It was a fantastic finish to this years version of the Players wasn't it, a real Agatha Christie mystery, kept us guessing right until the end.
Except this time there was no villain..The good guy did it, and we are glad he did.
Rickie Fowler finished 3,3,2,3 (birdie, eagle, birdie,, birdie)for as scintillating a finish to a big event as you will ever see, to put him in a 3 man playoff with his sidekick for all of the marvellous summer of 2014, Sergio Garcia and little known before yesterday, Kevin Kisner
Think back to last summer when Rory surged to the top of the golfing world with his 3 huge wins in a row. First the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and as he collected the Claret Jug, who was in the winners circle with Rory?.. Rickie and Sergio...then the WGC at Firestone with Rickie finishing in the top 5, then of course in the gathering dark at Valhalla it was Rickie and Phil who waved Rory through at the 18th so he could finish, and watch as he won his historic 3rd in a row..
Rickie finished in the top 5 in all 4 majors...
Yesterday Rory cold only muster a -2 70 rather than the 65 or 66 he needed, his putter just let him down all week, so he wasn't a factor this time T8 while Tiger shot 72 T69 his worst finish at the Players
In the playoff over 16,17 and 18 Rickie was 5,2,4 as was the brilliant Kisner while Sergio bowed out graciously with 5,3,5. Back to 16 where Rickie kept matching Kisner shot for shot for par 5's then fittingly back to 17, with it's traditional back right pin, and with Kisner just 15 feet away, the coup de grace for Fowler, a beautiful wedge to 5 feet for the 3rd birdie in a row on that terrifying island green
There were so many shots under pressure over the last 5 or 6 holes on very difficult holes that were remarkable, by all three finalists, in the end it was Rickie with the virtuoso performance.
Over rated ? I don't think so....
What a finish, perhaps the best ever at the Players. As Doug Ferguson of AP so eloquently noted, in the final hour, six players had hopes of winning the richest prize in golf. Four of them were tied for the lead. Ben Martin raced into the picture with three straight birdies, the last one an 8-footer after taking on the corner of the island on the par-3 17th. But he pushed his tee shot into the woods on the 18th, pitched out and missed his par putt for a 70 that knocked him out of the playoff.
Bill Haas had a chance to tie for the lead twice – first with a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th that just missed to the left, and then with a long birdie putt on the 17th that stopped one turn from falling in on the left side. Needing a birdie on the 18th to join the playoff, he had to play a runner to the green because he was blocked by trees. It came up short and he made par for a 70.
There are many other examples, like I said a real Agatha Christie mystery, however in he end it was Rickie who was no longer the bridesmade, finally the bride, think of what this means for the rest of this year and years to come..
Joining Rory, Jordan Spieth is now a major player, to go along with Bubba and Adam and Justin and Sergio and now Rickie, the kid who needed a haircut with a brash hat that was too big, who went to Butch Harmon, fine tuned his swing, grew up in front of our eyes as he travelled the world, and now he has arrived... in style, oh my has he arrived..
Finally for Rickie !!
Bryan
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