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Weather forces Monday finish

Frank Lickliter sank a clutch 10-foot par putt at the 72nd hole to secure the Kemper Open title in a Monday finish. The victory was the first for the 31-year-old, who has played full time on the PGA Tour since 1996.

Lickliter posted a final-round 68 for his fourth straight round in the 60s. His four-day total of 16-under-par 268 left him one shot clear of PGA Tour rookie J.J. Henry, who closed with a five-under 68 at the TPC at Avenel.

Lickliter had a three-shot lead with three holes to play but missed a 15- foot par putt after he left his chip short at the 16th. Although he played a safe shot to the green at the par-three 17th, he ran his long first putt four feet by then missed the par putt with a tentative jab on the way back.

With his lead down to one stroke at the par-four 18th, Lickliter drilled a perfect drive but hit his seven-iron approach into the rough left of the green. His chip from a terrible lie popped out and stopped a full 10 feet from the hole.

But Lickliter, who suffered a disastrous three-putt from 12 feet that allowed Phil Mickelson to win this year's Buick Invitational in a playoff, put a solid stroke behind his ball and watched as it fell into the left side of the cup.

"I just wanted to make it a little bit dramatic there at the end," joked Lickliter, who became the third straight player and the 12th golfer in tournament history to capture his first win at the Kemper Open.

He collected a first-place check for $630,000, more than twice the amount of his previous largest payday for finishing second at Torrey Pines in February.

"It wasn't pretty," said Lickliter, the first third-round leader to hang on to win this event since Tom Byrum in 1989. "It took me longer than I thought it would take me to win. It's a very special feeling. It's something I'll never forget the rest of my life."

Lickliter's victory came in his 168th start on tour.

Lickliter completed nine holes of the final round when play was suspended for the third time Sunday due to inclement weather. He was tied for the lead at 16-under par with Henry, who birdied six of the first 13 holes Sunday and parred the 14th before play was stopped for the day.

The players returned Monday morning, with Lickliter missing birdie opportunities at the 10th and 11th. He struck back with an eight-foot birdie putt at the 12th for a one-shot lead, which soon became a two-shot lead when Henry missed an eight-footer to save par at the 16th.

At 14, Lickliter knocked a sand wedge to eight feet for a birdie that gave him a three-shot lead at 18-under par. Henry, who missed a birdie bid from eight feet at 17, left a 25-foot birdie putt short at the last to finish at 15-under 269.

Henry, whose early final-round surge on Sunday was interrupted by Mother Nature, tried to take some positives out of his experience this week.

"Unfortunately, we can't control the weather," said the 26-year-old Henry, who went a long way toward earning exempt status for next season with a second-place check for $378,000. "There's no doubt I was a little nervous, being the first time in this situation. Unfortunately things really didn't go quite as expected, but all in all it's been a great week and hopefully I can build on this."

Spike McRoy made the most of his only shot of the day. McRoy, who was on the 18th green when the siren sounded to halt Sunday's play, holed a 25- foot birdie putt Monday morning for a 68. He finished tied for third at 12- under par with Mickelson and second-round leader Bradley Hughes.

Mickelson, the only player to go without a bogey in the final round, posted a 65 for his eighth top-three finish in 14 starts this season.

Greater Greensboro Classic champion Scott Hoch notched his fourth top-10 of the year, tying for sixth place with Tim Herron and Sweden's Per-Ulrik Johansson.

Chris DiMarco, who shared the first-round lead with Henry and Stuart Appleby, shot a one-over-par 72 to round out the top-10 with Dan Forsman and Brent Schwarzrock.

Appleby, the winner here in 1998, completed a three-over 74 on Monday to finish 12 shots off the pace.

The Monday finish, the fourth on the PGA Tour in 2001, was the first in the 34-year history of the Kemper Open.

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