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301 ROYAL CHRISTIANA OPEN Royal Port Celt Golf Club, Port Celt, Christiana PORT CELT, CHRISTIANA ----- The stoic expression Jeff ORFORD hides behind sunglasses hardly ever changed until the last putt fell Sunday at the Royal Christiana Open. Only then did he peel off his wraparound shades and blink in the bright sunlight over Royal Port Celt Golf Club, finally able to call himself a major champion. He never looked at a leaderboard Sunday. He didn't have to. Orford always believed he had the mettle to withstand the pressure of golf's sternest test, and the silver goblet he held aloft was the greatest proof of all. ''I knew it was there, I just needed to play good,'' the relieved Whitlamite said. Orford refused to let the final round turn into the 18-hole shootout everyone expected, seizing control with a rock-solid game that carried him to a 4-under 67 and gave him the prize that had eluded him the past years. "I don't know if I can savor this any more than I do now," Orford said. "I imagine what it would do is intensify my desire to do it again." Orford finished at 274 for a three-stroke victory over Lorti OSICRA of Ranha, the only one among a long list of proven players who sustained any kind of challenge. Local favorite Larry TAHOMA might have been one of them. But after nearly making an ace on the opening hole, the Christianan realized he had an extra club in his bag and was assessed a two-stroke penalty. "I did not really get out of my head all the way around," Tahoma said. "Everything seemed to be going against me." Haunted by the costly mistake, Tahoma finished with a 71 and was four strokes back at 278 along with five others. "It's kind of a big relief," the Champion further said. "It's so pressure-packed in major championships, and then you put it on a golf course like this, where any minor mistake is magnified and it makes the pressure even greater. You just can't let up, and I didn't let up today." He won for the first time this year, and the third time to win individually on the IGT, Whitlam's second major champion after Rod SINCLAIR, and the first from his nation to claim golf's oldest championship. Meanwhile, another major championship passed without some of the top-favorites in serious contention. Like so many others, Pancho McFEELEY couldn't make enough birdies on a firm, fast links course littered with pot bunkers. He took triple bogey on the par-3 12th and wound up nine strokes behind in a tie for 25th. "I'm not thrilled that I wasn't able to contend down the stretch, but I had my chances out there," McFeeley said after a 71. He wasn't alone. Odds-on favorite Evan BURCHARD was at 8-under par and rolling — until his tee shot rolled into a pot bunker on No. 17 and he took double bogey. Eugen KRESNICK also got to 8 under until he fell back with back-to-back bogeys. Meritean Reynold JARVIE finished with eight straight pars and wound up in the group at 278. All of them had their hands full trying to catch Orford. From the time Orford holed an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 3, then birdied the back-to-back par 5s to take a two-stroke lead, he never gave anyone else much hope. It certainly didn't start out that way. This was anyone's Open on a sunny, breezy day off the coast. The stage was set for an 18-hole shootout with four co-leaders and 28 players within five shots of the lead. Among them was McFeeley. He worked feverishly on the practice range Saturday night to work out the kinks in his swing and appeared positioned for a comeback when he birdied three straight holes and had an 8-foot putt for another on No. 7 that would have put him two behind. The putt swirled over the lip, and the San Patrician was furious. His chances vanished for good with a triple bogey on the par-3 12th. After hitting into the waist-high weeds, he flew his next shot over the green and 40 yards down the fairway. His pitch rolled into a pot bunker, and he two-putted for a 6. Quincy HOLLAND, cheered on by a Christianan gallery desperate to see him defend his title, dropped two shots on the first five holes and never recovered. He finished at 72. Philippe LAROQUETTE came to Royal Port Celt with dark purple-and-white striped pants. It wasn't long before he found himself in jail. He bogeyed the third and fifth holes to fall too far behind, and finished the day behind bars — the fence down the 18th fairway. The charge came from an unlikely source. Teeing off nearly two hours before Orford, Osicra made birdies on four of his first seven holes. When his 10-foot putt dropped on No. 7, he pumped his fist twice, aware that he was in the lead. Osicra dropped his only stroke on No. 14 when he had to play sideways out of a pot bunker, but he finished strong with four pars. "I played very well and gave it all I had," Osicra said. Orford had a few shaky moments down the stretch, but nothing that drastic. He recovered from two drives into the rough, on Nos. 14 and 15, to make par. By then, his name was being etched into the silver trophy. "You get four chances each year, and you have to have a lot of things go right to even get into a position to win," he said. "Then, you have to do it. There's no way around it." There was no stopping him. The final results and earnings, in Christiana Crowns: Orford (FRW) $858,000 69-73-65-67--274 -10 Osicra (RAN) $514,800 69-69-72-67--277 -7 Norling (ALT)
$202,584
71-71-67-69--278 -6
Boulabi (ALL)
$91,163 68-75-70-66--279
-5
Oostingverde (WES) $57,290
70-70-71-69--280 -4
Kilandra (BOW)
$46,475 73-67-74-67--281
-3
Goldsmith (NEO)
$43,615 71-72-71-68--282
-2
Ikita (ACH)
$39,325 74-70-73-66--283
-1
Kalviack (KAL) $35,750 70-72-72-70--284 E Wan Hujan (LEX)
$30,745 69-72-74-70--285
+1
Protheroe (FRW)
$23,309 75-66-74-71--286
+2
Galinheira (ORD)
$19,305 69-71-74-73--287
+3
Lamar (LCP)
$15,199 72-70-74-72--288
+4
Nithz (OOO)
$12,788 69-74-73-73--289
+5
Rannatosu (UTA) $12,155 69-75-72-74--290 +6 Von Chicken (WES)
$12,012 70-72-75-74--291
+7
Weilderman (BOW) $11,869 72-72-73-78--295 +11 Balasta (LEN)
$11,762 72-72-77-75--296
+12
McGurk (SPA) $11,655 71-72-76-79--298 +14 Melk (SNX)
$11,547 75-69-81-76--301
+17
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