Lunde gets first PGA Tour win
Verona, NY (Sports Network) - Bill Lunde posted a six-under 66 on Sunday to
come from behind and get his first PGA Tour victory at the Turning Stone
Resort Championship.
Lunde finished off his maiden tour win at 17-under 271 and won by a single
stroke at Atunyote Golf Club.
"I don't think it's quite real yet," said Lunde, who pocketed $720,000 and
earned a spot in next week's PGA Championship. "I've done media stuff, but
obviously this is a lot more and different subject. Usually I'm talking about,
'You got off to a great start, what do you have to do to stay in there for the
weekend,' and that type of thing, so sitting up here talking about winning a
golf tournament is a little surreal."
J.J. Henry fired a nine-under 63 early Sunday and waited around to see if it
would hold up. It did not and he settled for second place on his own at
minus-16.
Third-round leader Alex Cejka needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff,
but only managed a par. He shot an even-par 72 and tied for third place with
Jerry Kelly (64), Josh Teater (66), Michael Sim (66) and Billy Mayfair (69).
The group finished at 15-under 273.
This Sunday belonged to Lunde, a 34-year-old Las Vegas native.
Lunde trailed Cejka by four strokes at the start of the final round and wasted
little time in trying to make up the deficit. He rolled in an 11-footer for
birdie at one and made it two in a row with a tap-in at No. 2.
After a pair of pars, Lunde got back to making birdies. He two-putted the par-
five fifth from 23 feet and once again rattled off back-to-back birdies thanks
to a long birdie putt at the par-three sixth.
Lunde was then in the mix at the top of the leaderboard and actually moved
into a tie for the lead with a four-foot birdie putt at the par-five eighth.
He moved in front on his own with a nine-foot birdie putt at nine.
"The front nine, shooting 30, was obviously phenomenal," said Lunde. "I kind
of played mistake-free golf, I felt, and kind of got me in position to play
the back nine."
Lunde dropped back into a tie for first with Henry and others after the par-
three 11th. He landed in a greenside bunker and his blast from the sand didn't
reach the putting surface. Lunde got up and down for bogey, but was tied for
the lead.
With Henry already in the clubhouse at 16-under par, Lunde became the primary
challenger. Brett Wetterich made a move, but a pair of double-bogeys sent him
down the leaderboard.
Cejka got back into the mix with four birdies in a five-hole span around the
turn. A bogey at the 14th dropped him one back of Lunde and Henry, but Lunde
had one big shot left in his bag.
At the par-three 16th, Lunde hit his tee ball to four feet. He cashed in on
the birdie opportunity and was one ahead of Henry with two holes to play.
Lunde hit his second almost 70 feet from the hole at 17 and left himself with
four feet for par. He ran home the clutch par save and parred the last to get
in at 17-under.
If Mayfair or Cejka eagled the last, they could've forced a playoff, but it
didn't happen.
"Few good shots, break here or there and some putts, and your confidence
changes from doom and gloom to, wow, I got a chance to win," said Lunde, who
left golf in the middle of last decade. "So I guess that's kind of the way I
approached it, and I was just fortunate to hit a lot of great shots and make
the putts."
Lunde won on the Nationwide Tour in 2008 and his best finish on tour was a tie
for fourth at last year's Frys.com Open. He had only one top-10 this year and
that came at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Richard S. Johnson (67) and Rory Sabbatini (68) tied for eighth at 14-under
274.
NOTES: Lunde left after the 2005 season, but lost his job in the real estate
business in 2006...Lunde became the 12th first-time winner on tour this
year...His first-round 73 was the highest start by a winner this season on the
PGA Tour...Former PGA Champion Steve Elkington was part of a group tied for
10th at 13-under...Next week is the PGA Championship, won last year by Y.E.
Yang.
08/08 19:01:00 ET

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