Right when you thought Steve Stricker was down and out he chipped in with an awe inspiring chip on 17 to pull himself only one stroke off the lead. A perfect shot on 18 and a great putt later and he forced his way into a three-way playoff against Tim Clark and Steve Marino. As you most certainly know, any playoff is a dramatic event and a playoff at Colonial, doubly so.
Drama Drama Drama
To make matters even MORE dramatic, the playoff hole that decided the champion after a long 72+ holes was maybe the most exciting of the season so far. As Stricker’s approach shot on the par-4 17th hole rolled up and landed three short feet away from the pin it looked like he had the tournament all wrapped up and ready to take home. With Steve Marino needing a chip-in of Stricker proportions just to stay alive, it was all left to Tim Clark to make it close. Looks like he took that extremely seriously and did a lot more than “make it close.”
Putting & Hole 17 Helped Stricker Win
With Clark’s approach shot to the green he literally hit the pin, a feat that actually proved to be his undoing as if he’d not hit the pin he’d have been left with a putt extremely similar to the one Stricker needed for the win. Instead, he did hit the pin and ended up 22 long feet away from the pin. Stricker’s putt went in, Tim Clark’s did now. Stricker wins…Now he can shave the beard that reports were saying he has been growing until he notched a win.
Countdown to Tiger
It was putting that proved the difference and great play on the par-4 17th hole that helped Stricker win it all; he birdied the hole 4 out of 5 times this weekend, and did it on the time that really mattered. Congrats go out to Stricker, but hat’s off to everyone who made the Colonial yet another event to remember. Now we just have to wait a few short days for Tiger Woods to re-appear on the Tour at the Memorial. I don’t know about you, but we can’t wait.
