Crane cruises to victory in Milwaukee

Ben Crane led from start to finish to win at the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

Crane defied temperatures hovering near 100 degrees and was never in danger during a final round one-under-par 69.

The 29-year-old finished with a 72-hole total of 20-under 260 – four shots in front of Scott Verplank.

Crane, ranked only 94th in the world at the start of the tournament, became the first wire-to-wire winner here since Ed Sneed in 1974.

The victory earned him a first prize of just under £400,000 and a two-year PGA Tour exemption, which removes some of the pressure to perform on a weekly basis.

After a birdie at the second and a bogey two holes later, Crane holed out for an eagle at the par-five sixth.

He also had a bogey at the seventh but made the turn with a four-shot advantage and played the final nine at even-par.

Chad Campbell, who started the day tied for 13th, rose to third place after shooting a 65 and Jeff Sluman’s 68 earned him fourth spot on 14 under.

Collated final round scores & totals in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Brown Deer Park GC, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 70):

260 Ben Crane 62 65 64 69

264 Scott Verplank 64 65 64 71

265 Chad Campbell 66 68 66 65

266 Jeff Sluman 64 64 70 68

267 Chris Smith 64 67 65 71, Steve Elkington (Aus) 65 70 64 68

268 Mark Calcavecchia 69 65 65 69, Lee Janzen 69 66 68 65

269 Kenny Perry 63 69 64 73, John Huston 68 67 65 69, Dean Wilson 66 69 66 68, Glen Day 67 70 66 66, Brad Faxon 67 64 70 68

270 Matt Davidson 67 68 64 71, Jason Bohn 67 68 70 65, Jerry Kelly 64 68 69 69, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 68 70 65 67, Bo Van Pelt 70 65 64 71, Rocco Mediate 69 68 66 67, J.L. Lewis 68 67 66 69, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 65 69 68 68, Briny Baird 66 69 65 70, Fred Funk 69 67 64 70

271 Olin Browne 71 66 65 69, Tommy Armour III 66 65 68 72

272 Bob Estes 67 69 71 65, Matt Kuchar 68 68 66 70, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 67 65 71

273 Brian Gay 68 67 69 69, Roland Thatcher 65 69 65 74, Bradley Hughes (Aus) 69 67 68 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 66 68 65 74, Kevin Streelman 65 70 67 71, Kent Jones 69 64 70 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 70 67 69, Steve Allan (Aus) 70 67 65 71, Brian Bateman 65 70 69 69, Brett Wetterich 69 65 68 71, Will MacKenzie 69 68 70 66

274 Jay Delsing 66 71 67 70, Robert Gamez 67 69 70 68, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 70 66 67 71, D.A. Points 70 68 67 69, Steve Flesch 69 68 65 72, Michael Long (Nzl) 66 69 68 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 68 68 69 69, Dan Forsman 67 71 67 69, J.P. Hayes 69 68 69 68, Cameron Beckman 65 70 71 68

275 James Driscoll 69 65 68 73, Heath Slocum 68 69 67 71, Hunter Mahan 67 67 71 70, Tim Herron 66 70 72 67, Nick Gilliam 69 68 69 69, Phillip Price (Wal) 66 72 70 67, John Elliott 68 68 69 70, Harrison Frazar 67 68 67 73, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 68 68 67 72

276 Marco Dawson 66 67 70 73, David Edwards 70 68 70 68, Mario Tiziani 71 67 67 71, Brett Quigley 70 67 68 71, J J Henry 71 66 70 69

277 Frank Lickliter II 71 67 71 68, Arron Oberholser 69 69 69 70

278 Kevin Stadler 72 66 68 72, Jeff Hart 71 66 67 74, Carlos Franco (Par) 70 67 69 72

279 Joey Sindelar 69 69 69 72

280 Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 66 68 72 74

281 Ryan Moore 71 66 72 72, Blaine McCallister 68 70 72 71, Tripp Isenhour 68 68 75 70

282 David Hearn (Can) 66 72 71 73

283 Justin Bolli 68 68 73 74

287 Gene Sauers 71 67 73 76.