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| October 9, 2001 | Tuesday | Rajab 21, 1422 |
Toms grabs third victory of year
WILLIAMSBURG (Virginia), Oct 8: Even though David Toms has won six times in the past three seasons on the US PGA Tour, he doesn’t put himself in the same class as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval.
“I think I might be one of the five best players in the world, but those three guys are just physically more talented,” Toms said after winning the $3.5 million Michelob Championship by one stroke over fellow American Kirk Triplett on Sunday.
Toms, who also rates Ernie Els and Vijay Singh among the very top echelon, was perhaps being a touch modest.
After all, he won the PGA Championship in August, while Mickelson is still seeking to break through at the highest level.
Toms, 34, is not flashy. He isn’t particularly photogenic, and nor does he ooze charisma.
What he has is a very strong all round game, along with a level head that allows him to get the job done under pressure, as his tour record of seven wins and just two second-placings demonstrates.
Toms, who started the final round with a two-stroke lead at Kingsmill, was in control throughout the final round after a birdie at the first hole.
He led by as many as four strokes with four holes left, but then got tentative as Triplett birdied the 15th and 17th holes before he bogeyed the 17th.
Toms diplayed his poise, hitting a precise drive, a solid approach shot and two good putts to successfully defend his title with a closing 68 for a 15-under 269 total.
Leading final round scores:
269 David Toms 64 70 67 68
270 Kirk Triplett 67 68 69 66
273 Charles Howell 70 65 71 67, Esteban Toledo (Mexico) 68 67 68 70
274 Len Mattiace 67 66 74 67
275 J.J. Henry 65 71 72 67
276 Neal Lancaster 65 69 70 72, Jimmy Green 65 70 73 68, Rich Beem 66 70 72 68, Jim McGovern 71 68 68 69, Michael Muehr 65 70 70 71
277 Chris Riley 66 67 71 73, Mike Weir (Canada) 69 68 72 68, Jose Coceres (Argentina) 71 66 67 73
278 Jonathan Kaye 66 67 72 73
279 Tom Byrum 72 69 71 67, Robin Freeman 70 69 71 69, Greg Chalmers (Australia) 69 66 72 72
280 Greg Kraft 68 72 72 68, Skip Kendall 68 70 73 69, Brett Quigley 68 69 72 71, Dave Stockton Jr 70 69 67 74
Other foreigners
281 Robert Allenby (Australia) 68 70 67 76
282 Glen Hnatiuk (Canada) 69 70 73 70, Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 70 70 71 71, Luke Donald (Britain) 68 69 73 72
283 Phil Tataurangi (New Zealand) 67 72 73 71
286 Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 65 74 76 71, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 69 70 73 74
287 Frank Nobilo (New Zealand) 73 68 72 74, Ian Leggatt (Canada) 73 68 71 75.—Reuters
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