Johnson’s 13-under first

Bryce Alderton

The last 91 yards of the 18th hole turned in to a sweet walk for Mark

Johnson in the final round of the 11th Toshiba Senior Classic on

Sunday at Newport Beach Country Club.

Johnson, who drove beer trucks regularly for 18 years to pay the

bills before dedicating his career to golf, secured his first PGA

Champions Tour win after his third shot on the par-five final hole

found the bottom of the cup.

Johnson (67-63-70) finished at 13-under par, four shots ahead of

Wayne Levi and Keith Fergus, who each finished the three-day

tournament at nine-under.

Don Pooley, who had the best final round with a six-under 65, Gil

Morgan and John Bland each finished with scores of eight-under par,

205, under dry, breezy and partly cloudy skies.

Johnson earned $247,500 with the win, more than he collected in

his career on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide

Tour combined.

An estimated 25,000 fans, the largest showing of the tournament,

strolled the grounds Sunday.

Many followed the final group, which included Johnson, the 1996

California State Amateur champion who lives in Helendale, Calif.

Johnson started the day three strokes ahead of Fergus and

maintained the lead, which dwindled to one shot after the second

hole, for the entire final round.

Johnson eagled the two par fives on the back nine to go with two

bogeys and finished that side with a two-under 34.

Johnson becomes the 10th winner in tournament history in an event

that raises money for charity, primarily benefiting Hoag Hospital.

The tournament raised about $1.07 million, the largest amount

since Hoag took over operations of the tournament eight years ago.