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ROOKIE WRAPS UP WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN

 
Published Oct. 20, 2008|Updated Oct. 20, 2008

Marc Turnesa completed a wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA Tour title, closing with 4-under 68 Sunday to hold off Matt Kuchar by a stroke in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The fourth rookie to win on the PGA Tour this season, Turnesa opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 69 at TPC Summerlin en route to a 24-under 263 total. He earned $738,000.

Turnesa, 30, birdied Nos. 9, 11, 12 and 14 to reach 25 under on the mostly sunny, breezy day. He also birdied the par-3 17th, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 18th.

Kuchar finished with 64.

Former UNLV star Chad Campbell shot 67 to tie for third at 22 under with John Mallinger (68) and 49-year-old Michael Allen (70). Tim Herron (62) and Davis Love (67) followed at 21 under in the Fall Series event.

Kuchar, the second-round co-leader who began the final round at 19 under, birdied the par-5 13th and par-3 14th to take the lead, but finished with four pars to fall a stroke back.

Turnesa, the 2007 Miccosukee Championship winner on the Nationwide Tour, also led after three rounds last month in the Viking Classic, but made a late double bogey and lost to Will MacKenzie on the second hole of a playoff.

The former North Carolina State star's great-uncle, Jim, won the 1952 PGA Championship, and his grandfather, Mike, was a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who finished second to Ben Hogan in the 1948 PGA Championship.

Champions: Bernhard Langer overcame a "senior moment" to win his second straight Administaff Small Business Classic title, shooting 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Lonnie Nielsen. Langer finished at 12-under 204 on the Woodlands (Texas) Country Club course and earned $255,000 for his third victory of the year to take the money lead with $1,992,573. The German star won the event last year at Augusta Pines. Langer took a one-stroke penalty on No. 3, when he absent-mindedly picked up his ball after his tee shot missed the green on the par-3 hole. After a week of rain before the tournament, players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls during the first two rounds. With drier conditions Sunday, players were no longer allowed to use preferred lies through the green. "I hit an 8-iron to the green," Langer, 51, said. "I picked the ball up and gave it to my caddie and then I'm going, 'Uh-oh.' It was a senior moment. I had a great two-putt for a 4 there."

European PGA: Alvaro Quiros held off a chasing pack that included Order of Merit leader Robert Karlsson to win the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura by three. The Spaniard shot 4-under 68 to total 19-under 269. Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie (67) was second, a stroke ahead of a group of three, including Karlsson (71).