Graham Marsh

Graham Marsh, 53, of Western Australia, steadied his nerves down the stretch to finish birdie-par, good enough to win the U.S. Senior Open by a stroke over South African John Bland at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club.

Marsh shot even-par 280 for the championship, but could only muster a 4-over 74 for his final round. Bland shot 3-over 73 and lost his chance at forcing a playoff when he bogeyed the final hole, missing his par-saving putt from 15 feet.

Marsh enjoyed a two-stroke advantage over Bland and a three-stroke advantage over Dave Eichelberger heading into the final day. He had followed a mediocre opening round of 72 with a pair of 67s. He and Hale Irwin were the only players to reach 67, but Irwin's 67 came on the final day, too late to catch the leaders. Irwin settled for a 4-over 284, tying him for fifth place with Jack Nicklaus and Eichelberger, who made the most birdies during the week (15).

Marsh faltered to start his final round, missing the first three greens and taking bogeys before settling down.

"In the back of my mind, I knew this championship wouldn't be decided until the last three or four holes," Marsh said later. He was right.

With Gil Morgan and Tom Wargo headed for 2-over totals of 282, which would tie for third place, it was clearly a dual between Marsh and Bland down the stretch.

The champion faltered with a bogey on the 16th, allowing Bland a share of the lead. Bland then gained the upped hand momentarily when he was the first to birdie the par-4 17th. Marsh followed, however, with a birdie of his own from 5 feet and both players were back to even par.

From here it was Bland who gambled too much with his approach shot to the 18th green and lost, hitting his ball into the right greenside bunker, from where he failed to get up and down for par.

In contrast, Marsh safely found the green with his 8-iron and two-putted from 15 feet for the win. It was victory for a man who had won more than 60 times around the world, but is little known in the United States where he never played on the regular Tour.

Marsh's win was focused on those three finishing holes. For the week, he played them in a combined two under. No one else could come close to saying the same. And with three previous top-10 finishes in Senior Opens, including a runner-up finish in 1994, Marsh proved he can make pars when and where they count the most.

The 36-hole cut came at 11-over 151 and included 67-year-old Arnold Palmer, who fired 75-76 to make it. It also included Vinny Giles, who was low amateur for the second consecutive year.

Other notables included Bob Toski, who, at age 70, became the oldest qualifier in this championship's history. Dick Goetz scored the only hole-in-one, making an ace on the 11th hole during the first round.

The USGA accepted a record 2,918 entries for the 18th U.S. Senior Open.