Humble in Victory, Honorable in Defeat

Golf is more than a game of concentration, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and muscle memory. It was developed to be played with the principles of honor and integrity. It’s game where you are required to impose self-penalties, even if nobody but yourself witnessed the infraction. On Sunday this part of the game was at the forefront of the PGA Tour at the famed Harbortown Golf Links in Hilton Head, SC in the Verizon Heritage Classic.

Englishman Brian Davis is a long time journeyman on the PGA and European Tours. He has bounced back and forth from Great Britain to the United States over the past decade competing in events as if it was more like a job than a privilege. A few years ago Davis decided he was going to lay it all on the line and move his family from Britain to Orlando Florida in hopes to play exclusively in ‘The Show.’ He had earned his Tour card and ever since has hung in there enough to continue playing on a year to year basis. 2009 was Davis’ most successful season on the PGA Tour and although never in the winner’s circle, he had a run in May of three straight top 5 finishes (The Players, Valero, and The Nelson).

On Sunday in Hilton Head Davis had his chance to sew up the two year Tour exemption and the almost as important slot in the field at Augusta in 2011, that comes with a Tour victory. After 72 competitive holes where a lot of talented players were in serious contention, Davis and now World Number Five and Transitions winner Jim Furyk were tied for the lead; following a 25 foot birdie putt holed on the signature 18th by Davis. Both competitors ripped tee shots onto the tarmac that is the 80-plus yard wide fairway on Harbortown’s home hole to start the sudden death playoff. Both players showed 167 yards out, and long time PGA rules official Slugger White deemed Davis was out – this would not be the last time we hear from Slugger.

Davis tried to take a little off of a six-iron and tugged it left sending it off the rocks and bounding onto the hard sanded beach along Calabogue Sound. Furyk, understanding the door was open took a bit more club and sent a shot to the back fringe of the green leaving him some 50 feet for his birdie effort. In fact, Furyk’s ball was so far away from the pin, that he was actually further away than Davis and had to execute a putt to about 8 feet. Davis then had to decide whether to execute a difficult pitch out of the junk or take a drop and basically put the tournament on the putter of Furyk. He decided to keep it in his own hands and pitched it up onto the green, but as the ball was rolling across the surface of the green he looked up and said, ‘Slugger’ as he motioned toward the rules official.

Re-enter Slugger White. The two discussed a possible violation as upon takeaway, Davis noticed that his club may have clipped a reed, something that only he could’ve detected in live motion. After in depth discussions and handheld communication with officials watching the video, Slugger bent down and pulled the reed out to show that it was a loose impediment as opposed to part of the ground. He notified Davis that because it was a loose impediment in a hazard, the small graze of the reed upon takeaway would be a 2-stroke penalty. This ruling basically gave Furyk the tournament as he smoothly drained the 8-foot par putt amongst the boat horns off of Calabogue Sound to earn the Tartan Jacket and his second victory in 2010.

For Furyk is was a well-earned victory and for Davis it was a crushing defeat. But Davis should have nothing to feel bad about (aside from the possible 400 grrr he left on the table). He may not have punched his Masters ticket or earned that 2-year exemption, but he earned the respect of his peers. In the ‘if your not cheating your not trying’ steroid HGH bribing for TV contracts coach Calipari new world of sports, a story like this is refreshing. He may not have won, but Davis, although probably difficult, did the honorable thing. Just as difficult to watch was Furyk accepting congratulations for his victory, more humble than usual. It certainly now looks like ‘Mr. Consistency is back…as if he went anywhere to begin with.

Transitioning the Madness

Talk about a difficult sports weekend to contend with for the PGA Tour! As I joined the majority of Americans pitching back 12-ounce goodness and screaming at basketball teams I have no affiliation with aside from picking them to win or lose. And as my brother from another mother watched on and described in great length and emotion in Jacksonville as an Ivy League team did the unthinkable, just down the road in the Tampa area the Tour continued on at the Transitions Championship.

If competing with Northern Iowa’s upset of #1 overall seed Kansas, Cornell’s unbelievable run, continuous last second heroics, and the possibility of Gus Johnson making broadcasting gold wasn’t enough, word came out that Tiger was going to answer questions for the first time since his ‘incidents’ and ‘indiscretions.’ Between the five minutes with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi and The Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghlman, Tiger faced ten minutes of grilling from the friendly confines of an Isleworth veranda. All the while Tour vet Jim Furyk completed his steady assault on Innisbrook.

Although limping in a bit on the back nine with some late bogies, Furyk’s two under par round of 69 was enough to finish with a one shot victory over Korean KJ Choi, and was his first win since the 2007 Canadian Open. Although there have been a lot of players who have gone this long without a win, the amazing thing about Furyk is that he was able to stay within reach of the Top Ten in the World Golf Rankings during this slump in victories. To me it shows Furyk’s mark of consistency.

Maybe known more for the looping hitch in his swing than anything else, Furyk has been a mainstay on leaderboards over the past decade. Setting his mechanics aside in his career he has cashed in one major (’03 US Open) and has 13 career PGA Tour wins. On top of that he has been widely known as one of the best and most consistent putters on Tour over the past decade in golf. And as we fall inside of a month from the ‘Tradition Unlike Any Other’ this win shows Furyk still has the game to get it done.

And now that the Sweet 16 has been established down the Road to the Final Four and Tiger is out of silence we will move forward to Arnie’s place down the Road to Augusta. With back to back veteran wins from Els and Furyk, we seem to be getting a throwback feel back to the Tour. With Duval back at Augusta and players like Els and Furyk playing well along with the return of Tiger will seem to have a turn of the decade field. But we all know that one of the many youngsters can ruin this veteran party and continue this ‘transition’ from old school to new school. But for right now the old guys are king!