| Sutton,
Mass. 26th July, 1998 -
A car crash in the desert left Steve Pate wondering if he could win again. Those
doubts ended today despite three consecutive shots into the rough on the 18th
hole. Pate had
enough of a cushion to absorb a bogey 6 on the 583-yard hole and win the CVS Charity
Classic at 15-under-par 269, one stroke better than Scott Hoch and Bradley Hughes.
"It would
have been nice to have a little prettier finish," said Pate, who hadn't won
since the 1992 Buick Invitational, "but the result is just as good."
It's a result
he thought he might never achieve after he drove his Acura Legend into the back
of a slower-moving truck -- "I had road hypnosis" -- on a California
highway on his way home from the Phoenix Open in January 1996. "Those
cars have good safety features," Pate laughed as he signed autographs with
his repaired right hand 90 minutes after his sixth tour victory. "If I passed
out it was only for a few seconds because I walked out of it." Pate
shot a 67 and picked up a $270,000 winner's cheque in the last PGA tournament
at Pleasant Valley. The tournament sponsor rejected tour dates for next year offered
by the PGA, so an LPGA event will be held instead. Hoch,
playing at Pleasant Valley for the first time since 1982, had a 65, and Hughes,
who birdied the last four holes, shot 66. Nolan Henke (67), Mike Heinen (67) and
third-round co-leader Willie Wood (70) were two strokes off the pace at 271 on
the 7,110-yard course. Pate,
37, broke his right hand and wrist in the accident and didn't return to the tour
until early 1997. His hand finally felt strong in May or June and he finished
the year with four Top 10 finishes in 28 events. "Last
year was basically like starting over," said Pate, who turned to acupuncture
to ease the pain in his hand, although it still aches. "I really didn't have
any idea if I'd be able to win again." His
best finish this year before Sunday was at the Phoenix Open, where he tied for
second. He won't
be able to defend his title at Pleasant Valley. "It's
very disappointing. It's a really good course," said Pate, the 32nd different
winner in the 32 PGA tournaments at the course. Pate,
once known for his hot temper, controlled it after he hooked his first three shots
into the rough on the final hole, putting his two-stroke lead in jeopardy. He
recovered by calmly knocking his fourth shot on the green, then two-putting from
20 feet and finishing with a tap-in. Hoch,
who finished more than an hour before Pate, had a chance for a birdie on the 18th
but put his approach shot 15 feet past the cup and two-putted for par. "I'm
disappointed on the third shot," Hoch said. "The wedge game is my bread
and butter and I expected to have that within five feet." Wood,
in the last twosome, could have forced a playoff with an eagle on the 18th, but
finished with a par. He shared the third-round lead with Dave Stockton Jr., whose
71 Sunday left him at 272. Pate started the day a stroke back. Until
the 18th, Pate had rallied on the back nine with four birdies and four pars. He
trailed Henke, who was 14 under at the time, by one stroke after he birdied the
10th hole. And when Henke bogeyed the 14th, Pate's birdie at the 12th gave him
a lead he never lost. Hoch
did tie Pate for the lead when he sank a birdie at the 17th, leaving both at 14
under. But consecutive birdies at the 371-yard 15th, which he bogeyed on Saturday,
and the 200-yard 16th allowed Pate to play poorly on the 18th and still get his
first win in six years. "After
today," he said, "I know I can win again." Divots:
Stockton's five-foot putt on the 18th hole was the last shot in Pleasant Valley's
history as a PGA stop. ... Bruce Fleisher hit four balls in the water on the 180-yard,
par 3 seventh hole and ended up with a 12. He finished the round with a 6-over
77 and the tournament at 3-over 287. ... There were 10 eagles in the third round,
including eight on the 18th hole. The only eagle Sunday was by Steve Flesch on
the fourth. | 
