Lietzke holds on in U.S. Senior Open

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The first major championship of Bruce Lietzke's career came on a day when he couldn't find the fairway.

Lietzke struggled with his swing throughout the final round of the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday, but made the four-shot lead he started the day with stand up.

Lietzke's 2-over-par 73 was a far cry from his round of 64 Saturday but it was enough to give him his first major championship in 53 tries. He finished with a 7-under 277, two shots better than Tom Watson, who had an even-par final round.

"It's not the person who finished second or third, or the strength of the field, it's did you survive a week on a golf course that tests every part of your game?" Lietzke said. "I'm not sure I feel like a champion as much as a survivor."

He finished 58th in driving accuracy out of the 60 players who made the cut. However, his short game and iron play turned out to be the difference.

After putting out for a bogey on the closing hole, Lietzke was hugged by his wife, Rose, who had flown up Sunday morning from the family's home in Dallas to see her husband win on the Champions Tour for the first time. Lietzke collected $470,000 for the win.

Argentina's Vicente Fernandez, who shot a 64 in the second round and was troubled by back spasms early Sunday, was one shot behind Watson in third at 280.

They were the only golfers in the 156-player tournament to finish below par.

"This is a tough golf course," Watson said. "I thought 5 under would be a lock-cinch win."

Watson, the first-round leader after a 65, never made a serious charge against his playing partner. Lietzke all but ended any chance for Watson when he rolled in a 7-foot eagle putt on the par-5 eighth hole to expand his lead to six shots.

"Bruce's nickname was perfect today: Leaky," Watson said. "He was leaking oil and smoke, blowing that blue smoke out of the pipes, but that engine just kept running. I think he finishing on just two pistons."

Lietzke, 51, won for the seventh time since joining the senior circuit in 2001. He had 13 wins on the PGA Tour. He tied for third behind John Jacobs earlier this year at the Senior PGA Championship, the tour's first major of the year.

In 52 previous starts in major championships -- five as a senior and the rest while on the PGA Tour -- Lietzke's best finish was a second to John Daly at the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick. His best previous finish in an Open was a tie for 17th at Merion in 1981.

"The happiness comes from winning on a golf course as grueling and punishing as this," Lietzke said.

Almost everyone in the field said that the only way to win at Inverness Club was to keep the ball in the fairway to have a shot at hitting the tiny Donald Ross-designed greens.

Almost everyone was wrong. Lietzke, known as one of the longest drivers on tour, hit just seven of a possible 15 fairways when he took the lead Saturday and managed to find the short grass on only five fairways Sunday.

After Watson had drawn within three shots with three holes remaining, Lietzke picked up a birdie at No. 16 -- again after hitting his approach out of the thick steel-wool rough short of the green.

That made Lietzke's bogeys on the final two holes meaningless.

St. Jude Classic

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- David Toms shot a 7-under 64 and won the St. Jude Classic by three strokes for his second victory in eight weeks.

Toms, who won the Wachovia Championship in May, picked up his ninth PGA Tour victory. He had a 20-under 264 total to claim the $810,000 prize.

Nick Price tied his career-low round with a 62 to finish second at 267. Bob Estes shot a 65 and was tied with Fredrik Jacobson (67) and Richard Johnson (69) at 268.

ShopRite LPGA Classic

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Angela Stanford set a torrid pace early and played error-free golf the rest of the way to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her first championship as a pro.

Stanford, who led or shared the lead after all three rounds, shot a 6-under par 65 to finish at 16-under par 197, three shots ahead of late-surging Becky Morgan. Stanford won $195,000.

Morgan shot a final-rouind 66 and finished at 200. Lori Kane and Juli Inkster tied for third at 201.

Missouri Amateur

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Ben Godwin of Poplar Bluff used a late three-hole rally to beat Parker LaBarge in the 36-hole Missouri Amateur Golf Championship.

Godwin won holes 31, 32 and 33 to go 3-up with three holes to play, then clinched the match with a 6-foot par putt on the 34th hole for a 3-and-2 win against LaBarge, of St. Louis.

-- From wire reports