Buick Open: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Brian Bateman's winning score of 15-under 273 is the highest winning score at the Buick Open since Vijay Singh captured his first title at Warwick Hills in 1997 with a score of 15-under-par 273.  Woody Austin tied for second and jumped to No. 17 in the FedExCup points list. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• Brian Bateman collects 4,500 FedExCup points with his victory Sunday. Bateman jumps 161 spots from No. 205 on the season-long points list to No. 44. He also collects a check for $882,000 to move from No. 204 on the money list to No. 59. • Brian Bateman becomes the first player to capture his first PGA TOUR win at the Buick Open since Tom Pernice, Jr. in 1999. • Brian Bateman becomes the eighth first-time winner on the 2007 PGA TOUR and the third in a row. Angel Cabrera won the U. S. Open two weeks ago and Hunter Mahan won the Travelers Championship last week in Hartford, Conn. • Brian Bateman had made the cut in four his previous eight starts this year on TOUR with his best effort a T31 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. His previous best finish was a third place at the 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship and 2004 Honda Classic. • Brian Bateman's first victory comes in his 151st career start on the PGA TOUR. His win comes at the age of 34 years, 4 months and 6 days. • Robert Garrigus played as a single off the first tee and needed only 1:41 to complete all 18 holes. Garrigus shot a 5-over-par 77. • Justin Leonard tied for second this week, his best finish of the year. His previous best finish this year was a T16 at the Verizon Heritage. He has made eight cuts in 17 starts and is No. 148 on the money list and No. 148 on FedExCup points list. Leonard had an excellent week tee to green, hitting 44 of 56 fairways (T2) and 58 of 72 greens in regulation (T5). • Jason Gore tied for second this week, his best effort of the 2007 campaign. His previous best was a T15 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. This is Gore's best finish since he won the 2005 84 Lumber Classic. Gore moves from No. 140 on the FedExCup points list to No. 81 and from No. 133 on the money list to No. 89. • Jason Gore's 67 Sunday is his best final-round score since the 2003 Greater Milwaukee Open, when he carded a 7-under 63. • Steve Elkington tied for fifth this week, his first top-10 of the year. His previous best was a T12 at THE PLAYERS Championship. This is Elkington's best showing since he tied for second at the 2005 PGA Championship. Elkington came into the week ranked No. 105 on the FedExCup points list with 2,004 and No. 102 on the money list with $513,217. He moves up to No. 89 on the FedExCup points list and No. 87 on the money list. • Rookie Michael Putnam tied for 20th this week, only his second top-25 of the year. Putnam finished T16 at the Buick Invitational earlier this year. The 2005 Pepperdine grad moved up from No. 133 on the FedExCup points list to No. 125.
• Jim Furyk carded a final-round 2-under-par 70 Sunday, giving him 37 consecutive below-par rounds in this event. The last, and only, time that Furyk has shot an above-par score at the Buick Open came in the third round back in 1997. Furyk has posted par-or-better scores in 51 of 52 rounds at Warwick Hills G&CC. • Jim Furyk's T5 showing this week is his eighth top-10 effort here, giving him the most top-10 finishes in Buick Open history. Furyk broke the mark he shared with Julius Boros and Tiger Woods. • Marco Dawson finished at 13-under 275 and wound up T5, his first top-25 showing in 11 starts this season. Dawson collects 847.5 points, which moves him from No. 185 to No. 141 on the FedExCup points list. • Jay Williamson, who became a Special Temporary Member thanks to his runner-up finish at last week's Travelers Championship, continued his solid play in 2007 with a T20 finish this week. Williamson began the year on the Nationwide Tour and earned his first career win at the Fort Smith Classic thanks to a final-round 63. Williamson came into this week ranked No. 8 on the Nationwide Tour money list. With his check for $51,100 Sunday, Williamson pushes his two-week total to $699,100, which is more than his best single-season on the PGA TOUR (2004, $660,038). • Rookie Steve Marino continues to put together an impressive first year. The 27-year old University of Virginia grad tied for 10th this week, his eighth top-25 effort in 19 starts. Marino now has four top-10 finishes on his resume this year, including a career-best T6 at the AT&T Classic. Marino improves from No. 61 on the FedExCup points list to No. 52 and also jumps from No. 64 on the money list to No. 52. • Another rookie, Brandt Snedeker, also posted his eighth top-25 with a T10 this week. Snedeker finished third at the Buick Invitational back in February and has now made 15 cuts in 20 starts. • With his win, Brian Bateman becomes the first Buick Open champion not to play in the final group on Sunday since 1999 when Tom Pernice, Jr. came from the sixth-to-last group to win. • Woody Austin tied for second this week and jumped from No. 34 to No. 17 in the FedExCup points list. Austin, winner of the Stanford St. Jude Championship three weeks ago, also moves from No. 32 to No. 20 on the season money list. • The par-5 13th hole (544 yards) yielded 18 eagles during this year's Buick Open, marking the most eagles recorded on that hole since 1991 (19), when it was a shorter 490 yards. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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