Streelman gets first PGA Tour win at Innisbrook
Kevin Streelman (Photo credit: Bill Spruce)
Kevin Streelman held off Justin Leonard in the final group, and Boo Weekley who posted a stunning final-round 63, to win the 2013 Tampa Bay Championship at Innisbrook.
What happened
Streelman entered Sunday’s final round in a tie for the lead with both Leonard and South Africa’s George Coetzee at 6-under par, and he started out hot, with a pair of birdies in his first three holes. Weekley, coming off of a solid performance last week in Puerto Rico, started the day at even par, but had eight birdies and no bogeys to take the clubhouse lead at 8-under par. While Weekley waited for three-plus hours, Streelman proceeded to reel off par after par before getting to the 13th, where he would make birdie to get to 9-under par. Another birdie came on 17, allowing Streelman to claim his first PGA Tour victory at 10-under par.
Final Leaderboard
- 1. Kevin Streelman -10
- 2. Boo Weekley -8
- 3. Cameron Tringale -7
- T4. Luke Donald -6
- T4. Greg Chalmers -6
- T4. Justin Leonard -6
Shot of the tournament
Streelman’s tee shot into the par-3 13th in the final round was impressive, especially when you consider that prior to his approach, the closest a player had gotten all day was 12 feet, but he cut that in half, leaving himself a six foot putt.
He would go on to sink the birdie putt to get to 9-under par, breaking the tie with Weekley at the top of the leaderboard, which he would never give up.
John Daly
I’m long past the point of thinking that John Daly will contend in any golf event, but as he showed last year, there is still some quality golf left in his 46-year old body. Unfortunately for him, the ugly side of his game is far more likely to appear than the quality one, and we saw the perfect example of that on Friday. Daly made a ten on the par-4 third hole at Innisbrook in the second round, completely destroying any chance of him making the cut after firing an opening round 72. Jason Sobel has the details:
After hitting his tee shot left of the cart path, Daly tried to punch back toward the fairway, but according to the PGA Tour’s Shotlink program, he could only advance the ball 5 inches. He was then forced to take an unplayable, try again, take another unplayable, and then hit one about a foot before advancing it into the left rough on his seventh shot.
From 155 yards out, he came up about 30 yards short of the green, then pitched to a foot and tapped in for a 10 – with one putt.
The only positive that we can take from this is that at least Daly didn’t walk of the course like he’s been known to do in the past. That’s not saying much, but it’s something, I guess. In case you were wondering, it’s the 15th time that Daly has carded double digits on one hole in a round. The full list from the AP, courtesy the Huffington Post, is listed below:
- 18 – 1998 Bay Hill Invitational (Bay Hill), par-5 sixth hole, fourth round.
- 14 – 2000 U.S. Open (Pebble Beach), par-5 18th hole, first round.
- 13 – 2011 John Deere Classic (TPC John Deere), par-4 fourth hole, second round.
- 12 – 1994 Freeport-McMoRan Classic (English Turn), par-5 15th hole, second round.
- 12 – 1996 BellSouth Classic (TPC Sugarloaf), par-5 eighth hole, second round.
- 11 – 1999 U.S. Open (Pinehurst No. 2), par-4 eighth hole, fourth round.
- 11 – 2002 PGA Championship (Hazeltine), par-4 16th hole, first round.
- 11 – 2005 Bay Hill Invitational (Bay Hill), par-4 18th hole, fourth round.
- 10 – 1995 Nestle Invitational (Bay Hill), par-5 sixth hole, second round.
- 10 – 1998 British Open (Royal Birkdale), par-4 18th hole, second round.
- 10 – 1998 Las Vegas Invitational (TPC Summerlin), par-5 13th hole, fifth round.
- 10 – 1999 Memorial (Muirfield Village), par-4 18th hole, first round
- 10 – 2004 Chrysler Classic of Tucson (Tucson National), par-3 fourth hole, third round.
- 10 – 2009 Buick Open (Warwick Hills), par-5 first hole, second round.
- 10 – 2013 Tampa Bay Championship (Innisbrook), par-4 third hole, second round.
Sometimes you just have to swear
Speaking of guys who blow up occasionally, Sergio Garcia, come on down. I’m a big fan of Garcia, and I still think there’s a major victory in him at some point, but he’s never been able to keep his emotions in check on the course. After missing a short par putt on 13, Garcia felt the need to curse rather loudly in Spanish, which was easily picked up by NBC’s mics.
Been there.
In case you were wondering, “puta madre” translates roughly to motherfucker in English. In typical Sergio fashion though, he rebounded to hit one of shots of the tournament on the next hole, chipping in for birdie through the very thick Bermuda rough.
Ugly scorecard(s) of the week
Mike Weir looked like he was starting to get it together a few weeks ago, but that went straight to hell this week. The 2003 Masters champ posted a 14-over par score through the first two rounds, missing another cut and finishing ahead of only Rod Perry on the leaderboard. Take a look at his scorecards from the first two rounds, including an absolutely dreadful front-nine 44 on Thursday.
Other notes
- Notable names missing the cut: Louis Oosthuizen, Gary Woodland, Carl Pettersson, Y.E. Yang, Retief Goosen, Michael Thompson, Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson.
- How impressive was Weekley’s 63? Tringale ended up with a final-round 66, and that was the closest number to him.
- I still prefer CBS’ coverage of the PGA Tour, but with the absence of Johnny Miller, NBC’s coverage was far-less vomit inducing this week.
- One huge positive for the coverage this week was the addition of Golf Channel’s Frank Nobilo, who roamed the course while Gary Koch manned the booth with Dan Hicks in the absence of Miller.
- Next week, Tiger Woods heads up a loaded field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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