BLAINE, Minn. -- Smart course management on the final hole
gave D.A. Weibring the 3M Championship Sunday.
Weibring birdied the last three holes en route to a 5-under 67
and a three-day total of 18-under 198. Jay Haas shot a 9-under 63
to finish one shot back.
"It's great to be back in the winner's circle. It's been a long
time since I've won," said Weibring, who was 8 under on the final
three holes during the three-day tournament. His last win was the
2005 Bruno's Memorial Classic.
Mitch Adams also shot a 63 to finish two shots back at 16 under,
his best finish in three years as a professional. Local favorite
John Harris, from Edina, Minn., shot 66 to also finish at 16 under.
Tom Jenkins and Jim Thorpe finished at 15 under. Thorpe eagled
the last hole and Jenkins made a 53-foot birdie.
Standing in the 18th fairway, Weibring knew he needed a birdie
to win the title, but he had a tough lie and a little mud on the
ball. He quickly remembered last year when he went for eagle on the
582-yard par-5 and his second shot ended up in the water hazard in
front of the green.
This year he played it safe by hitting left of the water,
pitched the ball to about 10 feet and made the putt.
"It didn't make sense for me to hit the 3-wood where the
worst-case scenario if I lay up is I play a wedge shot and I'm
going to get within 15 feet," said Weibring, who finished sixth
and eighth in the tournament the past two years.
A calm day and soft greens following Saturday's light rain led
to much lower scores. Thirty-one players broke 70 Sunday, compared
with 14 Saturday.
"There's a 63 or 64 everyday on this tour," Harris said.
Entering the day with a one-shot lead over Thorpe, Weibring was
15 under through the 15th hole when Haas finished his round at 17
under.
Weibring birdied the par-4 16th and put his tee shot at the
par-3 17th about 3 feet from the hole.
"It has a perfect 5-iron for me," he said. "I hit the shot
exactly as I saw it in my mind."
Haas began the day five shots off the lead, but quickly moved
into contention by shooting 4 under on the front side. In addition
to birdies at Nos. 12, 14 and 18, he eagled the 15th hole from 180
yards out.
"I hit a 5-iron thin. It wasn't an awful shot. Those usually go
on the green, but certainly not the hole. I thought it stopped 5 or
6 feet from the hole. When they cheered because it went in the hole
I was pretty shocked. I felt like it was my day if that one went
in," said Haas, who lowered his cap to cover his face, almost as
if he was embarrassed. "It was one shot I got away with."
Playing in the group in front of Haas, Chip Beck, who finished
at 12 under, also eagled the 15th hole. His shot was from 158
yards.
Adams, who had a 65 in Tuesday's qualifier to get into the
tournament, birdied the first four holes to get to 11 under, and
finished the front side with a 6-under 30, the lowest nine-hole
score in the seven years the tournament has been played at the TPC
Twin Cities.
"He dead-flushed every 3-wood, iron and he rolled the ball
well," said Haas, who played with Adams.
In his third year as a professional, and first year on the
Champions Tour, Adams birdied Nos. 11, 16 and 18 on the back side,
the last after hitting his 5-wood about 260 yards off the
grandstand and back onto the green.
"That was probably the furthest 5-wood I've ever hit," said
Adams, whose best finish in six previous tour events this year was
a tie for 37th at the Regions Charity Classic in mid-May.