Byrd wins Buick Challenge

PINE MOUNTAIN - Jonathan Byrd is the 17th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. He closed with a 9-under 63 to win the Buick Challenge at Pine Mountain Sunday.<br> <br> Runnerup David Toms slipped an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole over the left edge of the cup. Had it dropped, he would have forced a playoff.<br> <br> Byrd finished at 27-under-par 261, and had 27 birdies and two eagles over four rounds on a rain-softened course. The rookie of the year contender also hit his fiancee with a tee shot on the seventh hole. The shot, headed for a cluster of pine trees, hit Amanda Talley behind the left shoulder and bounced to a favorable lie in the rough, possibly saving Byrd a stroke or two.<br> <br> Phil Mickelson closed with a 63 to finish third at 265.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/188397