| Madison
Mississippi. 19th July 1998 -
Fred Funk had played well enough to win in the past month, but
twice let one bad hole on the final day cost him a chance at victory.
Funk didn't allow that
to happen today, making four birdies on the back nine after an uneventful start
to win the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic. After
shooting even-par his first nine holes -- and falling four strokes behind Franklin
Langham -- Funk made his charge, starting with a birdie at No. 10 when his 7-iron
approach shot stopped inches short of the hole. "I
was upset at the turn. At No. 1, I had a great drive and sand wedge shot and missed
a birdie, and struggled from that point on," Funk said. Maybe
a struggle to stay even, but there were no triple bogeys like on the final day
at both Hartford and Kemper that knocked him out of contention. "I've
been playing good and been two strokes away from winning two already," said
Funk, who has three top five finishes his last four tournaments. Funk
shot a final-round 68 for an 18-under 270 total and his fifth PGA victory, becoming
the 22nd different winner on Tour this year. Funk's last victory was the 1996
B.C. Open. Langham
finished two strokes back in second place with Paul Goydos and Tim Loustalot,
who carded a final-round 66 for his first top 30 finish in 37 tournaments. Langham,
who was trying to become the PGA Tour's fourth first-time winner in six weeks,
lost any chance for a victory by messing up at No. 17 for the second day in a
row. "On
the back nine, it was not a case of playing bad. I just misjudged a couple of
shots and caught a couple of flyers," said Langham, who regained his PGA
Tour card at Qualifying School last winter. Funk
began the final round tied with Mike Brisky, two shots ahead of the field. He
played the front nine in even par and stood in the No. 10 fairway at 14-under
as Langham tapped in a birdie on the green to go to 18-under. But
Langham, who had a front-nine 31, bogeyed the 11th, 13th, and 17th, where he had
a triple bogey on Saturday. Like
Langham, Funk had a tap-in birdie at the 407-yard 10th. Funk took a par at No.
11 and then sank long birdie putts -- 25 and 30 feet -- on the next two holes
to take a one-stroke lead. "Those
were two really nice putts that I don't expect to make. That catapulted me up
a little bit," Funk said. "I felt my experience down the stretch could
have helped me. I was relaxed after No. 13, but I was a nervous wreck before that."
The two were
both 17 under through 15 holes. But Langham's 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th
hole stopped less than a foot short, and Funk converted his eight-foot birdie.
Langham then
went to No. 17, where he had a triple bogey Saturday just after taking the lead.
While he was two strokes better Sunday, his bogey and Funk's par there settled
the tournament. Funk,
the former Maryland golf coach, now has won more than $4.2 million in 10 full
PGA Tour seasons. After
finishing third in the Kemper Open, he withdrew from the Buick Open after a first-round
74 and then followed with top-five finishes the last two weeks at Hartford and
Quad City. Loustalot
had nine birdies and three bogeys Sunday. The former Nike Tour player, who regained
his PGA card at Qualifying School last winter, had made just 10 cuts before this
weekend and had never finished better than 32nd. Brisky
quickly fell out of contention for his first PGA Tour victory when he started
the day double bogey-bogey. Brisky's
first two shots of the day hit trees and the third ended up in a bunker short
of the green, and he didn't get up and down. On No. 2, a 213-yard par 3, his tee
shot missed the green to the right. After pitching over a small creek, he two-putted
for bogey. | 
