Fleisher coasts to victory

Bruce Fleisher made sure no one was going to catch him Sunday.

Fleisher shot a 3-under-par 67, easily maintaining a five-shot lead over Hale Irwin and winning the $1.6 million RJR Championship in record fashion for his first Senior PGA Tour victory in over a year.

"Even though I hadn't won this year, I had played some consistent golf," said Fleisher, who notched his 15th career Senior Tour win. "The depth on our tour is very good."

Fleisher extended his streak of rounds at par or better to 24, the tour's longest current run. That included Friday's record-tying 60 and Saturday's 64, which came in the face of a bomb threat on the Tanglewood Park course.

Not even the specter of Irwin could knock Fleisher off his game. Fleisher's three-round total of 19-under 191 kept the elder circuit's best player right where he was when he teed off - five shots back.

"I wonder if you ever get comfortable," said Fleisher, whose victory margin equaled the largest in event history. "You never stop worrying about Hale. I can't praise him anymore. He's a fierce competitor."

After setting the Senior Tour's 36-hole scoring mark at 124, Fleisher established a 54-hole record, breaking the previous standard of 193 shared by Bob Charles, Charles Coody and Gibby Gilbert.

Fleisher won for the first time since last year's U.S. Senior Open. The 1999 Senior Tour Rookie and Player of the Year collected $240,000 to move past Doug Tewell into third place on the money list with $1,644,666.

"I think it's just satisfying to win," Fleisher said. "You have expectations, goals. I've been living a dream the last four years."

A three-time winner this year, Irwin also shot 67 for 14-under 196, two strokes better than Don Pooley. He settled for his sixth second-place finish of the season. In his last six tournaments, Irwin has finished no lower than third.

"I tried to play aggressively today," Irwin said. "I was just off a little bit from the previous two days."

Irwin came out firing at the pins with mixed results. He had one birdie and two bogeys over the first four holes before draining three straight birdies to get within three shots.

Fleisher recovered from a three-putt bogey at No. 9 to drain a six-foot par putt at No. 12. He followed with consecutive birdies to regain control.

"The key for me was the big putt at No. 12 from six feet," Fleisher said. "I felt I had it under control when I got to 15."

Fleisher became the third wire-to-wire winner on the tour this year, joining Tom Kite at the MasterCard Championship and Bob Gilder at the FleetBoston Classic

Pooley shot a 68 and finished at 12-under 198. It was another three shots to Larry Nelson, Mike McCullough and Ed Dougherty, all of whom carded 69s.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page