Sun Apr 6 16:44:39 2008

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Wiebe claims second Champions Tour win

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Cap Cana, Dominican Republic (Sports Network) - Mark Wiebe claimed his second Champions Tour title in just his 12th start on the senior circuit, closing with a five-under 67 on Sunday to win the Cap Cana Championship by four shots.

Wiebe, who won twice on the PGA Tour in the mid-1980s, walked away with the title in his first Champions Tour start last summer at the SAS Championship.

He finished this week at 14-under 202, four shots in front of Argentina's Vicente Fernandez.

"One tournament win is great. Two kind of proves that I'm hopefully here to stay," said Wiebe, who walked away with $300,000.

Fernandez fired a seven-under 65 in the final round, moving up from a tie for 11th place overnight into solo second at 10-under 206. With Wiebe playing well enough to keep the field at bay, the Argentine had to settle for his best finish in more than five years.

Which was good enough for Fernandez, who joked that there was a reason he and fellow Argentine Eduardo Romero (T9) played so well in the this Caribbean country.

"We speak the language here. We speak Spanish -- and we can read the greens," Fernandez joked.

Craig Stadler had a 67 and two-time Champions Tour Player of the Year Jay Haas posted a 68 to share third place at nine-under 207.

Nick Price (67), Scott Hoch (70), Denis Watson (66) and Fulton Allem (68) were another shot further back at 208.

Sunday brought an end to the first Champions Tour event held in the Dominican Republic, where seaside Punta Espada Golf Club was whipped by winds for three straight days.

Nearly half of the field finished over-par for the championship, but Wiebe was among those who enjoyed three rounds of good scores.

He went wire-to-wire for the win after opening with a 67 in the first round on Friday and collected three sub-69 rounds in all. Sunday's round included five birdies, an eagle and a late double-bogey that brought the field back into the tournament, if only for a couple of holes.

"Take a look around, it's fabulous here," Wiebe said, glancing towards the Caribbean Sea. "I enjoyed myself this week a ton, and played awesome."

Wiebe's biggest misstep in three rounds came at the 15th hole Sunday, where his double-bogey trimmed his lead from five shots to three. But he rebounded with a birdie at the 17th to move ahead by four, leaving only a comfortable walk down the 18th fairway.

Now, Wiebe would just like to be mentioned in the conversation of the Champions Tour's best rookies.

"I've won twice now in 12 tournaments, so I just want to be included," he said.