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Hill claims title after closing 65

Jason Hill tied the course record with a 5-under-par 65 Sunday to win the Buy.com Steamtown Classic by three strokes over Jonathan Byrd and Matt Peterson.

Hill, a 30-year-old Buy.com Tour rookie, came from four strokes off the pace and finished at 8-under 272 to earn his first career title and the $76,500 first-place check.

Tim Petrovic (68-276) finished fourth. Kelly Gibson (68), Sonny Skinner (69), Jeff Gove (70) and Jason Buha (73) tied for fifth, five shots back.

"I went out today and didn't miss many golf shots," said Hill of his bogey-free day. "I also had a few putts drop, and when you put those two things together on a tough golf course with difficult conditions, good things happen. I guess you can say that I did go out and get it today."

Hill, who double-bogeyed the 18th on Saturday, was nearly perfect when the pressure was on Sunday, hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation and 11 of 13 fairways.

"I kind of picked up where I left off yesterday, except for that one bad drive I hit on 18," he said. "I spent about an hour and a half on the putting green after yesterday, by myself, getting that drive out of my head. This golf course is tough and it caught me on a week when I was playing really, really well. Today, with everything on the line, it was my best ball-striking round of the week."

Peterson started the day at 7-under par and one stroke ahead of Jason Buha (73-277) and three up on John Elliott (76-282). Hill was one of five players four behind.

Peterson and Buha failed to make any birdies on the front nine, letting the rest of the field catch up on a rain-soaked Glenmaura National Golf Club course.

Hill birdied Nos. 4, 6 and 8 and turned the front in 3-under 31 to join the hunt. Two more birdies at 10 and 11 gave him the lead he would not relinquish.

"I knew there was a time and a place to look at the leaderboard, and I never glanced at it until we got to 18," Hill said. "When you're out there, you can just sort of feel where you are. You can tell from the crowd reactions and the cheers around where you stand. I had an idea I was near the top."

Hill got there by draining a critical 20-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole.

"Seeing that one go in took me over the edge, confidence-wise," he said. "I missed a short one on two and had a couple of good looks at it, but you have to have some breaks like that to win a golf tournament."

Hill, who led the tournament in greens in regulation, kept firing at pins all day, giving himself more and more chances.

"My caddie told me earlier this week that this is a patient player's golf course," he said. "That's what I tried to do."

While Hill was firing away, the rest of the field charged to the top only to suffer critical mistakes late in the day.

Byrd, his playing partner, was just two back with six to go before making bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16. Buha was one back with three to go before finishing bogey-bogey-double. Peterson was also one back with four to play but crash-landed with a triple at the par-3 15th.

Hill held his game together down the pressure-packed final holes, finishing with seven straight pars.

"I'm actually pretty proud of myself," said the soft-spoken Texan. "Being a rookie out here is a learning experience, and today I learned I could play on this level. It's payday on the Buy.com Tour on Sunday. Sometimes you find out if you have the heart and the guts to get down there and see what you're made of."

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