Slocum earns two-stroke win at SFB Classic (AP) Updated: 2005-11-07 09:39
MADISON, Miss. - Heath Slocum shot a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory at
the Southern Farm Bureau Classic on Sunday.
With his father — former
Mississippi club pro Jack Slocum — as his caddy, the younger Slocum finished at
21-under 267 after four rounds at the par-72, 7,199-yard course at Annandale
Golf Club.
Slocum and Loren Roberts were tied at 20 under entering the 17th hole. After
knocking his second shot 9 feet from the pin, Slocum birdied the par-4, 413-yard
hole.
Meanwhile, Roberts had a bogey after hitting his drive into the water to fall
two strokes back.
"Really, the only bad shot I hit the whole week was the tee shot at 17,"
Roberts said. "I hit a poor shot. That's my fault."
Slocum closed his round with a par on No. 18. After he made his final 2-foot
putt, he thrust a fist and his putter into the air, let out a scream and hugged
his father.
Slocum's only other victory came last year at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
The win at Annandale was worth $540,000 and helped him jump 17 spots to 50th on
the money list with $1,606,185 in earnings.
Roberts (68) and Carl Pettersson (67) were two strokes back at 269. Joey
Snyder III, a rookie who led after three rounds, shot 70 and finished at 270.
Slocum finally became a winner in his fifth try at Annandale. In four prior
attempts, his best finish came in 2004 when he was 18th.
The SFB Classic has deep sentimental value for the 31-year-old Slocum, who
grew up 55 miles from Madison in the Mississippi River city of Vicksburg. His
father was the head pro at a golf course in the nearby town of Bovina, Miss.
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