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Forsman eagles 18 to win Penn Classic
by Associated Press
PAOLI, Pa. (AP) ? Dan Forsman eagled the 18th hole Sunday at the SEI Pennsylvania Classic to capture his first PGA Tour victory in a decade.
One day removed from his course-record-tying 64, Forsman sank a 22-foot putt on the final hole to finish a bogey-free 6-under-par 65 in the final round and 14-under for the tournament.
"Instinctively, when you look up, you judge the speed of the ball and think, OK, that looks good," he said. "I had a sense in my heart that it was going to be a good putt."
Forsman, who hadn't won since the 1992 Buick Open, finished one stroke ahead of defending champion Robert Allenby and Billy Andrade, who led after the first three rounds.
Forsman also recorded birdies on Nos. 3, 5, 10, and 15.
"I didn't look at the leaderboard," he said. "I knew I was keeping pace with the leaders. I felt if I could knock it on the (18th) green, maybe something crazy could happen."
Andrade needed to birdie the 18th hole for the fourth consecutive day to force a playoff, but his drive into a fairway bunker forced him to lay-up. His third shot from 195 yards landed 25 feet from the cup. The left-to-right putt for the tie fell just 2 feet short. He tapped in for a 69.
Allenby was in sole possession of first place before bogeying the par-5 14th. His tee shot into the rough above the front bunker on No. 17 - the site of his hole-in-one the previous day - cost him a shot at a repeat.
"To tell the truth, the only thing I was disappointed in was my shot, my club into 17," Allenby said. "I hit a perfect shot, but it came up short and I had no second shot."
Allenby had an eagle putt on the final hole, but left it a few inches short. He tapped in for birdie and a 6-under 65.
Andrade first surrendered the lead to Allenby after a double-bogey on the 10th hole dropped him back to 13-under. He had birdied four holes in a row and appeared ready to pull away from the pack.
That changed when his drive on No. 10 sailed into the heavy right rough.
"We got to the tee and that rainstorm came in," Andrade said. "It was howling left-to-right and it was a hard tee shot. I wasn't in synch there. These are the reasons you win tournaments and lose tournaments."
John Huston shot a 4-under 67 on Sunday. His birdie attempt to move 13-under on No. 18 lipped-out. He finished with a 12-under 272, one stroke better than Olin Browne and Jeff Sluman.
Forsman opened with a 2-over 73 in Thursday's first round, but secured the victory by shooting 16-under the rest of the way. He took home $594,000 of a $3.3 million purse for his victory.
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