1998 Final Leader Board

1 Stuart Appleby 274 2 Scott Hoch 275 T3 Mark O'Meara 278 T3 Brad Fabel 278 T3 Clark Dennis 278 T3 Tommy Tolles 278 T3 Fred Funk 278 T8 Steve Stricker 279 T8 Craig Parry 279 T8 Hal Sutton 279 T11 Steve Flesch 280 T11 McCallister 280 Complete Scores

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 8, 1998; Page B1

With a stinging rain pelting him in the face yesterday at the TPC at Avenel, Stuart Appleby stood over his ball on the left side of the 18th fairway, 215 yards from a green he couldn't even see. Trying to protect a flimsy one-shot lead on the 72nd hole of the Kemper Open, the 27-year-old Australian never flinched, and in the end, never faltered.

With one magnificent 3-iron shot neither he nor anyone who saw it will soon forget, Appleby launched his ball high in the air toward the peak of a hospitality tent he was using as a target off in the distance. It started to the right, then was pushed by the wind precisely the way he had envisioned, landing softly on the green and stopping 15 feet from the hole.

The thousands watching from the hills all around put up a huge roar, and two putts for par later, Appleby claimed the championship and a prize of $360,000. Veteran Scott Hoch, who watched the drama unfold from the scorer's tent, finished second, one stroke behind.

"It turned out fantastic," said Appleby, who posted a "hang-in-there" round of 1-over 72 on another afternoon of brutal 25 mile-per-hour winds to complete his second career PGA Tour victory with a 10-under total of 274. "I don't know how often I can hit that shot again. It was something we all practice for. That's what we spend hours and hours on the range for — trying to re-create pressure situations and trying to pull it off. . . . I hit it sweet."

For former Maryland golf coach Fred Funk, paired with Appleby in the final group, it was mostly a bittersweet afternoon. Funk led the tournament after each of the first three rounds and began the day one ahead of Appleby. Yesterday a record crowd of 55,000 was on the premises and many stood three-deep around the first tee and cheered boisterously when Funk was introduced.

Then, Funk's worst nightmare scenario unfolded as everyone watched in amazement. He had bogeys on two of his first three holes, then a lethal triple-bogey 7 at the 435-yard fourth when his 3-wood tee shot duck-hooked into the lake down the left side of the fairway.

When Funk walked off that green, he was four shots behind, and while he had a number of makable putts inside 15 feet the rest of the day, he only made one birdie. By early evening, the eyes that he had repaired with laser surgery just 48 hours before the tournament began were forced to focus on a 6-over-par 77 that left him at 6-under 278 and in a five-way tie for third place.

"What happened at the beginning, I have no clue why," Funk said, clearly disappointed despite his best result of the season, his highest finish in 11 Kemper starts and a check for $90,200. "I probably wanted it too much. . . . It had to do with nerves. I didn't rise to the occasion. When I've had the lead on Sunday [four times] in the past, I've always won. It would have been easier to take somewhere else. Here, it was tough."

It wasn't easy for anyone among the leaders yesterday. Chris DiMarco, the Nike Tour graduate who started the day three shots behind, skied to a 79 and tied for 14th to make the most precipitous plunge on the board. Only 18 players managed to post below-par rounds, one a 69 by Masters champion Mark O'Meara that got him into that tie for third. In all, there were 11 scores in the 60s and a 73.5 stroke scoring average from the field.

Hoch, who earned $216,000 for second place, became the Kemper's all-time leading money winner with $563,336 in 18 appearances, despite never having won here. Playing two groups ahead, he put searing heat on Appleby when he managed to make a gorgeous birdie at the 18th hole to post 9-under 275 and take the clubhouse lead.

Hoch, who also had a number of makable birdie putts over his round, put a 4-iron shot from 195 yards out in the fairway to within three feet of the hole — "my throw-up distance," he said of a putt the same length as his notorious miss in a playoff that cost him the '89 Masters. Nevertheless, he made this one, then headed for the scorer's tent to get out of the wind and rain and wait to see if he had some more golf to play.

"I'm disappointed I didn't win. I had a lot of chances out there to win," Hoch said. "Not necessarily at the end, but all through the round. I look back the whole week and look at a number of shots I threw away, especially the first couple of days."

Appleby wasn't exactly tearing the place up on his march to the title. He had two birdies and two bogeys on his front side, missing a 10-footer for par at ninth hole, but holding a three-shot lead over Hoch going to the back side.

When Appleby made an 18-footer for his final birdie at the 301-yard 14th, a hole Hoch had bogeyed 20 minutes earlier, he had that same three-shot margin. But not for long.

After a perfectly placed tee shot down the middle of the 15th fairway, Appleby took a 6-iron out of his bag for what looked to be a routine second shot at the 467-yard hole. But his perfectly struck ball aimed right at the flag flew 15 yards over the green, never touching the putting surface, and came to rest on a steep bank in deep grass. Appleby managed to get his third shot over a hump and onto the apron 18 feet from the pin, but his par attempt never had a chance and his bogey left him at 10 under.

He saved par with a dicey four-footer at the 16th to keep that two-shot lead, until he stepped to the 17th tee. Moments before, Hoch had posted his birdie at 18, but Appleby said he didn't know that as he selected his 7-iron and laced the shot directly on line over the pond and five feet past the pin. He barely missed the birdie putt, and headed for the 18th still one up.

"The 18th was playing absolutely brutal all along," he said. "The wind was extremely strong [in his face], the rain was starting to come in, and I knew I just needed one good, strong finishing hole. That 3-iron I hit in there was sweet. It was flying well, it drew in. It was just so many factors involved in getting to that spot and I was very happy to see it. . . . To win the tournament, there was no backing off."