For Jim Colbert it was the perfect comeback; for Nick Price the kick start his game needed; and for Kelly Robbins...well, it was the same Kelly Robbins who has been burning up LPGA fairways all season long.

Together the three Tour stars combined for an 11-under-par 59 at Mid Ocean Club yesterday to coast to a two-shot victory in the inaugural Gillette Tour Challenge Championship.

And while the day perhaps belonged to veteran Colbert, playing in his first tournament since undergoing prostate cancer surgery back in June, both he and Price agreed it was the aggressive play of the trio's youngster, 28-year-old Robbins who made the difference.

First in eagles, first in birdies and first in greens hit on the LPGA statistics chart, the Missouri native simply carried over the form that has lifted her to third on the Ladies Tour money list this season.

On a day when a blustery wind turned Mid Ocean into a more fearsome beast than previously encountered by the pros, and when more than a few of the big names found it difficult to tame, Robbins peppered her scorecard with five birdies including a crucial putt on the par three 17th which sealed the victory.

For good measure Colbert rolled in a 25 footer on the 18th -- his third birdie of the day -- to provide a cushion that ultimately didn't matter.

Zimbabwean Price -- with one Tour win this year at the MCI Classic back in April but struggling to find his game since -- also added three birdies of his own, but conceded it was the female factor which eventually allowed his team to split a hefty winner's cheque of $450,000.

Tying for second place were Lee Janzen/Bob Murphy/Barb Mucha and Payne Stewart/Walter Morgan/Karrie Webb on nine under 61, worth $87,500 per team.

Those two trios posted the early lead but once Colbert birdied the 13th, Robbins the 14th and Price the 15th to go nine-under, there was little doubt where golf's first best-ball, three-tour title was headed.

A smiling Colbert, looking surprisingly sprightly following his four month lay-off after surgery, thanked Robbins afterwards "just for drawing my name out of the hat.'' "And then she made five birdies out of 11, and Nick Price played pretty well...so it was good to have someone carry me around this course.

"But I felt fine. I missed a couple of putts early and hit some drives I don't normally hit. Obviously I was a bit rusty to start but then I played quite well. "I'll probably be tired tonight, but we were on the edge all day and that adrenalin kept me going.'' Price, who earlier this year lost his long-time caddie Jeff (Squeaky) Medlen to leukaemia, was full of praise for his Senior Tour partner.

"Jim looks just the same to me and I told him that when I saw him yesterday,'' said Price. "He's such a competitor. He's got that fire in his belly and I don't care what comes along he's going to overcome it.

"I was so grateful to have him and Kelly as partners today.

"This course wasn't easy. The greens were tricky today and I don't think we had one hole where two of us made birdie. Every birdie we made counted. "But there were a couple of clutch birdie putts by Kelly today. I was really impressed with the way she played.'' It was the 40-year-old Price who got his team off to the best of starts when he fired a marvellous shot from behind a fairway bunker on the first hole to within three feet and sunk the putt.

Robbins maintained the momentum by making birdie at the second, normally a par five for members but on this day reduced to par four.

And she followed with birdies at six, nine and 14 and then the clincher at 17 where her eight iron tee shot landed just five feet from the pin.

"We did the right things at the right time today,'' said a smiling Robbins.

"We complemented each other.

"Five birdies is pretty good on a course I'm not too familiar with. But when I wasn't doing something, Jim and Nick were.

"It was great to play with these guys. You know who they are, you see them on TV, but you don't get to meet them too often. So for me this was a very special win.'' For others, the day was not so special.

Lee Trevino, who had more fun joking with the gallery than with his errant golf game, made just one birdie -- "my first in two days.'' "I told you I was playing bad, and today I showed it,'' said the affable Texan, who along with John Cook and Sally Little placed seventh.

Below them and propping up the leaderboard was Craig Stadler who just a year earlier had been celebrating victory at Mid Ocean Club in the Merrill Lynch Shoot-out.

On this day, the `Walrus' and partners Jay Sigel and Chris Johnson could manage just five birdies between them.

Notebook -- see Page 15 Photos by Arthur Bean HAPPY DAYS -- Nick Price, Kelly Robbins and Jim Colbert show off their crystal trophies after becoming the first Gillette Tour Challenge champions at Mid Ocean Club yesterday.