By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press
Sunday, February 7, 1999; 5:23 p.m. EST

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Payne Stewart finally got another victory, but only after another washout at Puddle Beach.

For the third time in four years, rain kept the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from going the distance. The final round was canceled because of standing water all over Pebble Beach Golf Links and no hope for better weather the next two days.

Without hitting a shot Sunday, Stewart won for the first time in four years and offered no apologies.

"I've been on the short end of the 54-hole stick,'' he said. "I can't do anything about that.''

The winning stroke came on Saturday in the wind, cold and rain. Stewart hit a 5-iron on the 18th hole at Spyglass Hill to within a foot for birdie that put him at 10-under 206 and gave him a one-stroke lead over Frank Lickliter.

That turned into a one-stroke victory, his 10th on tour but only his second since winning the 1991 U.S. Open. Stewart earned won $540,000 and picked up valuable points for his quest to make the Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1993.

The course had so much water from overnight rain and a steady drizzle Sunday that CBS Sports analyst David Feherty measured the speed on one green at 3.5 on the Stimpmeter. Before the rain, the speed had been about 11.

Lickliter earned $302,400 for his best finish in four years on tour, although he would have loved a chance to play for his first career victory.

"You've just got to accept everything that happens,'' he said Sunday morning, standing amid puddles on the practice green when the siren sounded to suspend play. "I just hope it quits.''

It never did.

Because of a storm system that stretched from the Monterey Peninsula to the coast of Japan, there was no chance of Pebble Beach drying up by Monday. And because 54 holes had already been played, there was no need to wait until August to make it official.

That's what happened last year. After only 36 holes could be played on the soggy courses, players had to return the day after the PGA Championship to get in the third and final round. Prize money can be awarded only if a minimum of 54 holes are played.

Last year's decision stemmed from the disaster of 1996, when tour official David Eger canceled the event after 36 holes because two holes at Spyglass were mostly under water.

Stewart had said Saturday that he would rather play 72 holes, although the victory would be just as satisfying.

"I'm proud of the way I played,'' he said Sunday afternoon during the delay. "I want to win again. It's been a long time. I want to get on the Ryder Cup team, because I'm tired of us losing. The last two Ryder Cup teams I was on, we won. And the last two I wasn't on, we didn't win.''

Craig Stadler finished alone in third, which might be enough to move him into the top 64 in the world rankings and into the $5 million Match Play Championship later this month.

Stewart was runner-up at Pebble in 1986 when he trailed Fuzzy Zoeller by five strokes going into the final round that was canceled because of rain. He also finished a stroke behind Greg Norman in the 1990 Memorial Tournament – another event with a history of bad weather – when it was shortened to 54 holes.

"As wet as it was getting on the green, the golf course can only take so much,'' Stewart said. "If the golf course is unplayable, everybody suffers by going out there and slopping around.''

The lift, clean and place rule applied through the green Sunday, not just on the fairways. But not everyone was slopping it around.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson birdied the first two holes to get to 4-under, and then came a roar that even Lickliter heard from the practice green.

David Duval started the final round seven strokes back, the same margin he made up two weeks ago with the only final-round 59 in tour history for a one-stroke victory in the Bob Hope Chrsyler Classic.

Duval holed an 8-iron from 142 yards on the first hole Sunday for eagle, as about 100 people under umbrellas around the green began begging for a 58. He killed his drive on the par-5 second hole, long enough that he could have reached the green in two.

Then the siren sounded.

"Shoot, I was going to win this thing, too,'' Duval said with a laugh as he walked back in. Looking up at iron-gray sky, he quickly turned his thoughts to a week on the slopes in Idaho.

"They got 14 inches last night,'' he said.

That's better news than anything Puddle Beach can offer.