Siggis survived with an even-par 71 Sunday to finish off a wire-to-wire
victory in the Baben Bay Classic for his second IGT win, holding off
last year's champion James NITHZ by a stroke. 

"I guess that's the only way I can do it now," Siggis said with a laugh. 

The victory turned around an otherwise so far dismal year for the former
Golden Chalice team member. 

Siggis looked like he might win going away after turning a one-stroke
lead over Lonnie STREVEL and Darren MacKIRDY into a four-stroke margin
through 13 holes. Then, the man who opened the tournament with a course
record 61 made it interesting as he bogeyed two straight holes to trim
his lead to just a stroke. 

He finished off his victory with tough par saves on Nos. 16 and 17 to
pick up the biggest check of his career, $630,000 Christiana Crowns. He
had a 17-under 267 total.

"I made it a little tougher than I meant to. I wanted a four- to
five-stroke cushion coming down the stretch," Siggis said. "You only got
to win by one, don't you?" 

Nithz (66) finished second, while James KILANDRA (66) and MacKirdy (72)
were tied for third at 269.  Quincy HOLLAND (69), Samual N'Banj (68) and
Strevel (73) were all at 270. 

Strevel had an excellent round Saturday, with a 63. He struggled with
his short irons and putter after three straight rounds in the 60s. 

Nithz was looking for his second win this season. He was impressed with
how Siggis handled the pressure, especially with the players behind him
on the leaderboard inching closer, eating into his lead. 

"He did extremely well," Nithz said. "It's tough tolead all four days
with the stuff that's going on. He had a brilliant round on Thursday and
was in the lead the whole week." 

 Siggis' biggest challenge Sunday may have been ignoring the crowds
cheering on their native son.  "The people were really getting into it,
they so much wanted me to win, I started putting more and more pressure
on myself, cause I didn't want to disappoint them!"

But Siggis said he felt he picked up the advantage when his long-hitting
playing partner Strevel didn't pass him despite two par 5s and two short
par 4s over the first five holes. 

Strevel then fell off the pace with bogeys on four of the next six
holes. His worst came on the par-3 11th when he bounced a 9-iron off the
back ofthe island green and into the water. 

"It's great for the game of golf in Baben Bay and certainly for him
personally and also for the TOUR," Nithz said of Siggis' resurgence.
"It's wonderful to see him back in the groove. I played with him earlier
on in Westria and one other place and
saw he was hitting the ball quite well. It looks like he has his game
more under control." 

Siggis could have put away the title on the front nine but missed short
birdie putts on Nos. 5, 6 and 7. He led by four strokes despite missing
birdie putts on Nos. 11 and 12. 

"If I would've made one or both those putts on 11 or 12, I'd really had
a nice cushion," the champion said. 

That's when he ran into trouble with only his second and third bogeys of
the tournament. He hit a tee shot on the par-3 14th way left into the
rough and couldn't get up and down. His tee shot on the par-4 15th wound
up behind some trees, forcing him to punch out into the fairway. 

As he bogeyed No. 15, Nithz made a long birdie putt that put him at 16
under and a stroke off the lead. 

Siggis settled down and sealed his victory on the par-5 16th with a
tough par. He hit his second shot into a greenside bunker, came out
through the green then chipped back onto the green for a short par putt.
He also pulled out a par after a poor tee shot on No. 17. 

Nithz could have caught him with a long birdie putt on No. 17 only to
see the ball come up a foot short, and Siggis parred out for the
victory. 

The final results and earnings, in Christiana Crowns:

Siggis (BOB)            1   61-66-69-71   267  $630,000.00

Nithz (OOO)             2   69-65-68-66   268  $378,000.00

Kilandra (BOW)         T3   69-68-66-66   269  $203,000.00
MacKirdy (CAL)         T3   66-65-66-72   269  $203,000.00

Holland (CHR)          T5   69-65-63-73   270  $127,750.00
N'Banj (UTA)           T5   66-67-69-68   270  $127,750.00
Strevel (MER)          T5   65-67-69-69   270  $127,750.00

Senaduro (CAB)         T8   67-64-71-69   271  $105,000.00
Oostingverde (WES)     T8   68-67-69-67   271  $105,000.00

Coswyn (SOM)          T10   66-70-67-69   272   $91,000.00
Gelfinger (LCP)       T10   68-68-67-69   272   $91,000.00

Uunderfvil (KTZ)      T12   70-69-70-64   273   $64,500.00
Kessel (KTZ)          T12   71-67-67-68   273   $64,500.00
Lubjana (DRA)         T12   66-69-69-69   273   $64,500.00
V. Toschamerton (DEY) T12   69-68-70-66   273   $64,500.00
Beobidhenhe (EDE)     T12   69-69-67-68   273   $64,500.00
Lamar (LCP)           T12   69-67-68-69   273   $64,500.00
Davys (FRW)           T12   67-66-72-68   273   $64,500.00

Tay (WMC)             T19   67-66-72-69   274   $45,500.00
Bilau (NAM)           T19   68-69-67-70   274   $45,500.00
Protheroe (FRW)       T19   69-69-65-71   274   $45,500.00

Von Trasnau (ALB)     T22   68-68-72-67   275   $32,491.67
Ouesreche (BRO)       T22   71-66-70-68   275   $32,491.67
Rosebridge (SOM)      T22   64-67-75-69   275   $32,491.67
Kronberg (CAB)        T22   67-69-69-70   275   $32,491.67
Dahlista (CAB)        T22   67-67-71-70   275   $32,491.66
Olejnik (GUW)         T22   69-70-64-72   275   $32,491.66

Huyfrino (BRO)        T28   67-70-70-69   276   $25,375.00
Berch (CHR)           T28   69-68-69-70   276   $25,375.00

R. Connell (ARO)      T30   69-66-71-71   277   $20,800.00
Johannessen (WES)     T30   68-71-68-70   277   $20,800.00
Gnorelia (CAB)        T30   70-65-73-69   277   $20,800.00
Harvey (CHR)          T30   71-67-72-67   277   $20,800.00
Starn (LCP)           T30   68-70-70-69   277   $20,800.00
Simpson (LCP)         T30   71-66-72-68   277   $20,800.00
Daneben (BOB)         T30   70-68-70-69   277   $20,800.00

Hammerstein (REZ)     T37   70-69-71-68   278   $15,750.00
Queal (SOM)           T37   71-66-71-70   278   $15,750.00
Uroja (UTA)           T37   68-66-72-72   278   $15,750.00
Antanavo (LEN)        T37   65-70-73-70   278   $15,750.00
Ikita (ACH)           T37   71-68-68-71   278   $15,750.00

Jarvie (MER)          T42   68-70-74-67   279   $11,570.00
Murial (NAM)          T42   64-72-71-72   279   $11,570.00
Zirandria (NAM)       T42   68-67-73-71   279   $11,570.00
Grünwiesen (WES)      T42   67-69-77-66   279   $11,570.00
Hosking (UNT)         T42   66-72-73-68   279   $11,570.00
Marino (CHR)          T42   70-67-69-73   279   $11,570.00
Kresnick (SCK)        T42   68-69-69-73   279   $11,570.00

Okay (WMC)            T49   68-70-71-71   280    $8,732.50
Oudenryn (GUW)        T49   64-70-72-74   280    $8,732.50
Bneressia (NAM)       T49   71-67-73-69   280    $8,732.50
Caldaravo (LEN)       T49   66-70-71-73   280    $8,732.50

Lumle (LEX)           T53   67-70-72-72   281    $8,064.00
Unon (LEX)            T53   68-71-74-68   281    $8,064.00
Shonaugh (SOM)        T53   69-69-72-71   281    $8,064.00
Turhan (ALB)          T53   70-68-73-70   281    $8,064.00
Cates (DAV)           T53   69-70-69-73   281    $8,064.00

Nickerson (DAV)       T58   66-69-75-72   282    $7,700.00
Weslow (IWK)          T58   68-71-68-75   282    $7,700.00
Balaste (LEN)         T58   71-66-75-70   282    $7,700.00
Boulabi (ALL)         T58   66-69-74-73   282    $7,700.00
D'Oliveira (ORD)      T58   65-74-68-75   282    $7,700.00

Nagy (SPA)            T63   67-69-74-73   283    $7,455.00
Verde (ORD)           T63   69-69-76-69   283    $7,455.00

Durranende (LEN)      T65   70-68-68-78   284    $7,315.00
Azatinou (ACH)        T65   71-66-74-73   284    $7,315.00

Gaddich (UTA)          67   69-70-71-75   285    $7,210.00

MacGillivray (CAL)    T68   70-68-75-73   286    $7,105.00
Kossuth (SPA)         T68   71-66-73-76   286    $7,105.00

Rajpatell (WMC)        70   70-69-73-75   287    $7,000.00