With the help of Ol’ Mother
Nature, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, stood its ground and
provided the field in the 2012 PGA Championship an extremely difficult test. Resting against the sandy beach and shore of
the Atlantic Ocean, the Ocean Course used all of its resources to challenge the
participants in the last Major of the year.
Other than a calm Thursday morning, the wind whipped over the landscape of
Kiawah Island and played havoc with every player’s golf ball. No one was immune and I was extremely happy
to see the tough conditions.
I arrived to Kiawah on Sunday
afternoon and after waiting out a heavy rainstorm, I played and practiced till
dark. The course was in immaculate shape
and it was evident from the very first hole that ball striking was going to be
the key to the week. Tight fairways,
shaved areas around the greens, and deep waste bunkers awaited each and every
player. I teed off late on Thursday
afternoon and the wind was blowing between 15 and 20 mph. As I mentioned earlier, the morning wave
played nearly their entire round in 0-5 mph wind and their scores reflected the
mild conditions. I hit the ball
extremely well and finished the day at one under par (71)…well back of the
morning wave leaders. My putter didn’t
show up once again and my two three putts in round one left me less than
satisfied. I woke up Friday morning
expecting the same “mild conditions” that the other wave experienced but the
trees and flags at the course indicated a very different animal. Winds in excess of 25 mph greeted my wave of
players as we made our way to the course.
My goal for the day was simple…no bogeys. I knew this accomplishment would soar my name
up the leaderboard and I set out determined to achieve my goal. I battled the wind and tough conditions until
the bitter end. 15 straight holes of
bogey-free golf were more than ANY other player in the field. An untimely 3-putt ended my streak and
another bogey on the following hole derailed a really good round of golf. The average score for Round 2 of the PGA
Championship was almost 79 and believe it or not, there were MORE scores in the
90’s than the 60’s!! My score of Even
Par (72) certainly wasn’t bad and it climbed me up the leaderboard but as you
can imagine, I walked away disappointed thanks again to my putter. However, all was not lost. I was in contention in only my 2nd
Major and just a few shots back of the leader.
I have always had a knack for playing the tough golf courses well and
this past week was no different. Round 3
found me paired with former Masters Champion Trevor Immelman and in a tie for 7th
place. I hit the ball well but once
again, my putter let me down. After 10
holes, I was a disappointing 3 over par but it wasn’t because of my ball
striking. My putting was dismal and it
showed in my score. Heavy rain and
lightning forced everyone off the course with instructions to return ready to
play at 7:30am. 26 holes awaited me on
Championship Sunday and I was determined to make up the ground I lost on Saturday. I came out and once again, I hit the ball
well but my putter let me down (didn’t I just say that!). I missed only one green during the completion
of my 3rd round but unfortunately my cold putter didn’t erase the
bogeys from the previous day. A round of
75 plummeted me to a tie for 25th place heading into the Final
Round. Extremely frustrated, I walked up
to my locker and searched for answers. Over
the last five weeks I have worked tirelessly on my putting but for whatever
reason, the ball has refused to go into the hole. I reckon that my Odessey putter of nearly 2
years had officially ran out of gas! I
took a chance and grabbed the TaylorMade Spider (Prototype) putter that was
built for me on Monday and headed to the putting green. To change putters in the middle of a golf
tournament is crazy but to change putters before the final round of a Major is
INSANE. I figured that since the putts
obviously weren’t falling that it couldn’t get any worse. It was worth the gamble.
The final round of the 2012
PGA Championship found me in a pairing with two Major Championship winners…Jim
Furyk (winner of the U.S. Open) and Louis Oostevein (winner of the British
Open). I hit the ball well for the 4th
consecutive round and THANKFULLY I made a couple of putts along the way. It is almost embarrassing to write but after
my 20 foot birdie putt fell on the 16th hole, I can honestly say
that it was the FIRST PUTT that I made during the ENTIRE TOURNAMENT OVER 12
FEET! Think about that…69 holes before I
made a putt of a decent length! I
followed that birdie up with another one (a bomb!) on the long and difficult
par 3, 17th hole to keep the momentum going. A nice 5 foot par putt on the 18th
hole completed my BOGEY-FREE round of 67 and vaulted me up to a tie for 7th
place.
There was good news and bad
news with my 2nd Major of the year.
The good news is that I hit the ball well for four days, battled hard
and stood tall against the tough and windy conditions, didn’t make a bogey in
the final round of a Major, and finished in tie for 7th place
against a very strong field. The bad
news is that I fell ONE LOUSY SHOT short of qualifying for the 2013
MASTERS!! Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…yes that
was me throwing up! One
shot…seriously…one shot! One putt was
all it would have taken…one lousy putt and I would have qualified for MY World
Series. Oh well. I battled hard and fell short. I will get to Augusta when I get there. Who knows…this week in Greensboro, North
Carolina, may be MY week to win a tournament and qualify for Magnolia Lane…The
Masters!
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