Final round: Turnesa's turn finally comes in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Marc Turnesa completed a wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA TOUR title, closing with a 4-under 68 on Sunday to hold off Matt Kuchar by a stroke in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The fourth rookie to win on the PGA TOUR this season, Turnesa opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 69 at TPC Summerlin en route to a tournament-record 24-under 263 total. He earned a career-best $738,000 to jump from 138th to 75th on the money list.
Turnesa birdied Nos. 9, 11, 12 and 14 to reach 25 under on the mostly sunny, breezy day. He also birdied the par-3 17th, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 18th.
"I only won by a shot, so obviously every birdie I made was important," said Turnesa, the 30-year-old former North Carolina State star who broke the event mark of 23-under 264 set last year by George McNeill.
Kuchar finished with a 64.
Former UNLV star Chad Campbell shot a 67 to tie for third at 22 under with John Mallinger (68) and 49-year-old Michael Allen (70). Tim Herron (62) and Davis Love III (67) followed at 21 under in the Fall Series event.
Kuchar, the second-round co-leader who began the final round at 19 under, birdied the par-5 13th and par-3 14th to take the lead at 24 under, but finished with four straight pars to fall a stroke back.
"It started playing hard on the last couple holes," Kuchar said. "The wind really started picking up. Fifteen and 16 are definitely birdie holes that I missed opportunities on. But into the wind with some tough pins, I'm just not quite long enough (on the par-4 15) to get quite all the way there into the wind.
"Sixteen, had a layup. It was certainly an opportunity from 110 yards. I missed one short putt on the first hole -- about a 6-footer for birdie. Other than that, I played some pretty solid golf."
Turnesa, the 2007 Miccosukee Championship winner on the Nationwide Tour, also led after three rounds last month in the Viking Classic, but made a late double bogey and ended up losing to Will MacKenzie on the second hole of a playoff.
"It was disappointing. But you know what, I did the best I could and it didn't work out. The same thing could have easily happened here today," Turnesa said. "You just got to get over it and move on. There's tournaments every week out here and you just got to take the positive out of it and move on."
Turnesa is part of a famous golf family. His great-uncle, Jim, won the 1952 PGA Championship, and his grandfather, Mike, was a six-time winner on the PGA TOUR who finished second to Ben Hogan in the 1948 PGA Championship.
Mike was one of seven brothers, six of whom played on PGA TOUR. One of those, Joe, was a 15-time PGA TOUR winner. The only brother who didn't turn professional was Willie, the 1938 and 1948 U.S. Amateur champion and 1947 British Amateur winner.
"I don't really feel like I'm carrying on a name," Turnesa said. "I guess I am without even thinking about it. I'm just trying to play golf as best I can and that's all I can really do."
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5, 492-yard third was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.254.
The par-3, 197-yard fifth was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 3.338.
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Marc Turnesa's tee shot on the par-3, 163-yard 14th hole landed just 10 inches from the hole and he made the putt for birdie. He didnt look back after that and went on to win his initial TOUR title. 
Tim Herron turned in the low round of the day with a 10-under, bogey-free 62. That was one shy of the tournament-low 61 Davis Love III fired at TPC Summerlin in 2001, and tied for the low round this week.| QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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FRIENDS GREET TURNESA AFTER FIRST WIN
Marc Turnesa had a few familiar faces greeting him on the 18th hole when he picked up his first PGA TOUR trophy.
First was Butch Harmon, a long-time friend of Turnesa's father Mike, who was also in attendance. Mike is a club pro at Rockville Links in Long Island, N.Y., and is the son of Mike Sr., a six-time TOUR winner and part of a golf family as famous as the Harmons.
"The Harmons, they're New York boys as well, so my dad's had a relationship with him forever," Turnesa said. "I've gotten to know Butch over the past five years or some. He's actually helped me out a little bit. I've been to see him a couple times. He's so far away. I'm down in South Florida and he's up here, so it's tough to see him.
But, yeah, I know Butch, and he's just a great guy and it was nice to see him."
Another friend who was waiting on the 18th green was fellow TOUR pro Steve Marino, who also attended Turnesa's post-round press conference. Turnesa was supposed to fly out of Las Vegas at 8:40 p.m. PT and head to the next TOUR stop in Scottsdale, Ariz., but decided to skip next week's event and stick around to party with Marino and friends before heading home to West Palm Beach, Fla..
At one point, a reporter asked Turnesa to name his biggest highlight of the week. When Turnesa couldn't think of one, Marino chimed in.
"What about your practice round with me?" Marino said.
"I did have a practice round with Steve Marino. I'll tell you, that's kind of demoralizing really, because he's just bombing it by me about 30 yards and he's making everything. That's your next winner over there, Marino. It won't be long," Turnesa replied.
As for Turnesa, he secured his PGA TOUR card with the win in Las Vegas. If he hadn't, Turnesa would have gone to the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament for the sixth time. He had sent in his q-school application long before his first victory.
"Had it in for a month and a half now," Turnesa admitted. Now, of course, that application won't be needed.
CAMPBELL'S MMM, MMM GOOD WEEK
The wind finally picked up on Sunday afternoon but it wasn't enough to deter Chad Campbell, who shot his third consecutive 67 to finish with a share of third place.
"(The wind came from) a little bit of a different direction," Campbell, a University of Las Vegas-Nevada alum, said. "It didn't blow very much earlier in the week."
Campbell turned it on during the back nine, making three birdies on Nos. 10-12 then a birdie on the 17th before dropping a shot at No. 18. It was his best finish in six starts at TPC Summerlin.
"(I'm) happy with the week. Wish I had played those three holes in the middle of the back nine a little better," said Campbell, who made four straight pars on Nos. 13 through 16 and couldn't make a move to catch the leaders. "Been playing them good all weekend. Struggled through them today but happy with -- 22-under par is not too bad."
Campbell recently played on the Ryder Cup team for the United States and also became a new dad several weeks ago.
WITH THIS VICTORY: MARC TURNESA
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff
• Earns 1st PGA TOUR victory in 27th career start at the age of 30 years, 7 months.
• PGA TOUR Career Victories (1): 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
EXEMPT STATUS
• Earns two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR that will take him through the 2010 season. For 2009, he secures spots in several tournaments including the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN NOTES
| 5 | Consecutive years in which first-time winners have won in Las Vegas. |
| 8 | The number of times players have picked up their maiden victory in Las Vegas |
| 12 | How many first-time winners have won on TOUR in 2008 |
• Wins with a tournament record 25-under 263, breaking the previous mark held by 2007 champion George McNeill (23-under 264).
• Victory comes in the TOUR rookie's first career start at the event.
2008 NOTES
• Becomes the 12th first-time winner on the PGA TOUR this year.
• Is the fourth rookie winner on TOUR in 2008, joining Dustin Johnson (Turning Stone Resort Championship), Chez Reavie (RBC Canadian Open) and Andres Romero (Zurich Classic of New Orleans).
• Win is the 235th by a former Nationwide Tour member.
• Becomes the 17th player in his 30s to win on TOUR this year (22 wins).
• Collects $738,000 first-place check, the largest of his career. Winning check brings his season total to $1,318,052 and moves him from No. 138 to No. 75 on the money list.
• Has now held at least a share of the lead in seven of the 16 rounds in the four Fall Series events on the PGA TOUR.
CAREER NOTES
• Tops his previous career-best finish -- T2 at the 2008 Viking Classic.
• Win comes just under one year from his first Nationwide Tour victory at the Miccosukee Championship (October 28, 2007), which helped him become one of the Tour's 25 graduates to the PGA TOUR for 2008.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Satellite Radio announcer Fred Albers offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Marc Turnesa must have had demons floating through his head on the 17th tee. Last month he led the Viking Classic before making double bogey on the 71st hole and lost the tournament title. On Friday, Turnesa splashed his tee shot on the 17th and made double bogey. There was no mistake this time. Turnesa drilled his tee shot inside of ten feet at the 207-yard par-3 17th, then made the birdie putt and went on to victory. Demons exorcised.
Michael Allen is 49 years old and has never won a PGA TOUR event. A three-putt bogey at the 16th hole ended any chance of his breaking that string. As he walked off the 18th green, Allen dejectedly said, "That was an expensive hole." He's right. Instead of finishing alone in third place, Allen splits $639,600 with two others players for winnings of $213,200. That's still a nice paycheck, however, and and it boosts his season's total winnings to $820,646, which could be enough for exempt status in 2009.
FOOTBALL AND GOLF MIX AT THE HILL
Fans who visited the course on Sunday didn't have to miss a second of the golf or the NFL football action around the country.
The Hill, which sits on top of a hill overlooking the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, is a 22,000-square-foot tent that has about 30 plasma-screen TVs, plush leather couches and several bars. The cost is $10 to enter the tent but, once inside, patrons can come and go.
Chairs surround the outside of the tent with views of the course. As the tournament wrapped up on Sunday, the couches surrounding the TVs emptied as fans walked outside or sat on the hillside to watch the finishing holes. Several TVs also were tuned in to the GOLF Channel in addition to each NFL game, so it was possible to watch both football and the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The Hill is only a short walk from Restaurant Row, with food from some of the best and most famous restaurants in Las Vegas.
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