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