Waldorf Takes Buick Classic

June 24, 1999 / 11:57 PM EDT / AP

Duffy Waldorf arrived at the tee of first playoff hole Sunday to find Dennis Paulson, an old childhood pal, waiting to play for the title of the Buick Classic.

One hole later, Waldorf got reacquainted with another long-lost friend, a PGA Tour victory.

For only the second time in his 13-year career, Waldorf won a tournament. And he did it in an unusual way for someone so unaccustomed to winning by staying relaxed and patient but aggressive. Everything seemed to be in Waldorf's comfort zone at the end, even his playoff opponent.

Â"It was fun. We were both happy to be there,Â" said Waldorf, who birdied the last two holes of regulation to force the playoff. Â"It was great to see him there.Â"

Waldorf and Paulson have known each other since they started playing the same amateur events in Southern California starting when they were 13 or 14. They competed against each other in college Waldorf at UCLA and Paulson at San Diego State. Their wives are friends and when they bump into each other at a golf course or a hotel pool, their kids play together.

It was no surprise, then, to see Waldorf and Paulson strolling down the fairway of the par-5 18th, the first playoff hole at the Westchester Country Club, chatting away even though $180,000 was at stake. That's the difference between the $450,000 first prize and the $270,000 second prize.

Â"Let me tell you, it's hard not to chat with Dennis,Â" Waldorf said. Â"Dennis is `Chatty Cathy.Â"'

But it was Waldorf who had the last word. Paulson pushed his second shot from the fairway into trees on the right, needed two chips from the rough to get within 25 feet and missed his par putt.

Waldorf, meantime, hit driver-driver to a greenside bunker and blasted out to 15 feet. Needing only a two-putt for the title, Waldorf rolled the ball in for his third straight birdie and the biggest payday of his career.

Waldorf birdied 17 from 6 feet and 18 the first time from 4 feet after a long shot out of a different greenside bunker.

Â"Duffy played good and we got to play an extra hole and he was victorious,Â" Paulson said. Â"It was a lot of fun.Â"

Paulson said he misjudged the wind on the fairway wood that cost him the playoff hole and the tournament.

Paulson, who closed with a 4-under 67, and Waldorf, who had a 71, finished regulation tied at 8-under 276. Chris Perry was one stroke back after a 70, while Scott Hoch was alone in fourth at 278 after a 69.

Paulson, better known as a one-time long-driving champion than for his touch around the greens, had emerged from a tightly bunched group of contenders with a 6-foot birdie on 13, a 3-footer on 14 and a 12-footer on 17. That offset a bogey on 15.

The tough Westchester Country Club course and the difficult conditions, with greens becoming harder and faster the more a hot wind blew Sunday, prevented any golfer from making a sustained charge to breaout of the pack. At one point, six players Paulson, Waldorf, Perry, Gabriel Hjertstedt, David Sutherland and Lee Janzen were tied for the lead at 7 under and 12 golfers were within two strokes.

One by one the leaders lost ground, usually by getting into trouble on the hardest stretch of holes on the course, the par-4 11th, 12th, 13th and 15 holes.

Sutherland fell away with a bogey on 11 and a double-bogey on 12 when he drove into trees on the right.

Janzen, with by far the most career wins and experience of any of the leaders, bogeyed 11 when he hooked his approach from the fairway into trees. He did much the same thing with his approach on 15 when he pulled his iron after a 300-yard drive, flubbed his chip and two-putted for a double-bogey 6.

Hjertstedt, at 7 under and only one behind Paulson, hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th against the rough to the left side of the green and couldn't get his chip closer than 12 feet. He missed his par putt, and then bogeyed the par-5 18th when he drove into the trees.

Perry also bogeyed 11 to fall to 6 under and, after six pars, he rolled in a long birdie putt on 18 to finish with a 7-under 277.

That left Waldorf as Paulson's only serious challenger.

When he reached 15, Waldorf was 7 under, one back of Paulson, after a roller-coaster round. With the words Â"Cool as a CucumberÂ" printed on his ball, Waldorf drove wildly to the right and had to chip out into the fairway. He missed a 15-footer for par to fall two shots back.

Hoch, who started the day at 4 under, bogeyed 7 and 8 to fall to 2 under, then made four birdies and six pars the rest of the way.

Jim Carter, tied with Waldorf at 8 under as the day began, bogeyed three of the first five holes and never got within two strokes of the lead the rest of the day. He finished with a 74 and was among five golfers at 5-under 279.

Divots: Waldorf's only other tour victory came at the Texas Open in 1995. ... Bob Tway had a seven-birdie, no-bogey 64, the low round of the tournament. He moved from a tie for 64th at the start of the day to a tied for 10th. ... David Duval had a 67 Sunday and finished at 4-under 280. He would have been in contention except for a 70-75 start which saw him just make the cut at 3 over. ... Ernie Els, a wire-to-wire winner here in 1996 and 1997, had a 2-over 73 Sunday, only the second time in 20 career rounds at the Westchester Country Club when he has been over par. He finished tied for 22nd at 2-under 282.