Norman Gives One to Gallagher : Golf: Australian blows one-shot lead by bogeying two of final three holes.

When Jim Gallagher Jr. finished his round Sunday in the Tour Championship on the Lake Course at the Olympic Club, he reasoned that it was Greg Norman’s tournament to win.

“I had run out of holes,” Gallagher said.

Norman still had three holes to play when Gallagher finished and Norman had a one-shot lead.

But Norman beat himself with bogeys on two of the last three holes, providing Gallagher with the victory.

Gallagher, who was the first-day leader with a course-record 63 before slumping to a 73 the second day, said he never gave up on himself.

By winning, the 32-year-old pro from Greenwood, Miss., earned $540,000. He shot a two-under-par 69 on Sunday for a 72-hole score of 277, seven under.

Norman, who shot a 71, wound up in a tie for second at 278 with Scott Simpson, John Huston and David Frost, who had a two-shot lead going into the final round.

“I made a mental error at 18,” Norman said. “It was my trick and treat day.”

After a bogey and a par on the par-five 16th and 17th holes, Norman was seven under and tied with Gallagher going to the par-four, 347-yard 18th hole. His drive found the fairway but he said he pushed his eight-iron second shot too low--the mental mistake.

The ball wound up in the rough in the back of the green and he had a treacherous downhill chip with almost no chance of stopping the ball close to the hole.

His ball trickled 18 feet past the hole, and he left his par putt short.

“It was a no-win situation,” said Norman, who was striving to be the leading money winner for the season. “That was the absolutely worst place to be.”

Earlier, Gallagher missed an opportunity for an eagle or birdie, three-putting for par on the 522-yard 17th hole.

“When I didn’t make birdie on 17, I felt (the championship) had slipped away,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher then got his par on the 18th hole--and the waiting game began.

“It was a great year in one week. It was unbelievable,” Gallagher said.

Frost, who was seemingly out of contention earlier, had a chance to force a playoff with Gallagher.

He had a 30-foot uphill putt at 18 for a birdie and left the ball on the left edge of the cup. Then, Norman missed his putt and Gallagher didn’t have to worry about a playoff. Gallagher, who has won three tour events in a career that began in 1984, had been maligned by Golf World magazine as a weak link on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in September.

However, Gallagher won two of his three matches for the winning U.S. team against the Europeans.

“I was nervous on the last two holes, but there is no question that my Ryder Cup experience helped me,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher said that he was disappointed with his 73 on Friday, but not devastated.

“It’s the kind of course that you can catch up on,” he said.

Gallagher, who was three shots behind Frost at the beginning of the final round, had four birdies and two bogeys for his 69.

Norman, who was two shots behind Frost at the start of the round, had a three-stroke lead over the field after nine holes and a two-shot edge through 11. He said he made a mental mistake on the par-four 12th hole that resulted in a bogey and, of course, made his most costly mental error on the 18th.

Gallagher said that a “Jim Gallagher Day” celebration in Greenwood had already been planned for Nov. 13 to celebrate his contribution to the Ryder Cup victory.

Now he conceded it will be a real blast. As for his check for $540,000, Gallagher said: “My wife has all kinds of plans for it, and she deserves it.”

His wife, Cissye, an LPGA player, is expecting a baby in four weeks.

“It just can’t get any better than this,” Gallagher said, smiling.

Golf Notes

Nick Price finished in a tie for 18th place Sunday, but he still became the leading money winner on the tour for the season with $1,478,557. Price is the PGA player of the year and won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average, 68.98. . . . When Jim Gallagher came into the interview room, Greg Norman, apparently in good spirits despite losing, greeted him by saying: “Jimmy is going to have a hangover and I’ll be fishing.”

Deane Beman, PGA Tour Commissioner, said that the Tour Championship will be held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa in 1995 and 1996. The tournament will return to the Olympic Club in 1994.