clear of Lee Janzen and overnight leader Joe Durant.

Sutton two-putted from about 100 feet for par on the final hole to help secure his 14th PGA Tour victory. He collected a first-place check for $612,000, moving him to the number-one spot in career earnings at the Houston Open with a total of $1,155,230. Since the tournament moved to the TPC at The Woodlands in 1985, Sutton has posted eight finishes in the top-15, including ties for second in 1994 and '99.

"This is probably one I wanted more than anything," said Sutton, who vaulted from 25th into ninth place on the 2001 money list. "I felt like I'd been close here several times...been so close but yet so far it seemed like. Just feel fortunate to be on top at the end of the day."

Sutton, who turns 43 next week, became the oldest winner on the PGA Tour this season. He has won six times since turning 40 in 1998, with his last victory coming a year ago this week at the Greater Greensboro Classic.

Sutton began the day two shots behind Durant and one behind Janzen. After getting off to a quick start with birdies at the first two holes to grab the lead, Sutton found trouble when his second shot to the par-four seventh dropped short into the water.

"Downwind I had 152 to carry the left side and it was blowing pretty hard, and I hit a nice eight-iron," Sutton said. "I was standing there looking at it and thinking, `Man, this might be a foot'. That's how good it looked. And then the wind just quit and it just fell out of the sky."

Sutton dropped and hit his fourth shot 25 feet to the right of the hole. He then rolled the putt downhill into the right edge of the cup to restrict the damage to a bogey, which saw him slip into a share of the lead with Durant and Janzen at eight-under par.

"For that putt to go in was really big," he said. "Instead of leaving there with a loss of confidence, I had gained confidence."

Sutton returned to his solo spot at the top with a 10-foot birdie at the eighth, then moved out to a two-shot lead at 10-under with a birdie from 20 feet at the 10th.

Looking to extend his advantage at the par-five 15th, Sutton reached for the driver but sent his tee shot into the right fairway bunker. His lay up with an eight-iron from the sand bounded into the left rough, and his approach from 100 yards landed short of the green. He chose to bump his fourth shot on with a four-wood, the same club he used to eagle the 15th from behind the green in round three.

But Sutton's swipe with the fairway wood got hung up in the rough and he two- putted from 15 feet for a bogey that dropped him back to nine-under. The miscue opened the door for Durant, who hit a two-iron over the green with his second shot at 15. But Durant couldn't pull even to Sutton, as his chip stopped seven feet short of the hole and he missed the putt for birdie.

Sutton returned to 10-under at the difficult par-four 17th, where he hit a knock-down seven-iron over the water to 20 feet and converted for birdie.

"It was an interesting day," said Sutton, who vaulted from 25th into ninth place on the 2001 money list. "Whoever was in charge of the wind this week did the best job, I think. They had that control turned up to max most of the time.

Durant, playing one hole behind Sutton in the final pairing with Janzen, fell out of contention Sunday when his six-iron to the par-three 16th got hung up in the wind and he needed a chip and two putts from off the front of the green to get down for bogey. He parred the last two holes for a two-over 74.

Durant began the day with a tap-in birdie at the par-five opening hole, but missed short putts and the next two holes. He tallied 12 straight pars until his bogey at 16.

"I'm a little frustrated from the standpoint of I felt like for three days, I hit the ball pretty poorly but I got it around," said Durant, already a two- time winner this season. "And then today, I actually hit the ball pretty well and just didn't capitalize on any of the opportunities. I'm pleased with how Ifi didn't work out that way this time."

Janzen, in search of his first win since he captured his second U.S. Open title in 1998, made a late run with birdies at 13, 15 and 17. But he bogeyed the 18th for his second straight round of 73 and a share of second with Durant at seven-under 281.

Janzen finished in the top-10 for the second time this season and in the top- five for the first time since he tied for third at the 1999 Canadian Open.

Justin Leonard turned in his best showing of the year. The 1997 British Open champ shot a final-round 69 to tie for fourth place at six-under with John Cook, who also closed with a 69. Billy Mayfair, who lost in a playoff last Monday at Harbour Town, posted his fourth top-10 of the season with a tie for sixth at minus-five with Len Mattiace and Vijay Singh.

Singh, who is second on the season money list behind Woods and ahead of Durant, has seven top-10s in 11 starts in 2001, including two seconds and three third-place finishes.

Chris DiMarco, who led after the first and second rounds of the Masters two weeks ago, helped round out the top-10 this week with Kevin Sutherland, Ben Ferguson and David Toms.

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