Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. LENGTH: Long
Pavin, with a masterful closing round of 68 over the punishing Shinnecock Hills layout, won the U.S. Open on Sunday and no longer will have to explain why he is the best player never to win a major championship.
Norman, with an unsteady 73 that was shakiest on the crucial closing holes, finished second in a major championship for the seventh time. His 282 was two strokes behind Pavin's even-par 280.
``I had faith that it would happen,'' Pavin said about winning a major. ``I got tired of hearing the question. It wears on you.''
Congratulating Pavin on the 18th green, Norman patted him on the back and said, ``Good job. Welcome to the club,'' a reference to having won a major championship. Norman has won two British Opens but never has won a major in the United States.
``People simply will say I let things slip away,'' said Norman, who started the day tied for the lead with Tom Lehman at 1-under. ``That's not necessarily the case. It's just as hard to put yourself in there with a chance to win as it is to win.''
Pavin, playing the last 10 holes at 3-under and the last 15 without a bogey, finished three strokes ahead of Lehman, who lost his last chance when he double bogeyed No.16.
``I've been trying for 12 years to win one,'' Pavin said. ``I'm very excited to have the monkey off my back.''
Then, glancing at the U.S. Open championship trophy next to him, Pavin smiled and said, ``This trophy is not going to get too far away from me for the next couple of weeks.''
Next to last in the Open field in driving distance, Pavin won with solid, accurate play over the rolling fairways, avoiding the penalizing rough that claimed so many others.
``That's what you really need here at Shinnecock, to keep control of the golf ball,'' Pavin said.
He also made huge putts, perhaps none bigger than a 5-foot par save on No. 17.
``I probably hit one of the best putts I've ever hit under pressure,'' Pavin said.
He closed it out with a bold, 228-yard 4-wood to the guarded 18th green. Pavin broke into a jog as the ball bounded onto the green and rolled toward the flag.
``I was very anxious to see that one,'' Pavin said. ``I knew when I hit it was going to be pretty close.''
As it came to rest 6 feet from the pin, he dropped to a crouch, closed his eyes and let loose a big exhale. He missed the birdie putt that would have wrapped it up, then waited for Norman to finish.
``It probably was the most pressure I've ever felt,'' Pavin said of his shot to 18. ``I was gathering my thoughts, saying a little prayer.''
Norman sprayed the ball for the second straight day but wasn't able to pull off the miracle par saves he made Saturday. He lost his last chance on No.17 when he hit the sand trap on the par-3, blasted short and missed the putt for par to fall two behind.
It was Pavin's first victory in a major championship after finishing second once in the PGA, third in the Masters and fourth in the British Open. His previous best in the U.S. Open was eighth in 1991.
``I've had my chances before,'' he said, ``but never came through.''
With 12 victories on the PGA Tour, the 35-year-old Californian had the most wins of anyone currently on tour without a major championship. He will wear that label no longer.
Norman, meanwhile, wears an even heavier burden of failure in the major championships.
He's lost all four major championships in playoffs - the U.S. Open in 1984, the Masters in '87, the British Open in '89 and the PGA in '93. He also finished second in the 1986 PGA.
In 1986 he pulled off the Saturday Slam - leading all four major championships going into the last round. He won only the British.
It was that year he led the U.S. Open at Shinnecock going to the final round only to shoot a 75 and finish tied for 12th.
Pavin had rounds of 72, 69, 71 and 68 over the grueling par-70 layout. The 71 in Saturday's third round was an exceptional effort on a day when the course played to a 74.2 average.
``I was hitting the ball better as the week went on,'' he said.
The wind was down on Sunday but the pressure was up. Pavin handled the hard, fast course brilliantly.
``When I got here on Monday it kept raining and raining I was getting frustrated,'' Pavin said. ``I wanted the course to firm up. That's the way I like it.''
He got it the way he wanted and made the most of it.
Pavin started the day three strokes behind Norman and Lehman and slipped another behind when he bogeyed the third hole. But that was his last bogey of the day.
He birdied No. 9 with a 6-foot ``really hard putt'' to get back in contention, rolled in a 12-footer for birdie at No. 12 and got back to par with another 12-footer for birdie on No. 15.
Norman, meanwhile, rattled off nine consecutive pars after making bogey at No. 2. He bogeyed 13, got it back with a birdie at 15 and let his last chance slip away with a bogey from the sand on No. 17.
Davis Love, Phil Mickelson, Bill Glasson, Jeff Maggert, Jay Haas and Neal Lancaster were four strokes back at 4-over 284. Lancaster tied the course record with a final-round 65, including a 29 on the back nine.
Pavin is the first player to win the Open with an even-par score since Hale Irwin won at Inverness with a 284 in 1979.
by CNB