1997 Final Leader Board

1 Justin Leonard 274 2 Mark Wiebe 275 T3 Nick Faldo 277 T3 Greg Norman 277 T3 Nick Price 277 T3 Mike Springer 277 T7 Tim Herron 278 T7 Jim McGovern 278 T7 Loren Roberts 278 T7 D.A. Weibring 278 Complete Scores

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 9, 1997; Page C1

It began with a groan from the crowd on the first tee yesterday, when Mark Wiebe hooked his opening drive into the rough. And it ended with Wiebe in the scorer's tent at the 18th hole, his head in his hands, trying to figure out how he had just lost the Kemper Open to Justin Leonard in the cruelest way imaginable.

The record will show that Leonard, 24, came from five shots behind by shooting 67 — 274 to beat Wiebe by one shot. It was the second PGA Tour victory of Leonard's career, and he left these grounds — trampled by record Sunday crowds — with a winner's check for $270,000.

But anyone who witnessed this drama play out under sparkling sunshine at the TPC at Avenel knew full well that Wiebe lost by three-putting four greens and driving his ball into the water at the fourth hole on the way to six bogeys.

At the 17th and 18th, needing only to make par to win, he three-putted twice. At 17, he butchered a par attempt from two feet; at 18, he missed from 2½. That completed his descent to a round 2-over 73 and ruined his quest for his first tour victory in 11 years.

For a while, it appeared as if England's Nick Faldo might also have a chance to catch Wiebe, who had at least a share of the lead all day until he missed the cup completely with his try for par at 18. But after three straight birdies got Faldo to 9 under through 15 holes, he, too, bogeyed the last two holes and ended with par-71 and a four-way tie for third place, three shots back of Leonard.

Also in that group were two other major championship winners who, along with Faldo, must be considered among the favorites at the U.S. Open this week at Congressional Country Club. Greg Norman and Nick Price both had 4-under rounds of 67 yesterday, and Mike Springer, Wiebe's playing partner, made a six-footer to save par at the 18th for a piece of third as well.

Leonard was playing two groups in front of Wiebe, and after he had completed his 67, tying the lowest score of the day, he thought a playoff was his best hope. And when he saw Wiebe lip out the two-footer at 17, he said he grabbed a sleeve of new golf balls from his locker room stall and waited in the tent at the 18th green to watch Wiebe make his final, fateful strokes.

"I'm not going to put an asterisk on this tournament because of what happened on the last hole," Leonard said. "I went out five shots back and won the golf tournament and played good golf all the way."

Leonard insisted he would have preferred it if Wiebe had made the par putt at 18 to force the playoff after Wiebe badly misread the break on his 22-foot birdie attempt. Last season, Leonard lost a playoff on the third extra hole to hometown hero Phil Mickelson in the Phoenix Open. It was a bitter experience for him, because the crowd was actively rooting against him.

"I've been in a playoff before, as some of you know," Leonard said, "and yeah, I would like to have another chance. We all missed short putts this week. There's not a player in the field that didn't. It's unfortunate it had to happen on the last hole. But to my credit, I played really well today, and I'm happy with the outcome. If it happened differently, I might have been a little happier."

Wiebe spent about 15 minutes in the scorer's tent after he signed his card, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out where had gone wrong. There was plenty to think about for a 39-year-old journeyman, who has been taking medication for a variety of allergies during the past two months. He said all week he'd been a touch jumpy, especially on shorter putts.

"I've made so many putts this week, to be honest, four three-putts for me today, I really can't believe it," he said. "I've been a little shaky on my smaller putts all week long. Even the ones I made, my hands felt a little quivery. I'm just trying to deal with this whole thing [the allergies] we've been talking about. Today, maybe it caught up with me."

So did Leonard. He said he came out thinking he'd have to post a score of 11 or 12 under par to win. He said he wanted to get to 2 or 3 under after the first nine and hope for the best on the back nine, where a number of holes set up nicely for his game.

He achieved his front-nine goal quickly, with birdies on his first two holes. After eight straight pars, he hit a 7-iron to within three feet for a birdie at the 165-yard 11th, chipped to within three feet for another at the 13th and knocked an 8-iron to within two feet for his last birdie at the 15th.

At that point, he was 11 under, with Wiebe still a shot ahead and two holes behind. Leonard made what could have been a fatal bogey at the 16th when he blocked his drive to the right and left himself with an awkward stance on a cart path, with the ball above his feet.

He elected not to take a free drop so he wouldn't have to stand on the blacktop because he liked the way his ball was sitting in the rough. But he hit his second shot over the green. A weak chip shot left him 15 feet from the hole, and he barely missed the right edge of the cup for the only bogey on his card.

Leonard cut a 5-iron off the tee at the 195-yard 17th and made a nice two-putt from 35 feet for par. At 18, he had a decent drive and a 7-iron that landed not far from where Wiebe's second shot stopped at the final hole. Leonard also misread the putt, but had no problem with the 2½-footer for par that completed his round.

"I thought that putt [his birdie try at 18] was to win the tournament," Leonard said. "Then while someone was signing my scorecard, someone came over and said that Mark had just bogeyed 17. . . . I actually thought he was going to make birdie [at 18]. But he didn't, and here we are."

When Wiebe had composed himself and was seated in the interview room, he said he was told by a CBS cameraman in the 18th fairway where he stood in the tournament. "I got the update and I felt like I was going to make birdie, to tell you the truth," he said. "My goal was to make my putt. And then my next goal was to make the next one."

But it didn't happen. Still, Wiebe said he would simply have to deal with it.

"I'm irked," he said, "but my putter got me in position to win. My dad would say 'You should have hit it closer.' ... This isn't that bad. I'm very disappointed, believe me. But only one guy beat me."