KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii » On the final day of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the golf course finally showed its teeth. Dan Forsman never flinched.
He won Sunday by firing a 3-under-par 69 into the teeth of a breeze that gusted to 25 mph. The warm wind finally cooled a 41-man field in the season-opening Champions Tour event.
Forsman went into the final round with a two-shot advantage and birdied the first hole; no golfer ever got within two shots the rest of the day.
FINAL LEADERBOARD
Dan Forsman |
67-65-69–201 |
Jay Don Blake |
69-67-67–203 |
Michael Allen |
67-68-69–204 |
John Cook |
69-67-68–204 |
Gary Hallberg |
68-71-66–205 |
Jeff Sluman |
68-66-71–205 |
|
Jay Don Blake got the closest in his Hualalai debut, birdieing the 54th hole to finish second alone, two shots back.
"On the 18th green, I couldn’t even speak," Forsman said. "I was really humbled to think I could be on top of this field of guys I’ve admired and competed against all my professional life.
"The chance to be on top of a distinguished group of players like this is something I’ll always cherish. You’ve got to be blessed to have opportunities like this and I feel like I am. I really do."
Forsman, with son Tommy on his bag and his whole family here to celebrate, finished at 15-under 201. It is the first time since 2000 that the winner has not had a sub-200 score. The champion has averaged 21 under the past 11 years.
Forsman collected his $307,000 first prize without coming close, on a difficult day that blew rallies to bits.
"I was excited because I thought it (the wind) would be calm," said Forsman, who found preround peace by the ocean in the morning. "I got back to my room and the white caps started coming in. I thought here come the winds, this is not going to be an easy deal at all."
About half the field in the Champions Tour season-opening event had a shot at catching Forsman going into the final day. But, with two spectacular sand saves holding his final round together, he never let anyone close.
Defending champion John Cook (68) was 5 under on the back nine to climb into a tie for third with Michael Allen (69). They were one shot behind Blake, who went bogey free trying to win his second straight senior event.
"I felt very good about the way I played," Blake said. "I just wanted to continue what I did last year and I feel really good with this finish."
Gary Hallberg and Jeff Sluman tied for fifth, four shots behind Forsman. Hallberg and Mark Calcavecchia shared low-round honors, firing 66 in calmer morning weather.
Calcavecchia now has seven consecutive top-10 finishes on the senior tour, dating to his win last year at the Boeing Classic. He shared seventh with Jay Haas, Brad Bryant and 62-year-old Tom Watson, who now has nine top 10s in 12 starts at Hualalai.
Forsman took a two-shot advantage into the final day and protected it with three birdie putts from within 8 feet on the first 10 holes.
His first bogey since Friday — and only his second of the week —still left him with a two-shot edge after 12 holes.
He barely missed birdie on the next hole, then hit a "magical" blast out of the bunker to a foot to birdie the par-5 14th.
"At that point I’m not paying attention to the leaderboard or anything else," Forsman said. "I just want to play my game to the best of my ability and see where it takes me."
He hit into the back bunker on the 16th, but blasted out to 2 feet to save par with "the shot that won the tournament for me."