INCAgolf All you ever wanted to know about golf (well almost)

IRVING, Texas — Walking down the 18th fairway during a playoffand realizing he was about to get his first PGA Tour victory, Keegan Bradley got emotional thinking about a cowbell.

The one that is in the World Golf Hall of Fame. The one his grandmother rang after every win by his famous aunt, LPGA Tour great Pat Bradley, whose 31 victories included six majors.

“It was like pull it together, don’t start thinking about the cowbell,” Keegan Bradley said. “The cowbell in my family is an iconic thing.”

Bradley settled himself and won the Byron Nelson Championship, parring the first hole of a playoff with Ryan Palmer on Sunday. Bradley sank a 2-foot par putt at the 419-yard 18th hole in the playoff, while Palmer’s approach went into the water before a 13-foot bogey putt.

Bradley, a PGA Tour rookie who never won on the Nationwide Tour, got his first professional victory nine days before his 25th birthday. He looked forward to talking to his aunt.

“She is a lot calmer on the golf course than she is watching me. I’m sure she was by the TV going crazy,” Bradley said. “I talk to her regularly through text messages and phone calls about tournaments and what it’s like to come down near the end. … This is the closest thing we ever had in common in terms of playing.”

About an hour before the playoff, Bradley finished his closing round of 2-under 68 with a par at No. 18, dropping into a squat and hopping a few times in frustration when his 10-foot birdie chance slid by the hole.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — There were times when David Toms wondered if he would ever win on the PGA Tour again.

In 2009, he saw Kenny Perry shoot a final-round 63 to win the Travelers Championship in Hartford. Last year at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., he saw Arjun Atwal get up and down for par to win by a stroke.

Just last week, a missed short par putt on the first playoff hole on the famed 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass kept Toms from winning the Players Championship.

Age — he is 44 — and injuries — hand, shoulder and heart surgeries — seemed to lead to self-doubt, despite a résumé that includes a PGA Championship, 11 other Tour victories and spots on three Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.

David Toms pumps his fist on Colonial’s 18th green after breaking a five-year winless drought.
“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Toms said Sunday. “This is actually happening, right?”

Yes, it was. The golf gods were not that cruel.

Too much of Toms’ one-shot victory at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial seemed predestined.

In December his grandfather, Tom, died. He fought in World War II and was awarded a Silver Star. He helped raise Toms. He bought him his first car. He was the one who got him hooked on golf, taking him to tournaments when Toms was younger.

On Saturday, Colonial celebrated Armed Forces Day by welcoming former Medal of Honor winners to the tournament, and military members held the flag on No. 17 all day.

As Toms spoke Sunday of his grandfather, his voice caught.

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May 17, 2011

DAVID ROBBINS SUCCEEDS BOB BANKS AS GENERAL CHAIRMAN, KEVIN KRISLE NAMED TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

Following a successful 2011 Transitions Championship which saw Gary Woodland earn his first career PGA TOUR victory over a terrific field, the Copperheads, host group for Tampa Bay’s PGA TOUR event, has announced their new executive lineup.

David Robbins, a prominent local attorney and member of the Tampa Bay community, has succeeded Bob Banks as General Chairman after the latter completed a scheduled two-year term marked by significant growth for the event. Robbins had served as Vice General Chairman the past two years and enters his 9th year as a member of the Copperheads Board of Directors. Larry Morgan, owner of the Morgan Auto Group which owns a number of area auto dealerships and other businesses assumes the role of Vice General Chairman.

In addition, the Copperheads are pleased to announce that Kevin Krisle has been named Tournament Director of the Transitions Championship in addition to becoming President of the Copperheads. Krisle is the former executive director of the PGA TOUR event in Memphis – St. Jude Classic – and joined in the success of the 2011 Transitions Championship serving as a consultant and associate tournament director.

As planned, Ron Campbell, who served as interim tournament director, will return to the Copperheads Board of Directors after stepping up impressively last fall in a temporary role.

“David has been a valued partner throughout his time on the Copperheads Board and is very well prepared for his new role,” says Banks who will remain a member of the Board of Directors for the Copperheads. “We found Kevin last fall to assist us with the preparations for this year’s event, and we quickly learned that he has a great understanding of tournament golf and an enthusiasm for all aspects of organizing a first-class tournament.”

Robbins, a St. Petersburg resident, practiced law in Florida from 1968 until his retirement in 2009, most recently with the Tampa office of Foley & Lardner, LLP. A graduate of the University of Florida School of Law, he is a past president of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and has been active with Bayfront Medical Center, including serving as board chairman.

“With five spring tournaments under our belts and more than 30 years of history, the Copperheads are a growing, vibrant organization, and I am very excited about continuing our growth in the next several years. The great thing about the Transitions Championship is the way it helps generate charitable contributions,” says Robbins. “Bob gave his heart and soul to his time as general chairman and put a lot of excellent pieces in place for continued success. Larry and I will work closely with Kevin to keep everything moving forward.”

Prior to his role with the tournament in Memphis, Krisle, 39, worked at IMG for 11+ years as a vice president of events where he coordinated more than 60 events on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours including the LPGA Tour Championship, Skins Game, Battle at Bighorn/Bridges, and Tavistock Cup. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, he is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

“With the support of the Copperheads, Transitions Optical, the PGA TOUR and the Tampa Bay community, I am excited to join the Transitions Championship team.” says Krisle. “I have observed the tremendous growth of the tournament the last few years, and I look forward to working with our partners to continue making the Transitions Championship a special place for the players, fans, sponsors and charities.”

Contact: Rick Odioso (813/789-8217) or rodioso@thecopperheads.org

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — K.J. Choi did everything demanded of the winner at The Players Championship.

Not only did he hit the island green on the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass, he did it three times in one day. With the tournament on the line, he got up-and-down for par from 80 feet on the final hole Sunday.

Harig: Going for it cost David Toms
A single decision might have been the difference between a Players Championship title and the extension of a five-year victory drought for David Toms, writes Bob Harig. Story

Despite everything Choi did to win, this Players Championship might be remembered as much for how it was lost.

David Toms, who hit 6-iron out of a divot and made an 18-foot birdie putt on the hardest hole to force a playoff, missed a 3½-foot par putt on the 17th to hand Choi the biggest win of his career.

“No excuses, no spike marks, no ball marks, no nothing,” Toms said of his three-putt bogey on the first sudden-death playoff hole. “Maybe a lot of pressure. But other than that, there was no excuse.”

On a hole designed to provide great theater — the island-green 17th — the finish fell flat.

Both players hit the green in the playoff, and the advantage went to Toms with a shot that settled about 18 feet away. Choi lagged his long birdie putt about 3 feet by the hole, and Toms thought he had a winner with his 18-foot putt until it slid by the cup and rolled 3½ feet by the cup. Into the grain, slightly uphill, he didn’t strike it solidly and missed.

Choi tapped in his putt and pumped his fist, yet his heart felt for the 44-year-old Toms.

“As a fellow player, I felt very sorry for him,” Choi said. “Because I know how that feels. And I felt bad for him.”

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lucas Glover figures he has played more than 100 rounds with Jonathan Byrd, from junior golf when they were teenagers to their years together at Clemson and nearly a decade on the PGA Tour.

The stakes were never as high as they were Sunday in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Glover was never better.

Harig: Surreal Sunday
Lucas Glover’s win put a nice bow on the Wells Fargo Championship. That gift, though, could have been one embarrassing present had Rory Sabbatini won , writes ESPN.com’s Bob Harig. Column

Clinging to a one-shot lead, Glover closed with three gutsy pars of the brutal finishing stretch at Quail Hollow, slamming his fist when he made the last one from 7 feet for a 3-under 69 and what looked to be a sure win. Then came Byrd, with two great pars of his own, followed by a shot into 15 feet that he made for birdie on the 18th for a 72 to force a playoff.

Glover wound up a winner with a par on the first extra hole, ending a drought of 41 tournaments that stretched nearly two years back to his U.S. Open win at Bethpage Black in 2009.

It was the eighth playoff this year on the PGA Tour, and the third in a row.

“I’m elated,” Glover said. “Any time you win, you’re pleased. It means you beat everybody. You did what you set out to do on Thursday morning when the bell rang. Against this field and on this golf course and in a tournament of this magnitude, I’m thrilled.”

And against one of his best friends?

That might have helped. Glover, in his first PGA Tour playoff, felt a sense of calmness playing against Byrd, who had won his last two tournaments in extra holes. And it showed.

In regulation, Glover hooked his tee shot so far left that it settled under a spectator. He was given a drop, then watched the ball roll down the bank toward the stream as he got ready to hit it. Because he never grounded his club — that was his plan, given the lie on a side of a steep hill — he played the next shot without penalty.

“Better stance, worse lie,” he said.

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