Edmond, OK's Tewell notches first senior tour win

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- Doug Tewell didn't have the same feeling as he approached the 18th green Monday as he did while winning the 1986 Los Angeles Open. <br><br>He didn't have any

Monday, April 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- Doug Tewell didn't have the same feeling as he approached the 18th green Monday as he did while winning the 1986 Los Angeles Open.

He didn't have any goose bumps. He didn't receive quite the ovation. And his wife, Pam, wasn't around.

It hardly felt like a victory, especially a major. Not until Tewell hoisted the PGA Seniors' Championship trophy above his head did he really understand the gravity of winning his first senior tour win.

He had no idea how heavy the Alfred S. Bourne trophy was.

"I'd have to rank this as the biggest victory of my career," said Tewell, whose win earned him $324,000. "There's no doubt about it, based on the weight of that trophy for the main thing."

Tewell, playing in his first Seniors' Championship, shot a 5-under-par 67 Monday and finished seven strokes ahead of four others. He became the 12th golfer to win his first senior event at a major championship.

"It just means a great deal to win," he said. "It just feels good to get in that winner's circle and know you can complete an event."

Tewell finished only one hole in the third round Sunday before play was halted for the seventh time in four days. More than nine inches of rain drenched the Champion Course at the PGA National Resort & Spa during the event, forcing officials to reduce the major to 54 holes.

Few fans remained for the Monday morning finish, including Tewell's wife. She left a day earlier to see their third grandchild, who was born Sunday morning.

Tewell, the leader from the opening round, pressed on. He hit 13 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation. He became the seventh wire-to-wire winner at this event since 1958 and first since Jack Nicklaus in 1991.

The 50-year-old Tewell finished at 15-under 201, making six birdies and a bogey during the final round. It was his first win since the 1987 Pensacola Open.

Dana Quigley, who started the day one stroke behind Tewell, shot 1 over and finished in a four-way tie for second at 8-under with Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and Larry Nelson. Vincente Fernandez and Hubert Green were 7 under.

"Even beyond my A-game, I don't know if I would have caught him today," Quigley said.

A former club pro at Pinetop Country Club in Arizona who spent three years as a television commentator for The Golf Channel, Tewell made his debut on the senior tour last fall. He missed the first five tournaments with a back injury he sustained the day after his 50th birthday.

He initially feared he had ruptured a disc in his back, but it turned out to be an acute sciatica attack. The injury came two days before he was scheduled to leave for his first senior tournament event, in Kansas City.

Recovering from the injury, Tewell's best finish last year was a tie for 15th.

"I wasn't physically prepared. It just hurt to play," he said.

But he was forced to play, trying to maintain his position on the money list and his exempt status.

A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, he has much higher expectations for 2000, especially after his first win.

"I'm going to be kind of anxious now to see what this amount of confidence does for me," Tewell said. "I want to see if this will get me to that level where I feel like I should be."

Many believe it will.

"He plays very well from tee to green," Kite said. "His bugaboo has been an inconsistent putter. Depending on how well he can get his putting, he can win a bunch of them."

Divots: Irwin, who won three consecutive Seniors' Championships from 1996-98, finished the tournament despite initially saying he would not have been able to compete on Monday because of a commitment to a charity event. ... After a quadruple bogey at par-4 No. 11 on Sunday, Quigley carded a 4 at the course's toughest hole Monday. ... Jack Nicklaus said he will not play another senior event until the U.S. Senior Open. ... Leonard Thompson, even par as he approached the par-3 No. 15, hit four shots into the water en route to an 11, the first double-digit score of the tournament. His fifth shot stopped on the fringe and he two-putted from there. Thompson started the day 4 under, but shot a 13-over 85 in th efinal round. Said Kite, one of his playing partners: "It was painful to watch." ... The tournament, one of four majors on the senior tour, was sponsored by Advil.