McNulty gains narrow victory

Mark McNulty and Hale Irwin had roughly the same thought as they collected their big trophies and bigger checks: How did Tom Kite let all this great stuff slip away at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship?

And after his final-round struggles at the Champions Tour's season-ending event, Kite had trouble comprehending it himself.

McNulty rallied from five strokes down in the final round, making five birdies in the last eight holes to beat Kite by one stroke at Sonoma Golf Club on Sunday.

McNulty shot a 6-under 66 to finish at 11-under 277, matching the day's best round and providing half of a double dose of heartbreak to Kite, the three-day leader who made four early bogeys and struggled to an even-par 72.

"I don't want to say something I shouldn't here, but it was a tournament for Tom to win or lose," said McNulty, who wrapped up his stellar rookie season with consecutive victories. "I felt sorry for Tom that he didn't come through."

In addition to a two-stroke lead and the $440,000 first-place check, Kite missed a golden opportunity to win the Charles Schwab Cup, awarded to the points leader in a season-long competition of 30 tournaments.

Irwin was 3 over in the final round while playing through a painfully stiff back and neck that nearly forced him to drop out. He finished seventh at 284, but the 59-year-old veteran won his second Schwab Cup and a $1 million annuity with 3,427 points, beating Craig Stadler by 39 points.

"I guess I'm in a mild state of shock, because I didn't expect to be here with the Schwab Cup in my possession," said Irwin, a two-time winner of the award. "I really did not think for one moment that I was going to get through the day."

Kite, who finished third in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, could have won it by winning the tournament. But his rough start doomed him, and by the time he eagled the 13th hole, McNulty and Allen Doyle had surged ahead of him.

Afterward, the Texan struggled to maintain his usual gracious, easygoing demeanor. A season of missed opportunities clearly was getting to him.

"I couldn't have played worse than the front nine," Kite said. "I wasn't even a really good 23-handicapper on the front nine. ... It was my tournament. Nobody even made a run that was close. I just had to play some golf, and I couldn't do it until the final few holes."

McNulty, a native of Zimbabwe and a former junior golf peer of swing guru David Ledbetter, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to move to 11 under. In his first year on the Champions Tour, McNulty -- who turns 51 Monday -- won his debut event and his final two, including last week's SBC Championship in San Antonio.

"After Friday's round, I wasn't thinking about winning," said McNulty, whose three victories were the Tour's most by an international player since David Graham in 1997. "I was thinking about two good rounds. It all came down to the back nine today and whoever wanted to win the most."

Kite hung on to his lead Saturday despite a steady rainstorm in Northern California's wine country, but a week of deceptively poor play finally caught up to him under clear skies in the final round. He bogeyed three of the first four holes, falling into a first-place tie with Doyle.

With another bogey on the seventh, Kite fell out of the lead -- and moments later, McNulty began his surge with a birdie on the 11th, the first of four straight.

Kite knew the stakes as he approached the 18th hole, which he birdied in each of the first three rounds. He made a desperate approach shot at the pin, but it landed in the left rough -- and his chip was 3 feet short of the hole, clinching victories for McNulty and Irwin.

"I'm disappointed that I didn't close the door in more tournaments (this season)," Kite said. "It's something I'll have to address a little bit over the offseason and figure out exactly what happened."

Doyle shot a 3-under 69 to finish third, three strokes behind McNulty. Peter Jacobsen rallied with a final-round 67 to finish fourth, with David Eger (69) and Jose Maria Canizares (75) one stroke behind in fifth at 283.

Irwin's stiff neck got even worse Sunday morning after a sleepless night, and he did stretching exercises while playing to keep himself as loose as possible. Though he was third entering the final round, he bogeyed three of the first 10 holes and never threatened Kite or McNulty.

Irwin also won the Schwab Cup in 2002. Stadler gets a $500,000 annuity for finishing in second place.

"There will be some fine wine spilled later on," Irwin said.

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