Carl Paulson shot a three-under-par 69 on Sunday and cruised to a six-shot victory
at the Nike Utah Classic for his first win in 83 Nike Tour events. Paulson finished
with a four- round total of 22-under 266 and earned a first-prize of $67,500.
Craig Bowden and
Marco Gortana tied for second at 16-under, while Shaun Micheel and Edward Fryatt
were next at minus-15.
Paulson moved into third place on the Nike Tour money list with just six events
remaining on the schedule. The top-15 players on the money list will earn PGA
Tour cards for next year.
"I'm
probably going to take one or two weeks off the rest of the year to get ready
to try and win the money title and get fully exempt for next year," said Paulson.
Paulson played
32 holes on Saturday because of rain delays on Thursday and Friday. He entered
the final round with a five-stroke lead and was never threatened.
"I did a really good job about
thinking one shot at a time," said Paulson. "It was tough, but when it came time,
I was ready."
Gortana,
playing in the final group with Paulson, thought he might have a chance, but watched
as Paulson came up with the clutch shots he needed.
"On
seven was the whole turning point," said Gortana. "I was pretty close for birdie
and he was short of the green with a bad lie and he just slam-dunked his chip.
Then on 11 he made about a 40-footer for par that if it didn't hit the hole would
have went about 10 feet by it.
