Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 30, 1990 TAG: 9004300110
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
Frost was in the sand to the left of the fairway with a quarter of his ball buried. It was 208 yards - with a carry over water - to the pin and he needed par on the final hole to get into a playoff with Norman in the $1 million USF&G Classic golf tournament.
The faint of heart would have gone to the right, around the water, planning to chip close and make a putt for par.
Only three golfers had birdied No. 18 on Sunday. One was Norman, who was playing three groups ahead of Frost. Norman had a 65 on Sunday, the tournament's best round.
Frost went for it.
His second shot went into the front bunker, right where he wanted it. Then he holed his blast from the sand from 50 feet to once again send Norman away a loser to a miracle shot on the final hole.
"I was going to have to hit a 2-iron, if I was going to hit the green, but the ball would have gone on past. It was the only option I had," Frost said. "I play for all of the bunkers, if I can."
It was the first tournament victory for Frost since he won the World Series of Golf last year, and it stifled a typical Sunday rally by Norman.
Norman began five strokes off the pace on Sunday, fought into the lead after six holes and was tied with Frost at 11 under completing his round with a tap-in birdie on 18.
"What can you say? He hit a great shot," said Norman, who lost the 1986 PGA when Bob Tway holed from a bunker on the 72nd hole and the 1987 Masters when Larry Mize holed a 140-foot chip on the second playoff hole.
"I played really well today - some great shots at the right time. I'm really happy with the way I played," Norman said. "I'm out there trying to win, and he's out there trying to win. Just `Well done' to him. You just try to be as philosophical as you can about it."
Frost received $180,000 as the winner's share. Norman, runner-up to Tim Simpson here last year, won $108,000.
Norman had eight birdies, an eagle and three bogeys Sunday in a round in which he needed only 21 putts.
Frost shot a 69 on Sunday to give him a total of 276, 12 under par.
He went into Sunday's play as the leader at 9-under, but he fell off the pace on the front nine with a birdie and three bogeys. He recovered on the back nine with six birdies.
He took the lead at 11-under with a birdie on No. 15, the island green that plagued competitors the whole tournament.
Norman birdied No. 14, eagled No. 15, birdied the 16th and had a bogey at No. 17.
He hit his drive on No. 18 straight into the wind, then put his second shot within nine inches of the cup for a tap-in that appeared to have clinched a playoff when Frost's tee shot went left into the sand.
Frost said he couldn't avoid being conscious of Norman's charge.
"It's very hard not to be aware of it," he said. "I was playing 16 when he was playing 18." The holes are parallel.
"I had a tough bunker shot to make, and I heard the crowd," Frost said. "I heard he had hit it close. I hadn't been in contention for a long time. I just had to settle down."
Russ Cochran, the only left-handed golfer on the tour, finished third at 279. Brian Tennyson was fourth at 283, and Jay Delsing finished fifth at 284.
Simpson, the defending champion, was sixth at 285.
Mike Donald got a hole-in-one on the 176-yard eighth hole. B6 B1 FROST Frost
by CNB