Mulroy, Ping win Big Stakes Match Play
Associated Press Sports
Updated: 10:06 p.m. ET May 16, 2005

MESQUITE, Nev. (AP) - David Ping and Garth Mulroy won the Big Stakes Match Play Championship on Monday, beating Rick Hartmann and Mark Mielke 2-up in the final to earn $2,325,000 and push their tournament total to $3 million.

Ping, a mini-tour player from La Habra, Calif., and Mulroy, a former North Carolina State player from South Africa, won six matches on the CasaBlanca Golf Club course in the event organized by former Atlanta quarterback Steve Bartkowski and Jim Thomas.

Falcons player Barry Stokes and the Cleveland Browns' Ross Verba sponsored the winning team, putting up the $100,000 entry fee.

Hartmann and Mielke split $675,000. They're club professionals on Long Island, Hartmann at the Atlantic Golf Club and Mielke at The Mill River Club.

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