Runge wins Panasonic Open

Steve Runge, a Florida native born to Canadian parents, won this year's Panasonic Open at Coronado on the strength of a 14-under performance over 72 holes on the 6,983-yard course. This year's version of the event was adopted by the Canadian Tour's 2000 season championship and had a $300,000 purse, $36,000 of which went to Runge.

In second place ($20,000) was former Clemson All-American Jonathon Byrd, followed by Canadian Chad Wright and former PGA Tour player Bob Friend.

The Canadian Tour is one of six allied professional tours around the world, through which golfers may qualify for the better-paying US and European PGA tours.
(To learn more about the Canadian Tour, visit their Internet website at
http://www.cantour.com/2001/home2001.shtml .)

The golf course at the Coronado Hotel and Resort is fairly flat, and hard and windy in the dry season. The norm there is to use golf carts rather than caddies, and the Panasonic was played that way as well.