Stadler clinches title with closing 64

Like father, like son. Craig Stadler shot an 8-under 64 to win the Bank of America Championship on Sunday for a victory on the Champions Tour and then hustled into the scorer's trailer to watch his son Kevin earn his first win on the Nationwide Tour.

"This is probably the best golfing day I will ever have," said the proud father, who won 13 times on the PGA Tour and collected $232,500 for his fifth victory on the senior circuit.

"I don't think another win will ever come close to this. This is incredible. I am so happy for him and so proud for him. ... I never even dreamed of us both winning on the same day."

Stadler, 51, took the lead with a birdie on the 13th hole, but he was more concerned with how Kevin was doing at the Lake Erie Charity Classic. After sinking a birdie on the 18th hole to finish at 15-under 201, the 1982 Masters champion watched as his 24-year-old son won on the fourth playoff hole.

A cheer erupted from the trailer, and the elder Stadler came out clapping his hands. At the time, Tom Purtzer was just one stroke behind him, playing No. 17.

"He waited just long enough until I got to the trailer and I got to watch him win. Made my day," Stadler said. "I was just a wreck out there watching Kevin all day. I wasn't paying attention to my game. That's probably why I played well."

The only other time a father and son have won PGA-sponsored events on the same day was when David Duval won THE PLAYERS Championship on March 28, 1999, and his father, Bob, won the Emerald Coast Classic (now the Blue Angels Classic) on the Champions Tour.

"I figured if I won, he would probably win," Kevin said on speakerphone from Findley Lake, N.Y. "He tries to one-up me all the time."

Kevin Stadler qualified for the U.S. Open last week and shot 68 in the first round to finish the day just two strokes behind the leader. He made the cut but shot an 85 on Sunday after a disastrous 7th hole, when his two-foot par putt went off the severely sloped green and he carded a triple-bogey.

He received a sponsor's exemption to play this week. Now he won't have to worry about qualifying on the minor league tour through 2005; it also puts him 17th on the Nationwide money list, with the top 20 at the end of the year getting their PGA Tour cards.

"I'm an old, decrepit golfer having fun. But he's just starting out," Craig Stadler said. "It opens the whole world for him. It's a good stepping stone for him."

The elder Stadler had a three-stroke lead before he sculled a sand shot back over the 17th green; he managed to save bogey, dropping to 14 under. After Stadler finished, Purtzer went into the same bunker and made a double bogey on the par-3 17th to give Stadler a four-stroke advantage with one hole to play.

Purtzer finished in a three-way tie with Tom Kite and D.A. Weibring at 11 under. Doug Tewell and Dana Quigley were another stroke back.

Purtzer led after each of the first two rounds, shooting 65 on Friday and following it with a 68. But the best he could manage was a par 72 over the final round at the 6,738-yard Nashawtuc Country Club.

"I had my chances," Purtzer said. "I don't feel like I played that badly. But you've got to do better than 72 the last day.

Stadler's 64 was the best Sunday score in the history of the tournament, which is the oldest 54-hole event on the Champions Tour. Stadler also set a tournament record by coming from four strokes back on the final day.

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