Then, somehow, he steadied himself to make the hardest shot in golf.
After going bogey-bogey to shrink his three-shot lead to one -- and
after missing the green with his approach at 18 -- he sank a gut-check,
8-foot putt for par to win the rain-delayed Petrochemica United
Territories Open. 

``I'm just delighted. It's not how I wanted to finish. It wasn't pretty.
It didn't feel pretty,'' Weslow said. ``The putt felt extremely good,
though, on the last hole.'' 

The Kukurian shot a final-round 68 for a 16-under-par 268, one shot
ahead of home boy Matt CUNNINGHAM to become the first player from IWK to
win on the IGT. Another local favorite, David LYONS closed with a
final-round 65 to finish in a three-way tie for third with Michael
OUDENRYN and Marco SANDARIO at 12-under. 

Weslow was emotional about his first big win.

``It took me longer than I thought to get a win,'' said the Kukurian,
victorious in his third season as a professional on the tour. ``It's
awesome. It looks like I'll be playing here the next 20 years. ... this
was a good experience for me. They're all learning experiences. Some of
them aren't very fun, but this one was.'' 

Weslow and Cunningham were the overnight co-leaders at 16-under after
storms suspended play Sunday evening, but Weslow pulled away Monday
morning with birdies at the 12th and 14th holes, while Cunningham lost a
shot at 16. 

Then Weslow, who claims never to look at the scoreboard, decided to ask
his caddie how things were going. The caddie informed him he had a
three-stroke lead with three to play. 

Right on cue, the collapse started. Weslow missed the green out of the
rough at 16 and bogeyed, missed a 4-foot putt for par at 17 to drop
another shot, then put his 7-iron approach in the rough to the left of
the 18th green and chipped to set up the final pressure putt. 

Amazingly, he held the nerves at bay. 

``Just get totally back into the moment,'' Weslow said. ``And, for some
reason, I did it extremely well right there. Even after everything that
had happened the last half-hour, I had no thoughts except reading the
putt and making it.'' 

Asked if there was a difference in golfers' minds between players who
have won and those who haven't, he said: ``There's a small difference.
There's a bigger difference in guys that have won once and guys that
have won lots of times.'' 

Thunderstorms, mud and fog forced the UNT Open to go the extra day.
There were three stoppages for storms on Sunday. 

Weslow resumed Monday morning on the 10th green, where he finished a
par. He birdied No. 12, the hardest hole on the course, with a 6-iron to
12 feet, and made a 6-foot birdie putt at No. 15. 

Cunningham was also seeking his first tour victory, although he was a
much more obscure candidate than Weslow, even though he had the full
support of his compatriot crowd.

At the 15th tee when play resumed Monday, Cunningham couldn't regain the
rhythm he had when he birdied four holes on the front nine Sunday. He
bogeyed No. 16 after he sliced his tee shot into the rough and shot a
final round 66. 

``I made a couple of mistakes here and there,'' Cunningham said. ``I was
a little nervous.  Something I can build on for the future. Obviously, I
was trying to win the tournament, but at the same time in the back of my
mind it was, worst case, trying to lock up a big pay cheque.''

Sandario, wearing tennis shoes, showed up Monday to make just one shot:
a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 18. 

``My golf shoes were pretty much water-logged after yesterday,''
Sandario said. ``They won't see another day on my feet.'' 

The final results:

Weslow (IWK)       $630,000   69-65-66-68--268    16-under

Cunningham (UNT)   $378,000   65-71-67-66--269    15-under

Oudenryn (GUW)     $182,000   70-63-72-67--272    12-under
Sandario (TIG)     $182,000   71-66-67-68--272
Lyons (UNT)        $182,000   68-67-72-65--272

Strevel (MER)      $117,250   69-68-68-69--274    10-under
Pickering (ARM)    $117,250   68-70-66-70--274
Bartrim (FRW)      $117,250   68-69-66-71--274

Horsnell (UNT)      $94,500   65-70-68-72--275     9-under
Verde (ORD)         $94,500   68-67-67-73--275
Protheroe (FRW)     $94,500   68-67-71-69--275

Aretasuna (UNT)     $77,000   69-67-67-73--276     8-under
Brok'levitsch (KTZ) $77,000   67-69-69-71--276

Drenner (NAM)       $63,000   69-69-69-70--277     7-under
Märklin (SCK)       $63,000   71-65-71-70--277
Kalviack (KAL)      $63,000   72-67-69-69--277

Peacock (UNT)       $49,000   71-69-71-67--278     6-under
Lubjana (DRA)       $49,000   69-67-71-71--278
Von Trasnau (ALB)   $49,000   66-72-71-69--278
N. Malin (KAL)      $49,000   70-70-71-67--278
Sanfreddian (IWK)   $49,000   68-68-71-71--278

Tennant (ARM)       $29,944   66-69-73-71--279     5-under
Matthewman (ARM)    $29,944   73-68-72-66--279
Ipsi (KTZ)          $29,944   71-70-69-69--279
Huang (WMC)         $29,944   72-69-67-71--279
Jarvie (MER)        $29,944   70-65-73-71--279
Lowe (ARM)          $29,944   71-68-69-71--279
Lemmernig (IWK)     $29,944   71-70-69-69--279
Pishenky (DRA)      $29,944   66-68-71-74--279
Kresnick            $29,944   70-71-73-65--279

Tahoma (CHR)        $20,300   65-71-70-74--280     4-under
Koreti (RAB)        $20,300   72-69-70-69--280
Gaddich (UTA)       $20,300   68-68-71-73--280
N'Banj (UTA)        $20,300   69-68-71-72--280
Ibrahim (ORD)       $20,300   71-69-71-69--280
Mandrin (BOW)       $20,300   68-68-71-73--280

Kronberg (CAB)      $14,700   71-69-67-74--281     3-under
Durranende (LEN)    $14,700   69-68-72-72--281
Azatinou (ACH)      $14,700   73-68-68-72--281
Shigetsuki (WMC)    $14,700   71-66-73-71--281
Vassallirro (MER)   $14,700   69-66-76-70--281
Detarti (RAB)       $14,700   67-73-72-69--281
Olejnik (GUW)       $14,700   69-68-77-67--281
Yurhaus (MER)       $14,700   67-70-74-70--281

Kluffen (WES)       $10,850   69-72-70-71--282     2-under
Indurain (DEU)      $10,850   69-70-72-71--282
D'Oliveira (ORD)    $10,850   70-68-70-74--282

Lariman (REZ)        $8,797   70-71-71-71--283     1-under
Predicor (ALB)       $8,797   71-68-73-71--283
Omala (NIO)          $8,797   71-70-69-73--283
Lavamil (KAL)        $8,797   72-69-73-69--283
Tay (WMC)            $8,797   71-68-73-71--283
Shearer (UNT)        $8,797   70-70-70-73--283

Fletcher (ARM)       $8,015   68-73-70-73--284     even
Salvatori (FRW)      $8,015   69-72-69-74--284
Huyfrino (BRO)       $8,015   71-68-72-73--284
Holland (CHR)        $8,015   68-68-78-70--284

Murial (NAM)         $7,805   68-73-70-74--285     1-over
Uroja (UTA)          $7,805   68-69-69-79--285

Bombatz (ALT)        $7,700   70-70-74-72--286     2-over

Antanavo (LEN)       $7,595   71-66-72-78--287     3-over
Hammerstein (REZ)    $7,595   68-73-72-74--287

Berch (CHR)          $7,490   69-71-74-75--289     5-over

T. Rothies (WES)     $7,420   70-71-77-75--293     9-over

Osicra (RAN)                  71-DQ