DATE: Monday, October 13, 1997              TAG: 9710130152

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   88 lines

MICHELOB REPORT [BRIEFS]<

Michelob finishes with record crowds for every day

WILLIAMSBURG - In case anyone had doubts, the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill was a box-office smash.

Sunday's final round drew 34,617, the second straight day the tournament broke a single-day record. This year's total of 142,678 eclipsed the previous record of 114,179, set in 1990, by 28,499.

``We thought the fans would appreciate our new fall date and our stronger field this year, but their response was overwhelming,'' said tournament director Johnnie Bender. ``We're still soaking this in. It was over the top.''

And that was without benefit of a terribly competitive showing by most of the marquee names in the field. Of the eight players with major championships on their resumes, former PGA and U.S. Open winner Payne Stewart finished highest with a tie for ninth.

Jeff Sluman (PGA) and Lee Janzen (U.S. Open) tied for 11th. Curtis Strange (two U.S. Opens) was 22nd. Fred Couples (Masters) tied for 29th. Tom Kite (U.S. Open) tied for 46th. Corey Pavin (U.S. Open) tied for 57th.

Hoch was without magic down stretch

Scott Hoch made a more-than-credible stab at defending his title at the Michelob Championship, finishing fifth and winning $62,000 with a 10-under-par 274. Through 11 holes Sunday, he was at 11-under, tied with Duval, Waldorf and Fred Funk for the lead.

But it was a mirage, he said.

``I got to the back nine and had no touch with my putter,'' he said. ``A lot of them were right on line, but hit either too hard or too easy. I missed one shot all day - at 17 - and I made bogey. I just didn't have what I needed on the back nine.''

Hoch forfeited whatever chance he had at squeezing into the playoff at the par-3 17th. He tried to punch a 5-iron onto the front portion of the green, then let it run toward the flag, which was in the rear.

``I pulled it a little and the wind took it left and it wound up on the side of the hill and it didn't come down like it usually does,'' Hoch said. ``I hit a bad shot and I paid the price.''

Court martial due for Strange's Navy?

Maybe they ought to change the name of that flotilla of boats that sit in the James River by the 17th hole from Curtis' Strange Navy to Curtis' Rude Navy.

The Kingsmill touring pro doesn't have anything to do with the boaters, who have been a staple of the tournament throughout its 17 years in Williamsburg.

Both Grant Waite and Duffy Waldorf commented on the boaters sounding air horns while they either were putting, or in the midst of their backswings on the critical 16th, 17th and 18th holes.

``I don't know how Duffy kept his putt on the (17th) green,'' Waite said. ``The horn sounded just as he stroked the ball. I would have knocked it off the green.''

Waldorf said he'd heard it louder and more abrasive out there when the tournament was played in the summer and beer and liquor consumption was presumably higher. And he deliberately stopped way short of using it as an excuse for not winning the tournament.

``The only thing is, sometimes it seemed deliberate,'' Waldorf said. ``I don't mind them making noise and all that, and it can be tough to time with things going on at 16, 17 and 18. But there were times it seemed deliberate and I wish that weren't the case.''

Funk comes out of his funk

Fred Funk, who finished fourth Sunday, had to run to catch a flight to this week's stop, the Disney Classic in Orlando. He goes there with a bounce in his step and renewed confidence from a couple of days in contention for the first time in two months.

``It was really fun, going under the gun today,'' said Funk, who finished with 12 consecutive pars. ``It was my best putting round of the year and it was really fun to be back in contention. It's why you play.''

Funk, who is openly infatuated with Kingsmill's River Course, exceeded the half-million mark in earnings Sunday with a check for $74,400. But it was the first time since he finished tied for third at the World Series of Golf that his Sunday shots meant something.

Chip shots and two-putts

If the players would have had press bets among themselves coming into the clubhouse, Kirk Triplett would have cleaned up. At the ninth, Triplett rifled his approach shot two inches from the cup for birdie. At the 18th, he snaked in a 20-foot putt from the back fringe, also for birdie. Alas, he bogeyed Nos. 10, 11 and 12 and double bogeyed the 16th hole to fall from contention. . . . On way to making birdie at the 16th, Waldorf received a double free drop after a wayward tee shot, first out of ground under repair, then away from pylons that border a cart part. . . . Sunday's low round belonged to David Toms, who fired a 5-under 66. MEMO: Staff writers Jim Ducibella, Rich Radford and Tom Robinson

contributed to this story.

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