Golf

A swing, a miss, a championship

Mark Calcavecchia wins at the PODS when a putt doesn't fall.

By BOB HARIG
Published March 12, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Willie J. Allen Jr.] Mark Calcavecchia gets a kiss from his wife, Brenda, to celebrate his PODS victory that wrapped up his "fairy tale week."

PALM HARBOR - Mark Calcavecchia preferred not to win this way, but it sure was fitting. For a golfer who has spent the better part of two decades fretting and frowning over a slew of costly missed putts, he stood by and watched early Sunday evening as somebody else felt the same pain.

Heath Slocum, 11th on the PGA Tour in putting, missed a 4-footer on the 18th green of the Copperhead course at the Innisbrook Resort that would have sent the PODS Championship to a sudden-death playoff.

Calcavecchia, who had missed a 7-footer for par, was the beneficiary, emerging with the 13th PGA Tour victory of his 26-year career - and probably the most unlikely.

So bad was his putting on Thursday that Calcavecchia, 46, had his bags packed for a quick exit Friday, when he figured to miss the cut. Instead, he found some magic with a new putter, tied a course record Saturday and was left holding the crystal and a $954,000 winner's check Sunday.

"From where I was Thursday, maybe it's just a fairy tale week," Calcavecchia said. "... I know things happen in a hurry in this game, but that's a new record there. From no hope, no chance, missed cut to victory."

It would be too harsh to call it a nightmare for Slocum, 32, who battled back from a lousy front nine to give himself a chance to catch Calcavecchia. He hit his 7-iron approach to 30 feet at the par-4 18th hole and watched Calcavecchia miss the green in heavy rough before gouging his chip shot to 7 feet.

"I picked a line and committed to it," said Slocum, a two-time tour winner. "It just swung hard."

Slocum's putt, which broke from right to left, cut across the hole, caught the left edge, then spun out.

"Calc told me that's not a good way to win a golf tournament, and I've been there," said Slocum, whose first victory came at the 2004 Tucson Open, where Aaron Baddeley three-putted the final green. "You always hate to see somebody miss. And yet, it's 72 holes of golf and they all count. Winning is winning. You can't take anything away from him. He made a lot of putts early, grinded it out."

Calcavecchia gave the tournament a popular winner in its inaugural spring date, which saw increased crowds and four spectacular days of weather.

His opening 75 was the highest by a PGA Tour winner in 10 years, since Jeff Sluman shot the same score before winning the Tucson Open. It was Sluman whose course record Calcavecchia matched on Saturday, a 62 that turned out to be three strokes better than any other round in the tournament.

He added 1-under 70 to complete 72 holes at 274, 10 under par. Slocum, who began the day tied with Calcavecchia, slipped into a second-place tie with Australia's John Senden, who shot 66. Defending champion K.J. Choi shot 72 to finish tied for sixth.

Calcavecchia moved from 44th to seventh on the tour money list and assured himself a spot in the CA Championship at Doral in two weeks. If he can maintain his position among the top-10 money winners through that event, he will get an invitation to the April 5-9 Masters. He entered last week ranked 130th in the world and will likely jump into the 60s.

In other words, a lot of nice things came with the victory. "A heart attack, too," he quipped.

The former Florida Gator who won the '89 British Open and lives in West Palm Beach has been known to be hard on himself. The only thing shorter than some of those putts he has missed is his patience.

"He gets frustrated," wife Brenda said. "I know he knows deep down that he still has it. But he beats himself up so much. This is great. I'm so happy that he's going to have more confidence."

Calcavecchia was seemingly in control after he made birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. After stuffing his approach to 3 feet at the par-3 15th, he "pretty much knew it was to cement the thing. Not that I was thinking that. I just got nervous and missed it."

At the par-4 16th, his drive barely cleared the water hazard, leading to bogey and just a one-shot lead over Slocum. Both parred 17 and bogeyed 18.

For all his woes, Calcavecchia led the field in putting greens hit in regulation and was third in total putts. After 36 Thursday, he had 23, 23 and 27. That means the new Ping putter has earned the chance to stay in the bag awhile.

"It's been crazy," he said. "I never felt like this after winning a tournament. I'm still partially stunned at what happened. Nobody has ever missed a putt to let me win a tournament. Anytime anybody has ever needed to make a putt against me, they usually make it."

Not this time.

Bob Harig can be reached at harig@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8806.

PODS Championship

Final leaderboard

Mark Calcavecchia 75-67-62-70 274 -10

John Senden 69-71-69-66 275 -9

Heath Slocum 68-69-67-71 275 -9

Lucas Glover 72-68-67-69 276 -8

Brian Gay 69-72-66-69 276 -8

Charles Howell 70-74-68-65 277 -7

K.J. Choi 69-69-67-72 277 -7

[Last modified March 11, 2007, 23:50:50]