Furyk Wins Mercedes Championships

Monday, January 15th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) â€” Tiger Woods expects to win every tournament he plays. Jim Furyk's expectations were substantially lower in the Mercedes Championships, which made his victory that much more surprising.

Furyk had not played in two months, sidelined by an injury to his right wrist when he fell awkwardly while trying to break up a pass as his buddies tossed around a football after a Baltimore Ravens game in October.

``Just to come here and complete the 72 holes, I would have been happy,'' Furyk said Sunday. ``To play as well as I did ... I'm pretty amazed.''

Even more shocking was the way he won.

Rory Sabbatini was a man of equally low expectations because it was his first time at Kapalua and his game is not particularly sharp in January. He played well enough to win, and needed only a 3-foot putt on the 72nd hole to play a little longer.

But those 3 feet included these variables â€” the slope of the green went to the right, while the grain of the grass and the wind went to the left.

The grain won.

With a driver in his hand to prepare for the sudden-death playoff, Furyk's face was a mixture of sadness and relief as Sabbatini's short birdie putt veered sharply to the left. Furyk had a similar line from about 10 feet moments earlier and made it.

``I guessed right,'' he said.

He closed with a 6-under 67, which gave him a 274, a one-stroke victory over Sabbatini and $630,000 for his sixth PGA Tour win.

``I've been in that situation. I've felt like I've given an event away, had a chance to win or get in a playoff and just missed,'' Furyk said. ``It's a pretty sick feeling.''

Sabbatini had a 72 and didn't take long to find consolation.

``I played well, better than expected,'' said the 24-year-old South African. ``Results be such, but I came away with it that I gave it my best. I'm not sorry about that.''

Also leaving the Plantation Course at Kapalua with a sick feeling was Ernie Els, who missed five birdie putts inside 15 feet on the back nine and finished two strokes behind.

Els tried to summon the magic from a year ago, when he matched eagles and birdies with Woods on the 18th hole â€” once in regulation, once in a playoff â€” before losing on the second extra hole.

Needing another eagle on the 18th, Els pulled his approach on the downhill, 633-yard hole into a hazard and watched another Mercedes Championships slip away. He finished two strokes back and wondered what could have been.

The Big Easy had a four-stroke lead going into the weekend and let it get away.

``I lost a bit of concentration,'' Els said. ``If I don't get in my own way this week, I could have won.''

Instead, he was a bit player in another thrilling finish at Kapalua. That's more than can be said for Woods, who wasn't around for any of the theatrics.

Playing for the first time in a month, Woods never got it going. He was eight strokes back going into the last round and managed only a bogey-free 69 that left him six behind, in a tie for eighth.

``Not bad for coming out and really not playing a whole lot,'' Woods said. ``A little bit of rust, and it showed. If I could have made a few more putts the first three days, I would have been right there.''

It seemed like he was the only one who wasn't there.

Vijay Singh made a late charge, but wound up tied with Els at 276 after a 71. John Huston was a brief factor until making seven straight pars on the back nine and finished fifth at 277 after a 67.

David Duval was doomed by a double bogey on the 398-yard sixth hole and finished at 279. Another stroke back was David Toms, who was only two out of the lead until a double bogey from the hazard on No. 14.

Duval's biggest contribution was playing a practice round with Furyk in Jacksonville, Fla., before they left for Maui.

Duval shot 63 and ``killed me,'' Furyk said.

Furyk never hit practice balls for more than 20 minutes a day, and made sure his wrist could withstand the rigors of four days over a mountainous course with whipping winds.

``I wanted to make sure I could finish the tournament,'' Furyk said.

He did, in style.

After getting into the mix with a long eagle putt on the fifth, Furyk thought he had thrown away his chances when he flew a fairway bunker shot over the green on No. 16. But he holed the 12-foot par putt and pumped his first, realizing he was still in the hunt.

Sabbatini gave back the lead when his approach on the 16th spun off the green, and after both nearly made birdies on the 17th, the tournament was settled on the closing hole.

``There's nothing in golf that's ever a gimme,'' Sabbatini said.