BEAUMONT, Calif. – Feb. 24, 2005 – Bob Mann of Columbus, Ohio, survived a one-hour rain delay at the start of play and a brief but hard storm during the final round Friday to win the second annual Senior Stroke Play Championship, the opening event of the Callaway Golf PGA Western Winter Tournament Program.
Mann, 53, head professional at Little Turtle Country Club in suburban Westerville, Ohio, closed at 2-over-par 74 for 212 to win by two strokes on the Champions Course at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club. He made two birdies (Nos. 4 and 10, where he chipped in), and four bogeys (Nos. 7, 13, 14 and 17).
"I really just played OK today," Mann said. "I had three three-putt greens, but thankfully, the other guys didn't put too much pressure on me. I'm really kind of surprised to win. I just came out here to play and see some friends."
Mann said it was the first time he had played tournament golf in California, and that he had a plan while playing the final hole with a two-stroke lead.
"I just wanted to hit two decent shots," he said. "I knew as long as there wasn't a two-shot swing between me and the guys in my group, I'd be OK. I hit my second shot about 20 feet from the hole on 18 and ran my putt up there about a foot from the hole. I wasn't sure if 4-under would do it, but it held up.
"This is a strange place for the weather. It was perfect the first day, but cold and windy the last two, and today it rained," he said, some two hours after he finished. "I'm still cold."
"I'll be back next year," said Mann, the 2004 Southern Ohio PGA Senior Player of the Year. "It was still fun."
Mann finished two strokes ahead of the first-round leader, Tom Herzan of Findlay, Ohio, and Mike Zaremba of Pueblo, Colo. They tied for second at 214, each scoring 73 in the final round.
The other age group winners were Fred Wood, Oceanside, Calif., 55-59, 229, and J.R. Delich, Indian Wells, Calif., 60-over, 220.
Mann earned $2,000 for winning his age group and an additional $1,500 as the low scorer in the field of 47 PGA professionals 50 years and older. Wood received $1,500, and Delich $1,410, from a purse of $15,775.
The remaining events of the Callaway Golf PGA Western Winter Tournament Program are the Senior-Junior Championship, which was postponed one day due to rain and will conclude Wednesday. The Match Play Championship is Feb. 28 through Mar. 2.
Source: PGA
