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Denis Watson
At the PGA Senior Championship Denis Watson rekindled his golfing career, which over 23 years ago showed a lot of promise and hope. He had won the 1984 Panasonic Las Vegas, his third career victory and third of the year and finished 4th on the money list that year. In 1985 he came within a two shot penalty of winning the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills but all of that would come to a screeching halt in a tournament in South Africa on one shot.
On the final day he was leading the tournament but at the fourth hole he hit his drive near a tree. In trying to recover he dug too deep for the ball, and hit the stump of the tree. His natural reaction whipped his neck sidways and brought on a lot of pain. He was able to endure the pain and win the tournament but as he said afterwards, "I never played a decent round of golf for a long, long time after that,"
In the next year he had three surgerys to replace nerve damage on the arm and the wrist plus rehab of six months for the whiplash
He would endure other surgeries, in 1991 he had cervical fusion which help correct the neck problem. He had family problems, a divorce followed by trying to make it on TV on the Golf Channel and on XM doing PGA Tour radio. He also became a teaching professional for David Ledbetter. With that job he met his present wife Susan, who gave him the inspiration to start playing golf again and thinking that he could play on the Champions Tour. Unfortunely when he turned 50 and tried to play on the Champions Tour, he was sidelined recovering from another surgery, this time on the right-shoulder.
But that didn't stop him, he got healthy again and started the year T2nd at the Turtle Bay Championship. Last week at the Regions Charity he finished T3rd so he was playing well going into the Senior PGA week.
He liked the course, a couple of weeks previously he and his wife Susan played the course on a windy day and he felt he could win.
Rory Sabbatini
Again he is one of those loose cannon's on tour that sometimes opens his mouth and uncontrollable words flow out. With this he hasn't been a very popular person on tour, just last month Sports Illustrator said in a player poll he was the least liked guy on tour.
It's really hard to point this out after he won this title, but in the eyes of a lot of players and fans, his Crowne Plaza Invitational win has already been pushed aside, a lot like the morning paper is put in the trash bid before it even gets read.
As for Sabbatini, he shot 62-67 over the weekend and was able to get into a playoff with Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer. On the first playoff hole, Sabbatini rolled in a 15-footer for birdie and then watch Langer miss from 8-feet. In a way it had to be a thrill for him to beat Langer, a player that he grew up admiring. As for Sabbatini, it capped off a wild eight week run that started with a runner-up finish at the Masters in which in between he had two third place finishes and led after the first round of the Players Championship.
In a strange twist Sabbatini is putting the clubs away for a couple of weeks and even though he is hot right now will chill out on vacation and won't be back until the U.S. Open.
Keys to victory for Watson in PGA Senior
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Watson was patience enough to wait for Eduardo Romero to fold, which he did when he bogeyed the 13th hole then double bogey the 14th hole. Despite making a bogey at 15, he bounced back with a birdie at 16 and was able to cruise to victory.
Here are some other keys for his victory:
- Was 3rd in greens hit.
- He was T7th in putting
- His putting saved his bacon in the first round as he shot 71 with only 23 putts
- Keys to the win had to be his play on 16 and 17. On 16 he was 27 yards short of the par 5 in two and instead of chipping or pitching the ball he took out his putter and rolled the putt through all the fridge to withing a foot of the hole for a birdie. Then on the tough 17th hole he hit a three iron on the green that helped him cruise to victory.
- Able to keep his calm and not let his nerves get to him. It has been a while, 22 years since the last time he was in contention to win a tournament.
Watson's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 38 of 56 ..... (T27th) Driving average: 281.9 ..... (9th) Greens hit: 52 of 72 ....... (3rd) Putts: 111 (27.75 a rd) .... (T7th) Putting breakdown: 0-putt greens: 1 1-putt greens: 32 2-putt greens: 38 3-putt greens: 1 Play on par 3s: +1 Play on par 4s: -2 Play on par 5s: -8 Eagles: 1 Birdies: 18 ................ 1st Scrambling: 11 of 20 (55.0%) (4th)
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 Watson
- Watson became the first international to win the Senior PGA Championship since South Africa's Gary Player claimed the 1990 Senior PGA Championship at PGA National. Player also won this event in 1986 and 1988. Other international champions include Jock Hutchinson of Scotland (1937, 1947), Freddie McLeod of Scotland (1938), Roberto De Vicenzo of Argentina (1974) and Peter Thomson of Australia (1984).
- Watson became the third first-time winner in the last five official events on the Champions Tour and ended a victory drought of 22 years, eight months and two days (1984 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational).
- Watson earned a check for $360,000, his largest amount ever (previous best -- $162,000/1984 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational), and more than he earned in his first seven 2007 tournaments combined. Watson increased his 2007 official earnings to $700,881 (previous best year on PGA TOUR --$408,562/4th/1984).
- Watson become the 22nd player to claim the Senior PGA Championship in his first attempt. Mike Reid was the last to win in his first try, claiming the title in a playoff at Laurel Valley in 2005
Keys to victory for Rory Sabbatini in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
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No too ways about it, putting and his short game was the keys for his win
Here are some other keys for his victory:
- Took 106 putts, average 26.50 putts per round which was T1st.
- He was T4th in putting on greens hit as he didn't have a single three putt
- Was 57 of 57 on putts seven feet and under.
- He was also 3rd in scrambling getting it up and down 19 of 24 times
- 11 under on the weekend was the best of anyone in the field.
- Was T64th after the first round, that is the second highest opening round place that a winner has been in over two years. The highest was Mark Calcavecchia, who was 112th after the first round of the PODS Championship.
- Rory Sabbatini's third-round 62 tied his career-low on the PGA Tour. He also carded a 62 in the final round of the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii on his way to a T2 finish. His 62 was one shot off the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial tournament record of 61, which is shared by six players.
Sabbatini's stats (with rank in parentheses):
Fairways hit: 29 of 56 ..... (T60th) Driving average: 284.9 ..... (25th) Greens hit: 48 of 72 ....... (T55th) Putts: 106 (26.50 a rd) .... (T1st) Putting breakdown: 0-putt greens: 2 1-putt greens: 34 2-putt greens: 36 3-putt greens: 0 Play on par 3s: -5 Play on par 4s: -6 Play on par 5s: -3 Eagles: 0 Birdies: 19 (ranked T2nd) Scrambling: 19 of 24 (79.17%) (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 Sabbatini
- What can you say, He has had a great six weeks of golf. Starting at the Masters where he finished T2nd he finished T3rd at the EDS Byron Nelson, T3rd at the Wachovia, T44th after leading the first round at the Players and T24th in Atlanta.
- With the win he joins a list of 10 players to say they have the true Hogan Alley double, wins with victories at both the Colonial and Nissan Open at Riviera. Those are Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Tom Watson, Tommy Bolt, Corey Pavin, Tom Purtzer, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, Dave Stockton and Lanny Wadkins.
- Talking about Ben Hogan, Sabbatini lives in the same county that Hogan lived in, Tarrant County. They are the only players to win the Crowne Plaza from that County.
