Justin Leonard joined an elite group that includes only Arnold Palmer and Bill
Mehlhorn by defending his title at the Texas Open in San Antonio.
A native Texan, Leonard carded a two-under-par 69 to defeat J J Henry and Matt
Kuchar by two strokes.
His four-round total of 18-under-par 266 was a shot off his winning score last
year.
The week was expected to be something of a disappointment for Leonard, whose
American compatriots were to compete in the Ryder Cup before this year's
competition was postponed until 2002 in the wake of the September 11 terrorist
attacks in the United States.
And Leonard shed tears after parring the 18th hole. "I wanted to say
something about the patriotism I've seen this week and I just got choked up,"
he said.
"I think it's pretty special to win during this time and after what's going
on and what we've all been through mentally and emotionally the last three
weeks,"
Henry and Kuchar - both without a win during their brief PGA Tour careers -
tied for second on 16-under at 268.
Henry closed within a stroke at one point during his final round of 66 but
Leonard held his nerve to win.
Kuchar was alone in second at the start of Sunday's round. He closed with a
69 that included two bogeys in the first four holes. "I was little scared on Saturday
night," admitted the 1997 US Amateur champion.
Texan Bob Estes and Tommy Tolles tied for fourth on 271, one shot better than
Australian Steve Elkington and Kaname Yokoo of Japan.
Collated scores after the final round of the Texas Open in San Antonio (USA
unless stated, Par 71):
266 J Leonard 65 64 68 69
268 J J Henry 70 64 68 66, M Kuchar 67 68 64 69
271 B Estes 67 68 69 67, T Tolles 68 69 66 68
272 S Elkington (Aus) 67 70 68 67, K Yokoo (Jpn) 67 69 68 68
273 J L Lewis 71 68 69 65, D Frost (Rsa) 70 65 70 68, B Burns 66 72 67 68
274 J Smith 68 69 69 68, J Brigman 67 71 67 69, J Williamson 65 68 71 70, J
Parnevik (Swe) 67 66 71 70, B Geiberger 67 69 68 70, C Paulson 66 66 68 74
275 J Haas 68 67 71 69, L Mize 67 71 71 66, J Edwards 67 71 68 69, B May 68 66
71 70, T Isenhour 68 65 72 70, C Franco (Par) 68 70 65 72, T Scherrer 69 66 67
73
276 T Byrum 68 71 68 69, D Gossett 67 72 69 68, G Hnatiuk (Can) 68 70 69 69, B
Gay 68 71 70 67, P Stankowski 69 70 66 71, S Simpson 71 68 71 66
277 D Ellis 70 66 71 70, H Sutton 69 69 69 70, A Magee 69 69 69 70, F Nobilo
(Nzl) 67 73 66 71, C Perks (Nzl) 67 69 70 71, P Jordan 70 69 70 68, B Chamblee
66 70 73 68, E Toledo (Mex) 69 71 69 68, KJ Choi (SKo) 68 69 68 72, C Howell III
70 68 67 72, J Kaye 69 71 70 67
278 C Riley 71 67 69 71, M Muehr 71 67 71 69, J Quinney 69 68 72 69, B Jobe 69
70 71 68
279 S McCarron 66 70 71 72, P Casey 71 69 68 71, P Goydos 70 66 70 73, L
Porter 69 70 70 70, D Dunakey 69 69 68 73, J Maggert 71 69 72 67
280 P-U Johansson (Swe) 70 68 70 72, J Ogilvie 73 65 70 72, J McGovern 68
68 72 72, JD Blake 69 69 71 71, D Stockton 70 68 72 70, G Nicklaus 71 69 70 70,
M Dawson 64 68 70 78
281 DA Weibring 71 68 68 74, H Slocum 69 68 68 76, S Allan 71 68 71 71, J
Riegger 69 71 70 71
282 T Herron 69 68 69 76, L Mattiace 67 70 67 78
283 G Kraft 72 66 72 73, B Cheesman 69 70 72 72
284 R Beem 70 67 73 74, R Gamez 69 71 70 74, L Glover 70 70 74 70
286 D Ogrin 69 67 73 77, D Waldorf 70 69 74 73
287 P Tataurangi 70 70 70 77, L Donald (Gbr) 67 70 76 74, R Freeman 67 73 73
74, M Brooks 69 71 73 74, D Paulson 69 70 76 72
289 T Armour III 68 72 74 75, R Coughlan 72 68 75 74
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