The Girls Rock in New Jersey

LPGA Tour
Sybase Classic
Upper Montclair Country Club
Clifton, New Jersey
Defending: Lorena Ochoa
Purse: $1,400,000

This week the LPGA made their annual stop in New Jersey, but instead of the usual Shopright Classic from Seaview Marriot, the Sybase Classic took center stage. Playing for the first time at Montclair Country Club, defending champion and the No. 1 player in women's golf Lorena Ochoa won, finishing three strokes ahead of tournament frontrunner Sarah Lee. Ochoa closed the deal with a 4-under 68 for an 18-under tournament total. The duo distanced themselves from the field the day before, turning the outcome into a match play event. The victory was the second of the season and the 11th of her career for the LPGA Tour's top player in 2006. Full Field Scores

Editorial comment:
When I see scores like this, the first thought is that the course was short and easy. It blows my mind to see how low pros go, because as a handicap golfer for over 40 years I know “there’s nothing easy about it”. There’s no such thing as an easy golf course and par was meant to be broken, only by a chosen few. Pro golfers make it look easy because they are that good, miles above the rest of us. Oh well, I’ll just have to settle for breaking 80. Golf’s still the best good habit in my life. Email your thoughts to: AJM.ME@thumbsdown.info.

Also this week in the world of NJ Golf:

Matt Davidson from West Windsor, who qualified to play on the PGA Tour in 2005 shot a 65 in the final round to finish in sixth place (his best finish of the year) and on the Hooters Tour. Davidson finished at 12 under par and now ranks 24th on the tour’s money list.

Davidson had an unusual “be careful what you wish for” experience in 2004 by playing the best six rounds of his life at Q-School, qualifying to play on the PGA Tour. In his first round as a pro he was paired with Michele Wie during the 2005 Sony Open in Hawaii. As his father put it, “it’s like he started his career with the NY Yankees. A great learning experience, but talk about pressure”.

This week's other Pro Tour events:

PGA Tour
AT&T Classic
TPC at Sugarloaf
Duluth, Georgia
Defending: Phil Mickelson
Purse: $5,400,000

Master’s Champion Zack Johnson validated is credentials as a PGA winner at the AT&T Classic (formerly the Bell South), beating Ryuji Imada on the first hole of a playoff. After Imada slightly pulled his approach shot into the water, Johnson abandoned his conservative strategy that helped him win the Masters, by laying up on par 5’s. This time went for it and landed his second shot onto the 18th green, leaving a 60-footer for eagle. His approach putt finished a few inches from the hole, with a tap in for the victory. Johnson, also the 2004 winner, closed with a 5-under 67, 15-under par. Full Field Scores

European Tour
Irish Open
Adare Manor Golf Club
Limerick, Ireland
Defending: Thomas Bjorn

Padraig Harrington became the first Irishman to win the Irish Open in 25 years Sunday, beating Welshman Bradley Dredge on the first hole of a playoff. Full Field Scores

Nationwide Tour
BMW Charity Pro-Am
The Cliffs
Greenville, South Carolina
Defending: Ken Duke
Purse: $650,000 ($117,000 to winner)

Nick Flanagan birdied his final three holes Sunday and shot a 7-under 65 to win the BMW Charity Pro-Am, his second Nationwide Tour victory in a row. In the final round he pulled ahead of third-round leader, Richard Johnson and Tommy Gainey, a contestant from the Golf Channel series "The Big Break" who had a disappointing final round of 77. Full Field Scores

Champions Tour
The Regions Charity Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Hoover, Alabama
Defending: Brad Bryant
Purse: $1,600,000

Brad Bryant repeated as champion by beating R.W. Eaks on the third hole of a playoff, becoming the first player to win the tournament twice. After both players parred the 470-yard par-4, 18th hole twice in the playoff, Bryant sank a 13-foot birdie putt to win. Full Field Scores

Canadian Tour
Iberostar Riviera Maya Open
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Spencer Levin finished with a 7-under 65, for a 21-under-par total to win his first tour title. Full Field Scores

Pro Tour Recaps - Week of Apr 26-29

EDS Byron Nelson Championship
TPC at Four Seasons
Irving, Texas
Defending: Brett Wetterich
Purse: $6,300,000

Scott Verplank won the tournament he's always wanted to win, in front of the home town crowd. After his 2-foot par putt fell into the hole for a dream victory, Verplank dropped into a squatting position and looked skyward, almost in disbelief. He did his best Ben Crenshaw imitation, after he won the 1995 Masters.

Back then Harvey Penik, Crenshaw’s childhood mentor who died the week before the Masters, provided the inspiration that seemed to make all the difference. Crenshaw fell to his knees and cried after his victory. This year’s host the late Byron Nelson ,who died last year at the age of 95 played a similar role for Verplank as a young player. If you ever believed in fate, these two player’s victories gave plenty of reasons to believe. Luke Donald started the day up by one stroke. His lead had grown to three after making a 12-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, where Verplank began a his own 3-hole birdie run.

The tournament shifted at the ninth hole when Donald’s tee shot hooked into the trees and he made double bogey. Verplank closed with a 4-under-66 at 13-under, a stroke ahead of Luke Donald for his fifth PGA TOUR victory, his first since the 2001 Canadian Open. Phil Mickelson, Jerry Kelly, Rory Sabbatini and Ian Poulter tied for third at 10 under.

Mickelson played in his first tournament since the Masters and officially switching swing instructors from Rick Smith to Butch Harmon. Do you think players of this caliber need swing coaches? Email your opinion to ajm.ME@thumbsdown.info.

This victory was much more valuable to Verplank than the $1.134 million check and a custom-made motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers. It was the 21st Nelson tournament for Verplank, who considers the event his fifth major because of the man for which it's named -- and who used to write him encouraging notes. Verplank wasonce a standard bearer at the tournament, where his mother was a volunteer. Full Field Scores

Corona Championship
Tres Marias Residential Golf Club
Morelia, Mexico
Defending: Lorena Ochoa
Purse: $1,300,000

Italy's Silvia Cavalleri won her first LPGA Tour title, closing with a 7-under 66 and a 20-under par total, for a two-stroke victory over Lorena Ochoa and Julieta Granada. Cavalleri had seven birdies in her bogey-free final round in light rain and earned $195,000. Ochoa, the 2006 winner playing her first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world, shot a 68. Granada, also second last year, also finished with a 68.

Cavalleri took the lead with birdies on Nos. 5-7, forcing Ochoa to take a more aggressive approach. The Mexican star pushed hard, but missed several birdies. She lost a ball on the 15th, but came back to par the hole. Pat Hurst shot a 70 to finish fourth, five strokes back at 15 under. South Korean rookie Na On Min (72) followed at 13 under.

Stacy Prammanasudh, the Fields Open winner in Hawaii in February, closed with a 70 to finish at 12 under. Prammanasudh began the day well, birdieing six of her first 10 holes, but then stumbled with a bogey on the tricky 13th, followed by a double bogey on the 14th and a bogey on the 18th. Full Field Scores

Open de Espana
Centro National de Golf
Madrid, Spain
Defending: Niclas Fasth
Purse: $2,715,000

Charl Schwartzel claimed his second European Tour title, with a 15-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole to shoot a 5-under 67 in the final round to beat Jyoti Randhawa by a stroke. The South African hit a spectacular 3-iron shot more than 230 yards into the wind at the end of a long day. Schwartzel bogied the 18th and finished at 16-under. His first win came in December 2004 at the age of 20 at the Dunhill Championship.

Randhawa, still looking for his first European Tour win, ended alone in second place at 15-under following a round of 67. He missed an 18-inch par putt at the 15th hole which turned out to be the difference. Carlos Rodiles shot a 72 and finished in third place at 14-under. Simon Dyson (71) and Mark Foster (68) tied for fourth place at 13-under, while Fredrik Andersson (68) and Andres Romero (66) finished another shot further back at 276.

Three days of weather delays totaling nearly 12 hours pushed the bulk of the third round to Sunday morning. When the last round finally began, Schwartzel was three shots off Rodiles' 54- hole lead. But as it wound down, he found himself chasing Randhawa, finally catching the leader with a birdie at the 13th hole. Full Field Scores

Henrico County Open
The Dominion Club
Glen Allen, Virginia
Defending: Matt Kuchar
Purse: $500,000

Nick Flanagan the 2003 U.S. Amateur champion needed three playoff holes to earn his first tour win. Flanagan, birdied the third extra hole to defeat Chris Baryla for the title.

Roland Thatcher and Bryn Parry had been eliminated on the first two extra holes. Flanagan carded a 2-under 70 in the final round to finish at 13-under-par. Baryla, Parry's playing partner, matched that 70, while the final pairing of Parry and Thatcher each carded final-round 71s to force the extra session. At the third playoff hole 18th, Baryla found a greenside bunker with this second shot. Flanagan's second bounced just over the green into the rough. Baryla blasted out to 4 feet, then Flanagan chipped within a foot. Baryla missed his birdie putt as Flanagan tapped in for birdie and his first tour title. "That's about the longest half-foot putt I've ever had," joked Flanagan, who picked up $81,000 for the win. Full Field Scores