Little-known American Ben Crane claimed his first US Tour title in style with
victory in the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta.
Crane, previously infamous for being voted the slowest player on tour by his
fellow professionals, equalled the course record with a final-round 63 at
Sugarloaf for a 16-under total of 272.
The 27-year-old from Oregon eagled the last to be home in 29 and was 17 under
for his last two rounds, having just survived the halfway cut on Friday by a
single shot on one over par.
Former USPGA champion Bob Tway, who led by four shots at one stage in the
final round, was four shots back in second with former US Open champion Retief
Goosen a shot further adrift in joint third alongside American duo Jay
Williamson and Hank Kuehne.
Overnight leader Lee Janzen stumbled to a closing 77 to finish in a tie for
13th, going from six ahead of Crane to eight shots behind.
Goosen warmed up for next week's US Masters with an admirable defence of the
title. The South African - who finished second behind Tiger Woods at Augusta 12
months ago - fired a final round of 65.
"I was really too far behind, yesterday's round (74) killed me," admitted
Goosen, who finished in style with a birdie on the last to be home in 31,
playing a brilliant bunker shot from 25 yards to within three feet of a pin
guarded by water lurking dangerously behind.
"If I could have got a few more birdies coming home I might have had a better
chance but at the end of the day I'm pretty happy with where I am.
"I'm starting to hit the ball quite nicely but not putting as well as I would
like. I feel like I'm driving the ball better than last year but my irons are
not so good and that means your putting is not going to be as good."
The former US Open champion will head to Augusta tomorrow and play a practice
round on Tuesday to familiarise himself with the changes made to the course.
"It's changed a lot over the last couple of years so it will be interesting
to see what it will be like," added the European number one for the last two
years.
"Last year it played very long with all the rain but this year hopefully the
weather forecast is a bit better.
"Today was a nice round to take to next week. A few more of those next week
would be nice."
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie was also delighted to birdie the last and
finish with a closing 68 for a nine-under total of 279.
"This is exactly what I wanted," said the 34-year-old from Aberdeen, who
only received an invite to make his tournament debut at Sugarloaf late last week
when former Ryder Cup partner Colin Montgomerie pulled out.
"I played really nicely again today and it's been a very good week. Today was
more like it's going to be next week with the wind blowing a little.
"Tee to green all year I've been fantastic and I'm starting to put a lot
better. I'm not putting any pressure on myself going into next week (he has
missed the cut in all three previous starts) but I'm looking forward to it.
"I've played more before the Masters than ever before and that was the idea.
It used to be my third or fourth event of the year and you just can't do that.
This is my seventh or eighth so I've doubled my schedule and now I feel as if I
can just stand up and play golf."
Bristol's John E Morgan carded a final round of 72 to finish one under for the
tournament, alongside France's Thomas Levet and Swede Jesper Parnevik.
Crane, in only his second year on the tour, said: "I played great today. I knew
if I could go low I would have a chance but I'm still a little numb.
"I've been struggling on the weekends, making a lot of cuts but not making a
move on the weekend, but I played fantastic on Saturday and I was able to get
hot with my putter and that's what carried the momentum through the last two
rounds.
"I never looked at the leaderboards but after I played the 14th someone
shouted out that I was only one behind. Then after I finished on the 17th I had
a look at the leaderboard because I wanted to know what I needed to do on the
last.
"My caddie said just make a par and we'll be all right.".
In fact Crane hit a drive 357 yards to set up a closing eagle to seal victory
and the US$720,000 first prize.
"It's a life-long goal to play in the Masters and although I just missed out
it doesn't really take anything away from this win," added Crane, who qualifies
for the US Open and USPGA but not the US Masters.
"I think it's a blessing after my first big win that I can go home and take
two weeks off."
Collated scores after final round of BellSouth Classic, TPC Sugarloaf Atlanta (USA unless stated, Par 72) (x) denotes amateurs
272 Ben Crane 73 72 64 63
276 Bob Tway 70 66 69 71
277 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 70 74 65, Jay Williamson 68 72 70 67, Hank Kuehne
71 69 67 70
278 John Rollins 72 69 68 69, Stewart Cink 72 70 67 69, Tom Pernice Jnr 70 70
66 72
279 Chris Di Marco 67 72 72 68, Paul Lawrie (Gbr) 72 68 71 68, Brenden Pappas
(Rsa) 71 69 69 70, JJ Henry 70 71 67 71
280 Kevin Sutherland 72 71 70 67, Skip Kendall 72 69 71 68, Fred Couples 69 73
69 69, Esteban Toledo (Mex) 71 68 70 71, Billy Andrade 68 71 69 72, Lee Janzen
69 67 67 77
281 Dean Pappas (Rsa) 75 69 68 69, Briny Baird 72 68 71 70, Scott Laycock
(Aus) 72 72 67 70, Olin Browne 70 71 68 72
283 David Sutherland 74 69 71 69, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 73 70 70 70, Mike
Sposa 71 70 72 70, Mark Calcavecchia 69 75 71 68
284 David Toms 73 71 69 71, Jim Carter 71 72 69 72, James McLean (Aus) 72 70
70 72, Brandt Jobe 70 71 70 73, Todd Barranger 73 71 71 69
285 John Huston 70 72 70 73, Brent Geiberger 73 71 68 73, Steve Jones 71 70 70
74, Larry Mize 71 72 72 70, Carlos Franco (Par) 72 70 73 70, Mike Grob 76 69 71
69
286 Joey Sindelar 69 71 71 75, Blaine McAllister 75 71 69 71, Brian Bateman 75
68 73 70, Brad Lardon 68 72 76 70, Michael Clark 71 75 72 68
287 Jeff Gallagher 71 69 71 76, Brett Quigley 73 72 70 72, Brent Schwarzrock
72 71 72 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 67 75 72, John E Morgan (Gbr) 69 71 75 72,
Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 74 72 70 71, JL Lewis 74 71 71 71, Steve Stricker 73 70 74
70, Garret Willis 77 68 73 69
288 Akio Sadakata (Jpn) 71 72 71 74, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 73 68 73 74, Matthew
Goggin (Aus) 71 74 71 72, Bob May 75 68 73 72
289 Cameron Yancey 72 68 74 75, Bob Burns 68 77 73 71, Mike Heinen 70 73 75
71
290 Doug Barron 74 69 74 73
291 Andy Miller 71 75 69 76, Darron Stiles 72 71 72 76, Glen Day 73 71 74 73,
Corey Pavin 72 74 73 72, Dan Forsman 74 70 75 72
293 Steve Allan (Aus) 75 71 69 78, Todd Fischer 73 71 73 76, Donnie Hammond 73
70 75 75, Andrew Magee 74 69 77 73
294 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 68 75 80, Nolan Henke 76 69 73 76, Harrison
Frazar 76 70 75 73
295 Ben Curtis 72 72 76 75, Mark Wilson 74 71 76 74
297 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 76 70 73 78, Scott Dunlap 72 71 80 74, Glen Hnatiuk 72
71 80 74
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