Both needed to chip in for eagle to beat him, and neither came close. That was probably for the best because Gutschewski was about all sweated out at that point.

Gutschewski not only beat his opposition at the Rex Hospital Open, he won the war of fluid attrition against the relentless, sweltering, stifling heat that never broke once in four days for his second career Nationwide Tour win.

"I don't think I've ever played golf in much hotter stuff than this," Gutschewski said.

Typically, tournament golf is about more than player vs. player. The players are often battling the course as much as they're battling each other, particularly at tournaments where the degree of difficulty is part of the mystique, like the U.S. Open or Players' Championship.

This week, it was a three-way fray as the players and the course found themselves unlikely allies united against a common enemy: the broiling, record-setting heat that hit triple digits on Saturday and Sunday.

"It was very hot," said Esteban Toledo, who finished tied for second with Chad Ginn. "It was a tough, tough day. I tried to put a lot of water on myself and drink a lot of water. It was tough."

Toledo pointed out that he's from Baja California and the heat shouldn't bother him too much. Still, he saw a two-shot lead evaporate like a hazy desert mirage after making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15.

The result was an entertaining, if bewildering, shuffling of the leaderboard Sunday afternoon. When the leaders made the turn, there were six players within three shots of the lead, any of whom had a chance to win.

Ginn, who played with Toledo, said didn't check the leaderboard until the 17th green. He knew he was tied with Toledo at 12 under, but he figured someone else was far ahead of them, probably by three or four strokes. As it turned out, Gutschewski was only up one.

Gutschewski, who birdied No. 9 to get into that group of six, birdied the 16th and 18th to shoot past Ginn and Toledo and win by two, getting up and down from the sand on 18 to lock down the win and avoid what looked like an inevitable playoff.

Which was just fine with everyone: More than one player remarked, after their 72nd hole, that they weren't interested in playing a 73rd.

Through it all, the course held up its end of the bargain, the greens holding up through the week against all odds. It started out in prime shape and, despite baking for four days, stayed that way through the end.

Neal Lancaster, the tour veteran from Smithfield, admitted to some hometown bias when he joined the chorus of players who called Wakefield the best-maintained course they've seen on tour this year.

"The greens are immaculate," Lancaster said after finishing tied for 27th thanks to an eagle on the 18th. "It's really firm and fast right now. The ball is really running. It is in immaculate shape. It's amazing how good the greens are with the weather this way."

(Of course, with a torn tendon in his shoulder and a herniated disc in his neck, Lancaster wasn't complaining about the heat, either: "Thank goodness it's hot," he said. "When it's cold, I can't hardly move. Yeah, I like it 105.")

The course stayed that way right until the end. Gutschewski kept nailing long putts on the back nine for four birdies and a few long par-savers, the greens rolling true and firm on his way to victory.

"I don't know what they do to them here, because every place else you go, when it gets hot they water 'em and let 'em grow," Gutschewski said. "But here it seems like he just mows 'em down and doesn't care. They hold up great."

The same could be said of Gutschewski, who kept his beard all week despite the heat. After four days of broiling and baking, when the final nine holes rolled around, he was the coolest at the end.

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