ADELAIDE, Australia -- Scott Sterling parred the 18th hole
and David Lutterus had a bogey to give the American a one-stroke
victory in the Jacob's Creek Open on Sunday.
Sterling finished with a 1-under-par 71 on the Kooyonga Golf
Club course, where Australian Lutterus -- a 21-year-old part-time
bartender -- has been a member for seven years. Sterling finished
with a 12-under 276 total.
"It's unbelievable," Sterling said of his first Nationwide
Tour victory. "We all play to win, but until you actually do it
... you always have some kind of doubts because you haven't done
it.
"Knowing that you can do it and actually doing it is nice, very
rewarding."
Lutterus, a second-year pro who had a final-round 72, blocked
his tee shot on the 370-yard, par-4 18th and his attempted recovery
skipped across the green, leading to a bogey.
"I felt fantastic on the [18th] tee, I thought 'Here we go',
but just came out of it and finished in that wake, which cost me,"
Lutterus said.
Sterling, a 35-year-old Texan, calmly tapped in a two-foot putt
for par and victory.
Despite the near-miss, Lutterus was upbeat about his overall
performance at his home club.
"I had a good feeling about today, I thought I was going to win
to tell the truth," he said. "I was right there coming down the
last and unfortunately I didn't quite pull it off.
"Finishing second is fantastic and just being in the hunt, that
is what you practice for ... it just felt great being in that
position."
Australians held the other leading placings in the joint
Nationwide-Australasian PGA tour event, with Marc Leishman (69),
and Brendan Jones (71) finishing tied for third with 10-under 278
totals.
Craig Parry and Brett Rumford, each with 71s, and Peter Senior,
who shot a final-round 74, were tied for fifth at 279.
Brad Ott of the United States, with a closing 74, was tied with
Australians Nick Flanagan (69) and Peter Wilson (72) for eighth
place another shot back.