Open again bitter for Parnevik
Posted: Sun July 20, 1997 at 7:50 PM ET
TROON, Scotland -- Jesper Parnevik is getting an education in the majors. However,
he's not learning to win. He's becoming something of an expert on how to lose.
The unconventional Swede was overtaken in the final holes for the second
time in a British Open on Sunday. And this time it was American Justin Leonard who
swept past him over the last three holes to win by three strokes.
Three years ago, Nick Price sneaked up to win by one in
1994 at Turnberry, where Parnevik failed to look at the leaderboard
to see his rival's score and gambled needlessly.
"This one hurt a lot more than Turnberry," he said after his
final-round 73 gave him a tie for second place behind Leonard, who
finished with a 65.
"This one is probably going to stick a little bit longer than
last time. This one I actually thought I was going to pull off."
The 32-year-old Swede, who eats volcanic dust to maintain his
inner physical health and wears unconventional clothing on the
course, had a four-stroke lead during the final round. But Leonard
made a birdie charge from five back to cut his lead to one just
after the turn.
While Leonard birdied six holes out of eight on the opening
nine, Parnevik was unable to mount a defense.
"I tried to pump myself up to go three or four ahead, but the
shots were not there," said Parnevik, who plays on the PGA Tour.
"It felt like I had to hole a 6- or 10-footer on every hole to
save par. It lasted so long."
With Leonard charging through with birdies at 16 and 17,
including a 35-foot putt at the 17th, Parnevik crumbled.
Already one behind going to 17, he bogeyed the last two holes
for a 2-over round and a total of 275 to Leonard's 272.
"I had been riding a wave on just positive momentum all week
and today the pressure was a little bit too much because it was a struggle uphill all day," Parnevik said.
"I had to scramble to save my life on every hole and it was
just not enough in the end."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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