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Romero and Tour Burner Each Win First PGA Tour Title
TaylorMade Golf, March 30, 2008
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TaylorMade Tour Staff professional Andres Romero posted his tournament total of 13-under par early Sunday afternoon, then leaned back and relaxed in the clubhouse as player after player failed to equal or better it. When his final threat, fellow TaylorMade-adidas Tour Staffer Peter Lonard, narrowly missed a long birdie putt on the par-five 18th that would have forced a playoff, it became official: Romero had won his first PGA Tour event.
Romero and Lonard were among dozens of competitors forced by poor weather Saturday to finish the third round on Sunday morning. They started the final round tied, a shot out of the lead, with Romero bettering Lonard in the afternoon by one to take the title.
Both Romero and Lonard used TaylorMade's new Tour Burner driver, which also ranked as the No. 1 driver model at the tournament. Lonard used it to go for the green of the par-four 16th both times he played the hole on Sunday. The first time his ball finished in the heart of the putting surface and the second time it finished on the front fringe. Both times he two-putted for birdie.
Lonard also played the new Rossa Monza Spider putter, and turned in another week of solid putting by ranking T13 in putts per round and 9th in putts per GIR. His putting statistics have improved dramatically in recent weeks.
Though Romero has played relatively little in the United States -- New Orleans was his 12th start on the PGA Tour -- many U.S. fans will remember his dramatic play at last year's Open Championship at Carnoustie when he played his way into contention on the final day only to finish double-bogey, bogey and come up a shot short.
However, Romer's third-place finish at Carnoustie earned him automatic entry into this year's Masters Tournament. Lonard, on the other hand, was still in search of an invitation to Augusta at the start of the week, and although victory would have guaranteed one, his runner-up finish in New Orleans should move him into the top 50 in the world golf rankings, which would also get him into the field of the year's first major.
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