Date Written: May 19, 2008
Try hitting a shot from a downhill lie with a five wood that requires a carry of 270 yards over water to a tucked pin with the wind howling in your face. Add in the fact that you are in a sudden-death playoff with a $300,000 difference in prize money and 20,000 screaming fans. In the, "What Was He Trying to Accomplish Scenario," Kenny Perry tried to pull off this miracle shot against the youngster, Ryuchi Imada. He blocked it, hit a tree that boomeranged the ball back over the green and into the drink. End of dialogue. Master Doyle contends he was just trying to hit it right so he would have a lot of green to work with for his third shot and was unlucky to hit the tree. I don't know about that.Hindsight is very cheap but a lot of fun. If I had been Perry, hitting first, I would have been thinking "lay-up" and let the kid go for it and die. He obviously didn't listen to me yelling at him through my TV. Great drama turned to tragedy. It's been an expensive two weeks that have cost Kenny a pile of dough. But that's football.
To his credit, Ryuchi looked unflappable during the last nine holes. He said in a post game interview that he never believed in destiny, but now that he has won this event, (after losing in a playoff last year to Zach Johnson), he might change his mind. Ryuchi's definitely got game. In addition to winning for the first time yesterday, he's got two second-place finishes at The Buick and The Pods and a fifth at L.A. this year. Pencil him in Paul for a Ryder Cup spot.
News of note: The telecast started with Honolulu's own, Parker McLachlin, he of horrible, Oakley golf pants fame, consterned over a 75 foot bunker shot on the driveable 13th. He hits the perfect shot and splashes it into the cup for an eagle and a three stroke lead. At the time, he had this incredible round going...8-under. Poor kid...like most of us, he couldn't stand success. From then on, he appeared to be thinking, "way too much." He took an inordinate amount of time over every shot and proceeded to bogey three of the last 5 holes. He took so much time to figure out what to do on the eighteenth that I was thinking of nick-naming him, "Part-Time." He was slower than Glen "All" Day or Ben "Forever" Crane. Anyway, "Part-Time" took what seemed like half an hour waiting for wind conditions to change on his second shot. I took a short nap on the couch, I went to the refrigerator three times and the bathroom twice before he eventually decided to lay up on the treacherous par five. He makes bogey anyway. Whatever happened to the PGA's 45 seconds per shot rule?
Seven of us, including our esteemed pool leader, Scott Winegar, won substantial third place loot with our pick of the "Ice Cream Man," Mr. "Vee-Jay-Gas." For those that care about fashion, Camillo wore all-white which is, in most cases, a definite fashion no-no. But he shot a nifty 31 on the last nine holes to miss the playoff by one shot. Drat! I had him in the pool. I'm finally able to creep out of the cellar, but could have done alot better. The marvelous team of T & A gets to ponder the view from the Cropper (last place).
In the, "So You Fancy Yourself a Player and You Think It's Easy to be a Pro Department:" Idaho's own, young Tyler Aldridge, who qualified for the Nationwide Tour through Q-School, has now played in eight tournaments and won a grand total of $1,845.00. That's barely meal money. It's a steep learning curve, no matter the endeavor, when one ventures outside their small neighborhood in search of fame. Click on the link below to read about another young Idaho golfer, Troy Merritt, who's gonna follow his dream:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/story/384802.html
"The Big Show" meanders back to Fort Worth, Texas for the Crowne Plaza Invitational, formally known as, "The Colonial." It's played on an old-style course that is consistently rated as one of the best courses in the country. The par-70 track favors us old foggie's who are short and who can shape a shot. Corey "The Gutty Little Bruin" Pavin loves it and has always played well here. Corey is said to have never "envisioned" a straight shot to a pin...my kind of guy. If you are interested in reading about the history of Colonial click on:
http://www.colonialfw.com/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=255398&ssid=115072&vnf=1
Six of us think Scott Verplank's got the perfect game for Colonial and four voted for Jerry Kelly.
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