2006 TaylorMade-adidas Golf Winter Tournament Program Home Page
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Rain and lightning suspended semifinal matches Saturday in the 43rd annual TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Match Play Championship at the PGA Golf Club.
Play will resume on the Dye Course at 7:30 a.m. Sunday with the winners advancing to the finals later in the day. The champion of the $44,800 tournament earns $4,000, the runner-up $2,600, and players losing semifinal matches receive $1,900 each.
When play was halted just before 10 a.m., Roy Vucinich of Moon Township, Pa., the runnerup here a year ago, was leading Larry Emery of Highlands, N.C., by two holes at the turn; and Rick Schuller of Chester, Va., had a 4-up lead after eight holes over Philip Fecteau of North Attleboro, Mass.
Vucinich had moved another step closer to winning the title on Friday, beating Brett Melton of Monee, Ill., 1-up in the quarterfinals.
Vucinich sank a three-foot par putt on the 18th hole to outlast Melton. Neither one had reached the green in regulation. Melton, who was wide right on his drive and short on his second shot, hit his third short on the front of the green and was long on his par putt. Vucinich pitched on from right of the green and saved his par for the victory.
On Friday, Emery went 22 holes before outlasting Tom Sipula of Port St. Lucie, while Schuller edged Mitch Camp of Aurora, Ohio, on the first extra hole. Fecteau won the most lopsided match of the day, 3 & 1 over Joseph Pollack of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Vucinich, 58, a former Champions Tour player, says he doesn't look at the ages of his opponents.
"I have just been taking them as they come," he said. "I've been playing pretty well all winter."
Two of his five opponents this far have also been seniors.
Melton, 31, a teaching professional at Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort, Ill., was the runner-up in this tournament in 2004.
"He just outplayed me," Melton said. "He hit some of the best irons shots I've ever seen."
Melton lost 5 & 4 to Frank Bensel of Greenwich, Conn., in the 2004 finals, Vucinich to Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio, 4 & 3 in the championship a year ago.
Vucinich and Melton were even at the turn, each with two birdies and a bogey. After they halved the next five holes, Vucinich took the lead at the par-4 15th, hitting 7-iron to the green and sinking an 11-foot birdie putt. It was the longest birdie putt either one had made all day. Melton pulled even with a conceded birdie at the par-5 17th, setting up the dramatic finish.
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