Hole in one helps Jeff Sluman win Walmart

First Tee Open on US Seniors Tour

Last year's tournament winner Jeff Sluman came from six strokes back deficit at Pebble Beach, California to retain the Walmart First Tee Open title. En route he had a hole in one at the fifth in finishing with a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory.
Sluman, who started the day tied for fifth after a second-round 73, had four birdies and the hole-in-one on the 187yd fifth to finish at 10-under 206.
"I don't think I've come back from two, certainly not from six, but this is the kind of golf course (where) that can happen," Sluman said. "When the wind picks up and the conditions get rough, if you're not spot-on your game it's difficult to make pars out there."
Gene Jones shot a 70 to finish second. Tom Lehman (73) and Mark O'Meara (75) followed at 7 under, and second-round leader Loren Roberts (78) tied for fifth with David Eger (69) and Olin Browne (71) at 6 under.
Sluman won for the first time this season after winning twice last year in his first full season on the Champions (Seniors) Tour. He won six times on the US PGA Tour.
The hole-in-one was his fifth time in competition.
"Being nearly 52 I never saw it go in," Sluman said. "I heard a bunch of people say, 'Get in,' so obviously it was going in the correct direction. Any time you make one it's great. To make one on the last round when it's really important, pretty special."
After catching Roberts, Sluman had held off runs by Jones and Mark O'Meara after they closed within a shot of the lead.
Sluman opened with a 65 at Del Monte and shot a 73 on Saturday at Pebble Beach.
He shot a front-nine 31, highlighted by the ace on No. 5 that pulled him into a tie with O'Meara, two shots behind Roberts. Roberts and O'Meara, playing behind Sluman, both followed with bogeys on No. 5 to make it even tighter.
Sluman kept the pressure on and took the lead with a birdie on No. 9 while Roberts bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8 to drop two shots back.
"All of the years of playing Pebble under so many different conditions helped me out there," Sluman said. "The experience and kind of knowing where to hit it and knowing how to get it around this golf course. That was key for me."
Roberts, coming off a one-stroke victory over O'Meara last week in the Boeing Classic in Washington, couldn't stop his freefall and ended the day with six bogeys after getting making just two in the first two rounds.
Jones made his run with three birdies on the front nine. He then birdied No. 10 to pull within one of the lead but bogeyed 11 and 14 to fall back.
"It was one of those kind of days," Jones said. "You have to stay relaxed in the wind. It was a grinding type of day."
O'Meara, a 16-time winner on the PGA Tour who was two shots off the pace heading into the final round, is winless since joining the Champions Tour in 2007.
Sluman's bogey on No. 11 cut his lead to one stroke, but he came back to birdie No. 14, then parred three of the final four holes for the win.
As he prepared to putt out on No. 18, Sluman was interrupted by comedian Bill Murray who stood about 30 feet away and yelled "We love you Jeff!" as the crowd laughed.
Roberts, meanwhile, was left to think about what could have been after blowing what appeared to be a comfortable lead.
He had three bogeys in a four-hole span on the front nine, then bogeyed three consecutive holes on the back nine to fade away.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
206 Jeff Sluman 65 73 68
208 Gene Jones 68 70 70
209 Mark O'Meara 67 67 75, Tom Lehman 71 65 73
210 Loren Roberts 66 66 78, Olin Browne 66 73 71, David Eger 68 73 69
211 Tom Jenkins 72 66 73, Tom Watson 70 69 72, Mark McNulty (Irl) 68 70 73, Fred Funk 69 71 71
212 Gary Hallberg 69 72 71, John Cook 68 71 73
213 Tom Kite 67 72 74, Scott Simpson 68 74 71
214 Joe Ozaki (Jpn) 73 70 71, Keith Fergus 70 75 69, Andy North 69 71 74
215 Lonnie Nielsen 72 70 73, Nick Price (Zim) 68 72 75
216 Andy Bean 72 70 74, Fulton Allem (Rsa) 75 69 72, Mike Goodes 71 71 74, Bob Gilder 69 68 79, Jerry Pate 71 74 71, Mark Wiebe 70 70 76, John Jacobs 73 73 70, Allen Doyle 71 69 76, Tim Simpson 71 69 76
217 Gil Morgan 72 71 74, R.W. Eaks 71 71 75, Russ Cochran 72 75 70, Bruce Lietzke 73 68 76, Michael Allen 69 73 75, Jim Thorpe 72 72 73, Chip Beck 70 72 75, Bobby Wadkins 72 72 73
218 Tom Purtzer 75 69 74, Mike Reid 69 72 77, Ronnie Black 74 71 73, Hale Irwin 76 70 72
219 Bruce Fleisher 71 73 75, Bruce Vaughan 74 76 69, Ben Crenshaw 78 67 74, Keith Clearwater 70 71 78
220 Phil Blackmar 72 67 81, Joey Sindelar 75 68 77, Craig Stadler 74 68 78, Dan Forsman 79 67 74, Donnie Hammond 73 72 75, Greg Norman 69 72 79, Sandy Lyle (Sco) 71 71 78
221 Denis Watson (Zim) 73 75 73, Tom Wargo 73 73 75, Walter Hall 76 69 76, Blaine McCallister 74 72 75, Hal Sutton 73 72 76, Jim Chancey 71 76 74, Don Pooley 73 74 74
222 Brad Bryant 70 73 79, John Harris 71 74 77, Lanny Wadkins 77 69 76, Steve Thomas 72 71 79
223 Fuzzy Zoeller 74 71 78, Morris Hatalsky 75 72 76, Larry Nelson 72 78 73
224 James Mason 72 78 74
226 Dave Eichelberger 76 73 77
227 Mick Soli 81 72 74, Isao Aoki (Jpn) 77 73 77
228 Gary Player (Rsa) 76 72 80, Tom McKnight 74 77 77
232 Peter Jacobsen 77 76 79, Bruce Summerhays 75 75 82, Graham Marsh (Aus) 76 75 81
233 Mike Hulbert 80 74 79, Wayne Levi 74 81 78
239 Mike McCullough 74 87 78