NATCHEZ &8212; After making eight birdies on the front nine to start their final round, Mary Kate Byrne, Bub Mullins, Howard Jones and Tripp Bryant needed a strong back nine Sunday.

They got it with three shots to spare as they won the 13th annual Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic at Duncan Park.

The first-round leading team in the championship flight eagled the two par-5 holes, Nos. 10 and 14, en route to back-nine record 9-under 27 for a round of 54 and a two-day score of 110 and an impressive three-shot victory.

&8220;We all played well as a team,&8221; Jones said. &8220;We all contributed. Mary Kate was as solid as she could be.&8221;

&8220;It was a lot of fun,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;I really enjoyed playing with Mr. Mullins and Howard and Tripp. I&8217;m just happy we did better than yesterday.&8221;

The only hole the winning team didn&8217;t birdie on the front nine on Sunday was the par-3 6th hole &8212; the same hole that Zip Fleming of Oceanside, Calif., playing in the group in front of it, aced with a 5-wood. Witnesses to Fleming&8217;s hole-in-one were Clay Arnold and Anthony Heidelberg.

But whether they knew it or not, Byrne, Byrant, Jones and Mullins had to shoot a 56 or better to win the tournament after the team of David Francis, Joe Smith, Claude Hewitt and Bob M. Dearing had a final-round 55 in the morning to finish at 113 and the clubhouse lead.

&8220;I didn&8217;t know what the scores were going into it,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;We just wanted to play well and see how it turned out. That was exciting.&8221;

Bryant helped the team to an eagle on No. 10 with a long tee shot that landed just off the fairway on the left side. His second shot landed in the middle of the green and he sank the putt for eagle.

&8220;That was great. Tripp did it himself,&8221; Jones said. &8220;He hit the drive, the second shot and made the putt.&8221;

The Byrne-Bryant-Mullins-Jones team birdied 11 and 12 before scrambling for par on the difficult par-3 13th hole.

&8220;Thirteen&8217;s a tough hole. Long hole and a small green,&8221; Jones said.

But after a monster tee shot by Bryant and a 6-iron onto the green in two by Jones, Mullins sank a long putt for eagle that put them at 6-under on the back nine.

They need just one birdie and three pars coming in to finish first in the championship flight.

They topped that as they birdied 15, 16 and 17 and had a chance to end up with a back-nine score of 10-under 26. But they had to settle for par on 18 and a 27.

&8220;I contributed three things to this &8212; I drove the cart, kept the scores and demonstrated how not to hit several shots,&8221; Mullins jokingly said.

The Francis-Smith-Hewitt-Dearing team finished in second place, thanks to 13 straight birdies and an eagle on No. 14.

&8220;Everybody contributed,&8221; Smith said. &8220;Senator Bob M. Dearing made a 30-foot putt from off the green for eagle on 14.&8221;

The defending championship team of Barry Iseminger, Wade Wiygul, Justin Comer and Chip Mabus had to settle for third place with a two-day score of 116 after defeating two other teams in a scorecard playoff with an eagle on No. 10, the second playoff hole.

Bubba Bruce, Al Strickland, Ted Hyde and Gaye Hyde won the first flight. They had a final-round score of 14-under 57 thanks to an eagle on No. 10 and 12 birdies and finished with a two-day score of 117. The team of Greg Ketchings, Gregory Ketchings, David King and William McGehee won a scorecard playoff with an eagle on No. 14, the sixth playoff hole, to finish in second place over Billy Baroni, Jeremy Loy, Bruce Massey and Brian Fisher after both teams had rounds of 58 to finish at 119.

Despite shooting a 62 to finish at 127, Chris Kelley, Lee Huckaby, Brian Huckaby and Joe Lessley won the second flight in a scorecard playoff with a birdie on No. 10 over Jeff Burkhalter, Bucky Merritt, Jerry Rchezkowski and Johnny Carrothers, who shot a final-round 60 to end up at 127.