April 8, 2003	Tuesday	Safar 5, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

DULUTH (Georgia), April 7: Ben Crane overcame a six-shot deficit and shot a seven-under-par 29 on the back nine to notch up his maiden PGA Tour victory at the $4 million BellSouth Classic on Sunday.

Crane’s nine-under 63 left him on 16-under 272, four shots ahead of runner-up Bob Tway (71).

The 27-year-old Crane earned $720,000 in becoming the initial first-time winner on tour this season.

Defending champion Retief Goosen (65), who had slipped badly in the a tie for third place on 277 with Jay Williamson (67) and Hank Kuehne (70).

John Rollins and Stewart Cink each shot a three-under 69 to gain a share of sixth place with Tom Pernice Jr. (72), six strokes behind Crane.

After playing the first two rounds in one-over 145 to make the cut by two shots, Crane made a move on Saturday with an eight-under 64.

That still left him trailing third-round leader Lee Janzen by six shots.

“I played great today,” Crane said. “I figured if I went low, I would have a chance and it happened. I’m a little numb.”

Crane wasn’t the only player who was numb. Tway had seemingly taken control of the tournament after the front nine and led by four shots.

Crane, playing two groups ahead of Tway, birdied the first two holes on the back nine and five of the first seven.

By the time he reached the 18th tee, Crane led Tway by two shots and for good measure, he eagled the par-five 18th.

By that point, Tway had dropped two shots behind Crane.

Janzen, twice a winner of the U.S. Open, already had played himself out of contention with four bogeys in a five-hole stretch on the front nine.

He finished five-over for the round on 280 in a tie for 13th.

Crane, whose best finish on tour was a second in the Byron Nelson Classic in his rookie season of 2002, said he did not look at the leaderboard until late in the round.

Crane then hit the drive of the day, a 357-yard blast so far down the hill on the 18th that he could easily reach the green on the 576-yard hole.

His drive was so long, Crane said, that it was on a place in the fairway he had never even considered playing his second shot from.

With the tournament on the line and admittedly “shaking like a leaf,” Crane went through his pre-shot routine.

His shot found the green, and Crane converted the putt to seal his victory.

Despite his loss, Tway, the 1986 PGA champion, said he could not complain about his performance, which gave him his third top-five finish in his last four events.

Final round scores

272 Ben Crane 73 72 64 63

276 Bob Tway 70 66 69 71

277 Retief Goosen 68 70 74 65, Jay Williamson 68 72 70 67, Hank Kuehne 71 69 67 70

278 John Rollins 72 69 68 69, Stewart Cink 72 70 67 69, Tom Pernice Jr 70 70 66 72

279 Chris DiMarco 67 72 72 68, Paul Lawrie 72 68 71 68, Brenden Pappas 71 69 69 70, J.J.Henry 70 71 67 71

280 Kevin Sutherland 72 71 70 67, Skip Kendall 72 69 71 68, Fred Couples 69 73 69 69, Esteban Toledo 71 68 70 71, Billy Andrade 68 71 69 72, Lee Janzen 69 67 67 77

281 Deane Pappas 75 69 68 69, Briny Baird 72 68 71 70, Scott Laycock (Australia) 72 72 67 70, Olin Browne 70 71 68 72

283 David Sutherland 74 69 71 69, Mark Calcavecchia 69 75 71 68, Hidemichi Tanaka 73 70 70 70, Mike Sposa 71 70 72 70, Donnie Hammond 73 70 75 65—Reuters