Golf Roundup : Littler Sinks 30-Foot Putt to Give His Team the Title

Gene Littler sank a downhill 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to give him and partner Don January a come-from-behind one-shot victory in the $500,000 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament at Austin, Tex.

Littler sank an equally long birdie putt on the 16th hole, and January made a 10-footer for birdie on 17 en route to a six-under-par 64 for a 257 total, 23 under par.

January and Littler, teamed in the tournament for the first time, split $100,000. January won with Sam Snead in 1982, and Littler won with Bob Rosburg in 1981.

Defending champions Billy Casper and Gay Brewer had putts lip the cup on the final three holes and settled for a second-place tie with Miller Barber-Bob Goalby and Sam Snead-Lee Elder.

Casper and Brewer shot a final-round 65 for 258.

Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth, the first women to play in a PGA event from the same tees, finished at five-under par 275 after a final-round 69.

Ray Floyd broke out of a three-way tie by shooting a final-round 69 to win the $500,000 Houston Open by one stroke over David Frost and rookie Bob Lohr at The Woodlands, Tex.

Floyd finished at 11-under-par 277 and pocketed $90,000 for his first tournament victory since 1982 and the 19th of his career.

Lohr, who shot 67, and Frost, who had a 69, tied for second with 10-under 278s, while Paine Stewart, Keith Fergus, Bob Murphy and Russ Cochran were at 279.

Masters champion Bernhard Langer, trying to become the first golfer to win three tournaments in a row since Gary Player in 1978, finished at 287.

Floyd, who tied for second at the Masters, birdied the eighth and ninth holes to go 12-under, and birdied No. 13 for a three-stroke lead. He took a two-shot lead to 18, and held on with a bogey.

LPGA money leader Alice Miller fired a final-round 66 to win the S&H; tournament by six shots at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The victory, her second of the year, was worth $26,250 and boosted her official money for the year to $176,375. She had seven birdies and one bogey to finish at 16-under-par 272, coming from two shots back in the final round.

Judy Clark, who set an LPGA record for 36 holes with rounds of 64 and 65, had her second straight 75. She finished tied for fourth at 279 when she bogeyed the final hole to fall out of a tie for second with Mindy Moore, who shot 71, and Kay Kennedy, who had a 69.