Carlos Franco is following in big footsteps -- those of Tiger Woods.

The son of a greenskeeper at one of Paraguay's three golf courses, Franco shot a 5-under-par 66 today to win the Greater Milwaukee Open, his second tour victory in nine weeks.

Franco earned $414,000, making him the first PGA Tour rookie to win more than $1 million in a season and putting him in the top 10 on the 1999 money list. The last player to win two titles as a rookie was Tiger Woods in 1996.

It's just the latest twist in the likable Franco's amazing rise from an impoverished childhood, followed by years on the Japan Tour, to golf's upper echelons.

"This has been a wonderful year for me, like a dream," he said.

Franco played a fourth straight day of solid, unspectacular golf. He finished with a four-day score of 20-under 264, the best 72-hole mark in GMO history.

"I played very simple this week, no nervousness," Franco said. "I came here to practice, so to win is just unbelievable."

He trailed Jerry Kelly by one stroke entering the final round. But Kelly, a Wisconsin native cheered by scores of fans, fell off the pace early and never caught up.

"I don't have to worry about the other (golfers) when I'm playing the way I'm playing," Franco said. "I didn't think I would win this easy, but it's very nice."

Tom Lehman birdied the last two holes to take second at 266.

"I did a lot of things right this week ... but (Franco) kept making birdies, and that's what he needed to do," Lehman said.

Franco also won the Compaq Classic in New Orleans in May. On Sunday, he pushed his yearly winnings to $1.38 million and joined David Duval, Woods and Payne Stewart as the only multiple winners on the tour in 1999.

Franco, 34, who skipped the previous two tour events to be with his wife and family, became the first golfer since Greg Norman in 1989 to win in Milwaukee on his first try. He described his two weeks in Paraguay as "every day a party," which is what he expects the streets of Asuncion to be on Sunday night.

But Franco won't be there. He entered the GMO as a tuneup for the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Immediately after winning Sunday, Franco headed for the airport and a flight to London.

Kelly played the first three days without a bogey. He had a chance to become the first golfer to play an entire event without a bogey since Lee Trevino at the Greater New Orleans Open in 1974.

Kelly birdied two of the first four holes Sunday and took an early two-stroke lead. His bogeyless streak reached 59 holes before the par-5 sixth, where he three-putted for a 6.

Franco birdied the sixth to drop to 17 under and tie Kelly, who proceeded to bogey four of the next five holes. He got back within three shots of Franco by chipping in from a sand trap on No. 14 for birdie.

But Kelly's bogey on 16 took the pressure off Franco, and Kelly's gallery seemed to sag along with their excitable hero. After missing a birdie putt on 18 by millimeters, Kelly flopped on his back in mock dismay as the crowd sighed and laughed.

"I can see plain as day what went wrong and where it slipped away," said Kelly, who lost the 1996 GMO in a playoff with Loren Roberts. "I probably learned more today about myself than I have in any other event."

Lehman entered the GMO in a quest for Ryder Cup points. Mission accomplished: With his second-place finish, Lehman moved from 21st to 12th on the points list, just behind Steve Stricker. The top 10 in points make the Ryder Cup.

The day's early highlights belonged to Steve Lowery, who broke the Brown Deer Park scoring record with a 61. He scorched the front nine for four birdies and an eagle and finished at 269. That put him in a tie with Dan Forsman for fourth place.

Lowery finished at 10 under, beating by one stroke the mark held by four players and matched most recently by Ben Bates on Thursday. His score also matched the tournament record set by several players at Tuckaway Country Club, the tournament's previous home.

"I was chipping it in, putting it in, everything," Lowery said. "(It was) just one of those days where I knew it was going in even before I hit it."

Wisconsin's Skip Kendall, who grew up playing Brown Deer Park, shot a 65 Sunday and tied Chris Perry for sixth place at 270.

AP