Smyth earns first Champions win
Updated: March 13, 2005, 9:38 PM ET
SportsTicker
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Ireland's Des Smyth won his first Champions Tour title Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over D.A. Weibring andMark McNulty in the SBC Classic.
Smyth finished with a 5-under 211 total but couldn't celebrate until McNulty missed a 20-foot putt on the final hole. McNulty shot a 74, and Weibring had a 72.
"I thought Mark was going to make that putt," said Smyth, who earned $232,500. "But I'm certainly happy I didn't have to go into a playoff with him."
Smyth broke free on the back nine on a day that saw five players -- Smyth, McNulty, Weibring, Keith Fergus and Craig Stadler -- hold a share of the lead.
Stadler, the Champions Tour player of the year last season, shot a 69 to tie for fourth with Gary McCord (73) at 3 under. Second-round leader Keith Fergus struggled to a 77 to match Mike Reid (73) at 2 under.
"I made a nice run, but it wasn't meant to be," said Stadler, who fell out of contention when he bogeyed the 198-yard 16th hole. "That was a pretty good shot, but it bounced into the rough. I had several of those all week, and it just kills you."
The 52-year-old Smyth, the oldest winner in PGA European Tour history when he took the 2001 Madeira Island Open at 48 years, 34 days, said he was excited about the win.
"This is really a big deal for me," he said. "This puts me in the Legends, and the MasterCard and also gives me a boost in the Charles Schwab Cup. I'm in my third season out here now and it really sets things up for me."
He noted the win by countryman Padraig Harrington at the Honda Classic in Florida on Sunday. Harrington is believed to be the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win a PGA Tour event.
"We're all very happy about Padraig's win today, too," Smyth said. "He's our next big hope to become a major champion. We haven't had an Irishman win a major championship since Fred Daly in the Henry Cotton days."
Daly won the British Open in 1947.
Smyth felt all along he had a chance to win Sunday.
"The course was set up so that nobody was going to run away," he said. "I knew the leaders would be under a lot of pressure and I thought could sneak up on them. I really feel like I kind of stole it."
Smyth played the front nine in 2-under 34, then birdied the 12th, 13th and 15th before making a bogey at 16. He closed with two pars.
"I thought I might need another birdie, but as things turned out, I didn't," he said.
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