Associated Press
Sunday, June 25

CLIFTON, N.J. -- Leading by one stroke and facing a long second shot into the par-5 18th with watering lurking on the right, Lee Trevino didn't play it safe. No way.

	Trevino made just three bogeys all week.

The 60-year-old took out his 3-wood from 223 yards and ended his 27-month victory drought in impressive, record-setting fashion by capturing the Cadillac NFL Classic by two strokes on Sunday.

"When it's your time to win, you are going to win," Trevino said after capping a 3-under 69 by making a 4-foot downhill birdie putt. "That's the way I play golf."

Trevino's 3-wood landed in a front greenside bunker and he blasted out close to the pin to nail down his 29th victory, most on the Senior Tour.

"I wouldn't be playing if I didn't think I could win," Trevino said after becoming only the ninth 60-year-old to win on the Senior Tour. "The day I don't think I can win, I'll quit, and it might be in the middle of a round."

Trevino was by far the best player in this tournament in posting a wire-to-wire win. He made 17 birdies and three bogeys over the 54 holes at the Upper Montclair Country Club to finish at 14-under 202, tying the tournament record set by Bob Murphy in 1996.

Walter Hall birdied the last two holes in a 6-under 66 that put him alone in second at 204.

"I played well, Lee just played better," Hall said. "He just had a great tournament."

Defending champion Allen Doyle (72), Mike McCullough (68) and Leonard Thompson (67) finished tied for third at 11-under on the tree-lined course that Trevino loves. He has won here twice (1993) and never finished worse than ninth.

"Lee's still got the shots," said Doyle, who shared the lead with Trevino heading into the final round. "He played awfully good today.'

In some ways it was a little revenge for Trevino, who finished third in this event last year as Doyle overcame a bad back to beat Joe Inman in a four-hole playoff.

"I told my caddie (Ralph Hackett) yesterday I got the rematch I wanted and I was going to win," Trevino said.

He did by playing solid golf in winning for only the second time in 45 months.

It also marked the 10th time on the Senior Tour that a 60-year-old has won, and the second this year following George Archer. Jimmy Powell did it twice in the mid-90s.

Trevino's last win was in the Southwestern Bell Dominion in San Antonio, Texas, on March 29, 1998.

"I had been hitting the ball awful, I mean awful," said Trevino, who had not finished better than a tie for 18th in his last seven tournaments. "I've been shanking the ball, hitting it right and left, skinny, high, fat and I think I found something last week."

Trevino moved the ball back eight inches in his stance and he started hitting the ball a lot more crisply. He also shortened the backswing on his putting.

"I started making some putts and all of a sudden I was absolutely gleaming with confidence, and every time I made a putt the more confident I got," he said.

Trevino earned $165,000, pushing his earnings this year to $411,636 and his career bankroll on the Senior Tour to more than $9 million, only the third player to pass that mark. Hale Irwin and Jim Colbert have earned $10 million each.

Doyle and Trevino started the final round at 11-under, one shot ahead of Gary McCord.

McCord was never a factor and finished with a 75, falling into a tie for ninth in a group that included Tom Watson (67).

Trevino took the lead for good when Doyle banged a 2-foot putt off the back on the cup on No. 2, one of three bogeys on the front nine.

Doyle rallied to draw within two shots at No. 16, and it could have been closer had Doyle's 12-foot birdie putt on that hole not stayed on the lip.

After both bogeyed the 17th, Trevino closed out the tournament with his gutsy wood on the final hole.

Trevino had downhill birdie putts in the 10-15 foot range on the third and fifth holes as he built a three-shot lead.

Doyle fell behind by as many as five shots on the front nine, but he made birdies at Nos. 7, 8 and 9 to get within two shots.

"I had some awful tough breaks starting off," Doyle said. "I hit the ball well but it was just one of those days."