GOLF ROUNDUP : When Hoch Blows Up, Stewart Wins at Houston
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Scott Hoch blew a six-shot lead with seven holes to play Sunday, rescued an opportunity to win with a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff, then watched Payne Stewart make a three-foot par putt on the first extra hole to win the Houston Open.
Hoch had a six-shot lead at the turn, but made three bogeys and double-bogeyed No. 17 when he hit his tee shot into water, shooting a three-over-par 75 while Stewart shot a 68 to finish at 12-under 276.
“You can print it now: Hoch as in choke,” said a distraught Hoch, who had a two-foot putt to win the Masters in a playoff in 1989. He missed and Nick Faldo birdied the next hole to win. Many were quick to make a point of the rhyme.
“I’ve got to feel a little sorry for Scott,” Stewart said, after his first tour victory since 1991.
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Val Skinner made par on the final hole after hitting her tee shot into the water, and her final-round 67 capped a 15-under 273 total to beat Kris Tschetter by two strokes in the LPGA Sprint Championship at Daytona Beach, Fla.
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Jim Colbert became the first two-time winner on the senior tour this year, holding off Raymond Floyd and Rocky Thompson by two strokes with a three-under 69 for an 11-under 205 in the Las Vegas Senior Classic.
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Seve Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal shot an eight-under 62 to finish with a 24-under 256 to win the $510,000 Paris Pairs tournament by three shots.