Howison Captures Second Nike Lakeland Classic

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ryan Howison fired a final-round 68 to come from behind and win the $225,000 Nike Lakeland Classic by one stroke over three players.

Howison, who began the day two strokes off the lead, finished the tournament at 13-under-par 275 and collected his second win at Lakeland in three years. The win for Howison was worth $40,500.

“This gives me a running start to get into the top 15 at the end of the year and getting me back to where I want to be and that’s on the PGA Tour,” he said.

Glen Hnatiuk (67) and third-round co-leaders Jim McGovern (71) and Shaun Micheel (71) tied for second place at 12-under-par 276. Craig Bowden (70) finished fifth, two strokes back.

“My game is still rusty, being early in the year,” said Howison, who earned his only other Nike Tour win here in 1997. “I really didn’t know what to expect out of my game at this point. I could have shot an 80 today. Coming down the last few holes, you just hope your game will hold up.”

Howison’s game held up because his putter held up. The former University of North Carolina third baseman needed only 23 putts to negotiate the wind-swept final round at the 7,070-yard Grasslands Golf & Country Club course.

“I read the greens really well here,” he said. “It suits me. It scares me to death, but it suits me.”

Howison birdied three of his first four holes Sunday to move into first place, a position he would hold or share the rest of the day.

After saving par with a 6-foot putt on No. 13, Howison nearly blew a two-stroke lead and the tournament on the difficult par-3 14th, which played 204 yards into the wind.

“I wanted to hit a 4-iron, but I hit the 3 instead. I came over the top of it. It landed on the cart path and then it landed in the water,” he said. Facing a 25-yard flop shot to a tight pin that was both downhill and downwind, Howison’s chip wound up 35 feet past the hole. His return putt for bogey was perfect and disappeared into the cup.

“When that went in, I knew I had some divine intervention,” Howison said. “I didn’t even take the ball out of the cup. At that point, I figured ‘if these are going in, let’s roll.’”

Howison played the last four holes in even par, but needed a 10-foot par putt on the final hole to secure his second career win. “I feel like I’ve become a pretty good player out here,” he said. “But to be a two-time winner makes me feel like I belong, like there is some credibility to my game.”

Hnatiuk’s 5-under-par 67 was the best round on Sunday and moved him to within one stroke of Howison, who still had four holes to play.

“I was just too far back,” said Hnatiuk, a three-time career Nike Tour winner. “Yesterday’s round (72) was the one that killed me. I couldn’t find my line on the greens. I didn’t feel that comfortable and putted defensively.”

Perhaps the most encouraged by his finish was McGovern, who finished No. 180 on the 1998 PGA Tour money list.

“It’s nice being nervous again,” said the 1993 Shell Houston Open winner. “I’m excited now. It’s a good feeling. I just didn’t give myself enough really good birdie putts. I had a lot of 20-footers. I needed more 10-to-12 footers.”

The next Nike Tour event will be the Nike Florida Classic in Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 4-7