Andres Romero earns first PGA Tour victory in Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Finishing nearly three hours before the final groups, Andres Romero posted his score of 13-under-par 275 and then played the waiting game Sunday in the Zurich Classic.

As it turned out, no one was able to catch Romero and the free-swinging Argentinean came away with his first PGA Tour victory. Romero, who finished up his rain-delayed third round Sunday with a 7-under 65 at TPC Louisiana and then shot 68 in the final round, would finish one stroke clear of Peter Lonard.

"I'm very, very happy. This is incredible," Romero told reporters through an interpreter. "I played great golf in the last two rounds. I only made one bogey in the last 36 holes and that's very strange in my game, but it's great."

After his round, Romero said he spent a leisurely afternoon in the clubhouse while awaiting his fate.

"I was very relaxed," Romero said. "I was at the players' lounge having some lunch and chatting with my friends. I called home. I called my mom. I was very relaxed. I just waited."

Romero said he didn't know if his score would hold up, but indicated that he thought it was to his advantage to have the rest of the players in the field have to chase him.

"It was very important to put that score two and a half hours before the end," said Romero, who earned $1.1 million and 4,500 FedEx Cup points for his victory. "It was great because they had to reach that score. I was very quiet and relaxed, waiting. They had to do the job. I had already done my job."

Lonard had an opportunity to force a playoff with Romero, but failed to convert a lengthy birdie putt on No. 18.

"It's a funny day just because the numbers got posted so early," Lonard said. "I suppose that's part of the draw and that, but I knew the number that we had to get to and I couldn't get there.

"Well, I got there but didn't know what to do with it once I got there."

While Lonard said that ideally he would have been playing in the same group or close to the player he was pursuing, he didn't think Romero had any particular advantage.

"I think the conditions were pretty much similar all day," Lonard said. "I think there was definitely - not an advantage, but I'm sure the guys that went out early were definitely thinking, if we can post a score and get ahead of these guys with the rest of the afternoon to play — I'm sure that's what they were thinking because that's the way I would have been thinking."

Tim Wilkinson carded a final-round 67 for a career-best third-place finish, two strokes back at 11 under. British Open champion Padraig Harrington, Woody Austin and Nicholas Thompson all tied for fourth at 10 under.

Making his first start in New Orleans, Romero won in just his 12th PGA Tour start, producing first top-10 finish of the season in seven starts. Earlier this year Romero, had finished tied for 17th at the Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for 30th at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

Previously, Romero's best finish an event that counts toward PGA Tour records came when he tied for third at the 2007 British Open. He had a chance to win the Open, but faltered down the stretch - an experience he said has benefited him.

"It helped me a lot. It was a very good experience," Romero said. "It was not good, but the experience was okay."

Despite it all, Romero hasn't shied away from his aggressive playing style.

"I've been always very aggressive since I was young and that's the way I got here," Romero said. "Why do I have to change if I had so many good results? I don't know, it's my way of playing."

March 31, 2008