DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250169

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY GENE MORRIS, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   39 lines

STONE BLOWS 5-SHOT LEAD BUT STILL WINS BEACH OPEN

After letting a five-stroke lead slip away, John Stone birdied the final two holes to win the seventh annual Virginia Beach Open on Sunday at Honey Bee Golf Club in Virginia Beach.

Stone finished with a three-day total 11-under-par 199, two strokes better than Rich Jaeger and T.J. Baggett. Stone, who also won the event in 1995, received the top prize of $7,000.

Paired together, Jaeger and Stone were tied at 9 under through 16 holes after Stone bogeyed four consecutive holes. Jaeger could have taken a 1-stroke lead with a birdie on 17, but he missed a 6-foot putt and had to settle for par. Stone birdied to retake the lead with one hole to play.

On 18, Stone hit his second shot out of the woods and into a bunker to the right of the green. His 30-foot shot from the sand set up a short putt, which he sank for birdie. Jaeger bogeyed, giving Stone the victory.

``On 17, I realized that I had gotten away from my routine, and all I could think about was Greg Norman in the Masters,'' said Stone, referring to last year's Masters in which Norman lost a sizeable lead to Nick Faldo and finished second.

``That was probably one of the better bunker shots that I've made, and it's nice to have a 2 1/2 footer to putt to win.''

Other top scorers in the professional division included Curtis Deal and Chris Gilbert at 202. Richard Hanna, Jon Corliss, Mark Holyfield, Jeff Scheuman and Jon Hurst all finished at 203.

Conlin Giles, a 1994 Maury graduate, was the top amateur with a 6-under-par 204. He shot an even-par 70 in the final round and received the top amateur prize of $500.

``I've been putting good the last three days. That's what kept me in it,'' said Giles, who represented Virginia in the U.S. Amateur. ``It's good to finish the summer with a win.''

George Kemp (207), Denny Kamencik (208), and Larry Loving (211) and Dick Ogden (211) rounded out the amateur top five.

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