Golf: Beem strikes it rich with Kemper win

THE rookie Rich Beem pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in nearly a decade on Amrica's PGA Tour when he won the Kemper Open on Sunday, earning the instant nickname "Richie Rich".

Beem, who had never won more than $25,000 (pounds 15,000) and was only able to play this season because 30 friends in El Paso gave him the money for travel expenses, won $450,000 in securing his first professional title.

After qualifying for the tour only last year, Beem had missed seven out of 11 cuts and had not won any money since 7 March. Not since the big- hitting John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship had anybody burst from such obscurity to win on the tour. "Lying in bed this morning, I honestly thought I was going to throw up," said Beem, who was so nervous he bought a bottle of an anti-nausea medication on the way to the course. "That kind of calmed me a little bit," added Beem, who birdied three of the first five holes to go clear of the field.

He then reeled off seven consecutive pars and was four strokes ahead with six holes left but, after dropping shots, needed a bogey on the last hole, which he achieved.