Pavin Cruises to Four-Stroke Win in Colonial

Corey Pavin is UCLA-educated, but he’s also learned a few things in two seasons on the PGA tour.

Pavin followed one such lesson to the letter Sunday, when he made all but one stroke of a five-shot lead stand up for a front-running, record-setting victory in the Colonial National Invitation tournament at Fort Worth, Tex.

“I definitely have to thank Lanny Wadkins,” Pavin said after his four-stroke victory. “I learned something from Lanny. I played with him in the last round at Los Angeles.

“Lanny showed me how to win with a big lead--go out and shoot good golf.”

Wadkins, with a two-shot lead going into the final round, shot a closing 64 to win the L.A. Open earlier this year with a 264 total, a record at Riviera Country Club.

Pavin took the lesson to heart.

He compiled a no-bogey 68, two under par, to breeze home.

“To win at Colonial, in only my second year on the tour, to do it at 14 under par, this is something I’ll always cherish,” Pavin said.

Pavin, who led or shared the lead all week, never led by fewer than three strokes in the final round. He acquired the second victory of his brief PGA tour career with a 266 total, 14 under par and the best score ever posted at Colonial.

It broke, by two shots, the course and tournament record of 268 set by Lee Trevino in 1978.

He won the $90,000 first prize, boosting his 1985 earnings to $205,385. He earned a rookie money-winning record $260,536 last year.

Bob Murphy finished second with a bogey-free round of 67 and a 270 total. Scott Hoch birdied the last hole for a 69 and was third at 272.

Mark O’Meara shot a 68 and tied for fourth with South African Nick Price, who had a 64.

Nancy Lopez, setting her sights on the Hall of Fame, shot a front-running, one-under-par 72 to win a $175,000 LPGA tournament at Chatham, N.J.

The three-shot victory over Pat Bradley gave Lopez 30 career victories and extended her string of winning at least one tournament in each of her eight full years as a professional. Lopez is one victory short of automatic qualification for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Bradley sank a 20-foot putt for eagle on the final hole to give her a 69 and a 213 total, six-under-par. It also moved her within one shot of Lopez, who birdied the 16th moments later and added another birdie on No. 18.

Lopez, a runner-up twice this year, completed the 54 holes at 210 to earn the first prize of $26,250.

Another stroke farther back at 214 were Laura Baugh, who had a final 74, and Cathy Morse, who closed with a 71.

At Malvern, Pa., Don January shot a four-under-par 66 to win the $200,000 United Hospitals Senior Championship by five strokes.

January, 55, who has won 20 senior PGA tournaments--four of eight this year--and is nearing the $1 million mark in seniors earnings, finished at five-under-par 135 for 36 holes. Friday’s first round was rained out.

Al Balding finished second with a 69 for 140, while Arnold Palmer shot a 72 to tie for second at 141 with Miller Barber, who had a 71.