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He was very gracious in the loss, not only on Sunday after he blew the tournament but also on Monday when he lost in a playoff. On that March Monday when Weekly went down to defeat on that second playoff hole, he was still all smiles despite the fact that he was ever so close to a victory.
As I watched him bogey that tough playoff hole, the first thing that quite honestly went through my mind and probably some other minds of other golf fans was, it was a good fight, just wonder if he could get this close to a victory again. How wrong I was.
For a second time on Monday, Weekly tried to win for the first time on the PGA Tour, Weekly made sure to take advantage of his good fortune, but this time he had to pull off a little Houdini magic to get it done after almost succumbing on the final three holes, even though he had a three shot lead.
His first stumbled came on the 16th hole when he missed a 5 footer for par. Then he hit his tee shot over the back of the green on 17, he then didn't get his chip shot up the slope and left himself another tough pitch. At that point it looked like Weekly was about to give up the lead and go quietly into obscurity but a funny thing happened. Weekly bared down and chipped in from 40 feet to save par. It was a stroke of good luck at the best possible moment. In a span of about three minutes he went from blowing the golf tournament to saving his hide.
But Weekly still had the very difficult 18 hole to play. Into the teeth of the wind the hole was a bear. It played to a average of 4.429 on the final round, of the 70 that was to play the hole only 18 would hit the green in regulation. Of the 70 to play the hole, only five would birdie the hole.
Weekly played the hole about as conservatively as Ronald Reagan was a republican, unfortunately he may of played it too conservatively. After a drive to the right side of the fairway, Weekly hit his second shot right of the green 98 feet away from the pin. From there Weekly tried to run it up to the hole but ran it too far and it rolled past the pin and off the green, coming within a couple of feet of rolling into the Calabogie Sound. Again, this left Weekly with another incredible tough chip, knowing if he didn't get it up and down he could possibly of blown his second chance at a win in 43 days.
But Weekly, from 36 feet hit the second greatest chip of his life (his first greatest chip happened about 20 minutes previously), it rolled into the cup and just like that Boo is the newest PGA Tour winner.
Keys to victory for Weekly
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No too ways about it, Weekly's chips at 17 and 18 are not only the keys for his victory this week, they could be the keys for any victory in 2007. You could probably put 20 balls in the same place on each hole and Weekly could easily not make any of them so to make both of them was a gift from the golfing Gods.
Here are some other keys for his victory:
- Weekly took only 97 putts for the week, he becomes the first player in 2007 to use under 100 putts.
- Took only 22 putts on the final day.
- Didn't have a single three putt all week.
- Played the par 5s in 9 under, only one player was better at 10 under.
- Won despite only making 14 birdie, he did however make 3 eagles.
- Got it up and down in 81% of the greens that he missed.
- Finished T5th in total driving
- Weekley was the only player in the field to post all four rounds in the 60s. He joins Billy Mayfair (2006) as the only player to have pulled off this feat at the Verizon Heritage since 2003, when a record six players did so. The last winner to post four rounds in the 60s was Davis Love III in 2003.
Weekly's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 42 of 56 ..... (T21st) Driving average: 289.1 ..... (13th) Greens hit: 40 of 72 ....... (T39th) Putts: 97 (24.25 a rd) .... (1st) Putting breakdown: 0-putt greens: 4 1-putt greens: 39 2-putt greens: 29 3-putt greens: 0 Play on par 3s: +1 Play on par 4s: -6 Play on par 5s: -9 Eagles: 3 Birdies: 14 ................ (T22nd) Scrambling: 26 of 32 (81.25%)... (3rd)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What This Win means for Weekly
- With the win becomes the first player to earns an invite to the 2008 Masters under the newly reinstated rule that gives PGA Tour winners an invite.
- In an event in which major champions win, Weekly becames the third consecutive first time winner along with Aaron Baddeley and Peter Lonard to win at Hilton Head. In the history of the event, Weekly is it's tenth player to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.
- Weekley becomes the fifth player to win the Verizon Heritage in his first appearance at the event joing Stewart Cink (2000), Jose Coceres (2001), Bob Goalby (1970), and Arnold Palmer (1969).
- Joins Aaron Baddeley (2006) and Bob Tway (1995) as the only players to win at Harbour Town Golf Links without playing in the Masters Tournament the prior week.
Ernie Els - Why he lost
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No too ways about it Ernie Els game is no where close to what it was pre-2005. His problem is consistence, he seems to play 67 good holes but has 5 poor holes. Again that consistence came into play this week. In his first 36 holes, Els had just one bogey, but in his last 36 holes he made seven bogeys and one double.
Getting off to a double bogey start on Saturday was the omen of what his weekend would be like and what he has done the last three years. Again, Els was a bit unlucky this week that Boo Weekly finished the way he did. He could of just as easily made double bogey on both 17 and 18 instead of par, giving the tournament to Els.
Here are some other reasons for losing:
- Els took 14 more putts than Weekly did.
- While Weekly was playing the final two rounds in 8 under, Els was one under.
- In 22 tries, Els didn't get it up and down eight times which proved costly.
Els's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 32 of 56 ..... (T67th) Driving average: 292.5 ..... (8th) Greens hit: 50 of 72 ....... (T2nd) Putts: 111 (27.75 a rd) .... (T33rd) Putting breakdown: 0-putt greens: 1 1-putt greens: 32 2-putt greens: 38 3-putt green: 1 Play on par 3s: +1 Play on par 4s: -6 Play on par 5s: -8 Eagles: 1 Birdies: 21 ................ (T3rd) Scrambling: 14 of 22 (63.64%) (T40th)
Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.
What this means for Howell:
- Els is not off to the kind of start that he wanted to have. After finishing T3rd in the Nissan Open, he lost in the first round of the Accenture, he struggled at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-CA Championship. But most importunely he didn't make the cut at the Masters.
- If Els is looking to catch up to Tiger Woods, he is going to have to find a way to get more consistence and make more putts. He just isn't doing that and that is the reason for him not winning.
