Moseley Wins Heineken Classic
In one of the biggest upsets for many years, young Australian Jarrod Moseley came from five shots behind to win the $1.5 million Heineken Classic at The Vines resort on Sunday.
The 26-year-old from Mandurah, south of Perth, shot a closing 69 to finish at 14 under par 274 and win his first professional tournament by a shot from the daunting trio of Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Peter Lonard.
Els, who led by four shots at the halfway point and three shots from Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin going into the final round, lost the title at the par-4 seventh hole with a triple bogey. He tried to regroup and putted from about five metres for an eagle at the last which would have forced a playoff, but watched the ball slip by the hole.
For Moseley the win means more money that he has ever seen ($270,000) and an exemption on the European Tour until the end of 2001 because the Classic is jointly sanctioned by the two tours. At the start of the day he said he gave no thought to winning.
"I did not come here thinking I had a chance," he said. "I was just hoping to play solidly and pick up another spot (after moving from fourth to third overnight). I first thought I could win after nine holes when I saw a leaderboard. I was surprised by what happened to Ernie. I thought I was playing for second. When you are that far behind Ernie Els, you assume you are playing for second."
Like Karrie Webb when she plays at home in Queensland, Moseley had a big following from Mandurah, a coastal town about two hours drive south of Perth. "They were a big help," he said. "I had my parents, uncles, aunts, friends and they cheered even when I was just walking along the fairway. It was Moseley's rent-a-crowd. They used to come and watch me play when I was an amateur as well."
Els' problems started when his tee shot on seven went right and his second flew left, through the fairway, and ended in an unplayable lie among trees. "I was shell-shocked after that for a couple of holes," he said. "I tried to calm myself down, settle everything down. It was a tough day. It was windy and hard to score. I had a really solid start with a birdie at the second hole. I was in control of everything. But anything can happen. That's the name of the game.
"I was under the trees on seven and had to fade the ball way left to get it anywhere close to the green. I actually got a draw out of it. I had an unplayable lie there and took another three putts for seven. That one hole killed me. After that I had all the tough holes going into the wind -- 10, 11, 12 and 13. I hung in there but missed a short birdie putt on 14. I almost made a birdie on 15. Then at 18 I had a chance but I hit a poor putt."
It ws not the first time Els has squandered a good lead in this part of the world. In the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, Thailand, a year ago he started the final round eight shots clear and shot 73 in the final round. Tiger Woods produced a closing 65 to tie him and beat him in a playoff.
Even so, the big South African has made a great start to 1999. In the past three weeks he has won the South African PGA Championship, finished sixth in the South African Open and tied for second here.
Although he now lives in Melbourne, Moseley's win is a big boost for Western Australian golf, following the victory of Greg Chalmers in the Australian Open at Royal Adelaide late last year. "I was thinking about Greg's win out there today. That gave our golf here a huge lift and I am pleased to have done something for it today.
"I don't know what I will do with the money. I don't play for money. I play for this (the trophy). My family has never had money and I've never been around people with money. This is unbelievable. I came here as a spectator six years ago. Today I played with Bernhard Langer. He's a legend. He's won the U.S. Masters. I was playing with guys I had seen on TV and looked up to for years."
In the "added attraction", a $100,000 exhibition match over three days between Lee Trevino, Gary Player and Graham Marsh, Trevino took most of the money. He shot 71 on a course about 140 metres shorter than that played by the main field, to beat Player by four and Marsh by eight on Friday and collected $20,000. Saturday's game for $30,000 was won by Marsh who shot 71 and finished a shot clear of the other two. Sunday's round was worth $50,000 and Trevino's 70 was four shots better than Player and five ahead of Marsh.