GOLF ROUNDUP : Frost Unchallenged on His Way to Victory

David Frost’s birdie putts on the 13th and 14th holes Sunday helped the South African to a wire-to-wire, eight-stroke victory in the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y.

“The putts on 13 and 14 were crucial,” Frost said. “After that, I felt safe. I felt I had to break a leg not to win.”

Frost won the fifth title of his PGA Tour career--and his first in more than two years--with a closing 66. He finished at 268, a tournament record 16-under on the hilly Westchester Country Club course in the northern suburbs of New York City.

The victory was worth $180,000--more than triple Frost’s earnings this season.

Duffy Waldorf once closed to within two shots of Frost. Waldorf, however, shot par 71 and finished a distant second at 276.

Paul Azinger, Lee Janzen and Fred Funk, who scored his first career victory earlier this season in Houston, tied for third at 277. Azinger moved up with a 66, Janzen had birdies on the last three holes for a 69 and Funk shot 70.

Patty Sheehan, almost assured of victory after a record-setting third round, cruised to a tournament-record 19-under 269 to win the LPGA’s Rochester International.

The victory, Sheehan’s first since February of 1991, gives her 27 in 12 years on the tour and leaves her three short--one of which must be a major other than the LPGA Championship--of induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

After shooting a record nine-under 63 Saturday, Sheehan eased up with a 71, finishing nine strokes ahead of runner-up Nancy Lopez. Sheehan, who also won the event in 1989 and 1990, and Lopez are the only three-time winners at the par-72 Locust Hill Country Club course.

Her 72-hole total beat the previous low of 271, a mark she set in winning the tournament in 1990. Sheehan came within a stroke of tying Lopez’s all-time LPGA record for four rounds of 268, set in 1985.

Gibby Gilbert, winless since 1977, shot a four-under-par 66 to complete a wire-to-wire victory in a senior tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Gilbert finished at 193, 17 under par and nine strokes ahead of runner-up Jim Colbert.

Gilbert, 51, had 19 birdies and two bogeys in the 54 holes, twice taking four on the par-three third hole. His 193 tied Charles Coody and Bob Charles for the lowest 54-hole score on the circuit.

Colbert, the defending champion and crowd favorite, began the day six strokes behind Gilbert and made up three on the first three holes. But Gilbert, aided by former touring pro Grier Jones, who caddied for him all week, sank a 10-foot par putt on No. 6 and then wrapped things up with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the tough back nine at the 6,496-yard Loch Lloyd course.

Miguel Martin of Spain shot a three-under-par 69 and won the $732,000 French Open at Saint Quentin-on-Yvelines.

Martin Poxon of England finished two strokes back at 278. Nick Faldo, the third-round co-leader, finished at 280 and tied for fourth.