Stateline, Nev. – Dan Quinn birdied three of his first seven
holes Sunday to pull ahead and then stretched his lead on the back nine to earn
a six-point victory over former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien in the American
Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.
Quinn finished with 66 points. Rypien was second with 60
points and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway finished third with 59 points.
It was the fourth win at the event for Quinn, a former NHL star who will caddie
for Ernie Els at next week’s Canadian Open. Els won the British Open earlier in
the day.
Quinn, who collected $125,000 from a total purse of
$600,000, started the day three points behind second-round leader Rypien, who
had 43 points after 54 holes. The event uses a Stableford scoring system that
awards graduated points for pars or better.
Billy Joe Tolliver finished fourth with 58 points; Romo was
fifth with 56 points, and Joe Theismann was sixth with 53 points. Former MLB
pitcher Mark Mulder, who shared the first-round lead with defending champion
Jack Wagner, finished in seventh place with 52 points. Wagner slipped to eighth
place with 51 points.
At the half-way point, Quinn held a 52-50 lead over Rypien. The
former hockey player birdied the par-4 11th to move in front by four
points over Rypien and five points over Romo with three good scoring holes
remaining; especially the par-5 16th and 18th.
Quinn then made a 25-footer for birdie on 16 to close the
door on his challengers.
“My thought was just to get that putt to the hole,” said
Quinn. “When I made it I thought, ‘Unless I did something crazy I looked pretty
solid.’”
Romo failed to birdie the 16th and then took a
double bogey on the final hole to lose two points.
“I just need to compete more,” said Romo, who heads to
training camp next week. “I don’t play enough to compete in a three or four-day
event. Golf is a tough game.”
“I’m lucky to
be in the position I am in,” said Quinn after Saturday’s second round. “I think
it will be decided on the last three holes and that’s exactly what NBC wants.”
He was wrong. Quinn salted the win away long before that.
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