Stricker leaves Kuchar, Jobe
Spinning their wheels with 65s – the Memorial Tournament
DUBLIN, Ohio – Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe took the witness stand together after the Memorial Tournament, and it was a joint and sympathetic testimony for two players who shot matching 65s in the final round and all they had to show for solving Muirfield Village was a tie for second.“We made the turn, same as yesterday, 5-under, playing great golf, and it was a little disheartening again to see [Steve] Stricker doing the same thing – making tons of birdies,” Kuchar said. “My 5-under on the front didn’t gain any ground on him. It was tough to see.”
Said Jobe, with a touch of irony: “Well, I guess if we went out and shot 7-under, that we wouldn’t have had a better chance to win. Hats off to Steve. He played great today.”
They tied at 8-under 273, and at least had the satisfaction of closing the gap on the faltering Stricker, who started with a four-shot lead on them (three on Johathan Byrd), and held together long enough to close with 68 and win by one. Kuchar had no bogeys, Jobe just one, and both missed birdie opportunities.
GEOGRAPHY QUESTION – Gary Woodland (68-278), on Steve Stricker’s performance: “I don’t know what golf course he’s playing. He definitely ain’t playing out here with us. I saw the bunker shot he got up-and-down on 12. It had to be one of the best bunker shots ever.”
IF THIS IS COLUMBUS, THAT MUST BE WEATHER – This Memorial almost got into the books as one of the rare ones to go all four rounds with agreeable weather. Then the only storm cell in all of Ohio comes and parks right over Muirfield Village, stopping play at 4:22, with Steve Stricker, the leader at 18 under, marked on the 13th green, three up on Jobe, four on Kuchar, and with Dustin Johnson as the clubhouse leader with 65-276, 12 under. Play resumed after a delay of 2 hours and 34 minutes, at 6:56 p.m. The Memorial’s reputation was safe.
RUNNING A-FOWL OF PAR-3S – Rickie Fowler, the multi-hued dresser, was finally getting up steam in the fourth round, going out in 31. Then he ran afoul of the par-3s coming in, double-bogeying both. At the 12th, he put his tee shot beyond the green, and fearful of the falling away green, fell short with his pitch. He chipped on poorly, to 9 feet, and two-putted. At the 16th, a new Augusta National-like all-water carry, he was short with his tee shot, into the water, reloaded at the drop area, hit his next to 16 feet, and two-putted. He turned a hot start into only a 69 and a 4-under 284.
For all thinking that going to the drop area at the 16th is something of a relief, it isn’t. “It definitely crosses your mind about not hitting the water again, because it’s right there,” Fowler said.
17 HOLES OF FUN – “I had fun,” Phil Mickelson was saying. Well, for 17 holes. He was 6-under for the final round, coming to the 18th. And there, he put his second into the rough beyond the bunker left of the green, and crossed the green twice, hitting his next into the bunker over on the right, then blasting out across into the rough at the left of the green. He finally chipped to a foot and got his double bogey-6, a 67 and a 7-under 281.
OH, THAT TOM WATSON – Tom Watson, who beat Jack Nicklaus in three momentous majors, has been named the honoree for the 2012 Memorial Tournament – Nicklaus’ tournament. Watson turned back Nicklaus in the final holes of the 1977 Masters, then beat him head-to-head in the great 1977 British Open duel at Turnberry, and edged him the 1982 U.S. Open with the chip-in at the 17th at Pebble Beach. For all of that, perhaps Watson earned his place in the Memorial’s hall of fame with his victory in 1979, when he shot a bogey-free 69 in a numbing rain and cold in the second round, when the field averaged 78.7.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES – Vijay Singh tied his all-time Memorial low with a 65 in the final round, and finished at 2-under 286; he shot 65 in the second round when he won the 1996 tournament, cut to three rounds by weather … Germany’s Alexander Cejka had to have some kind of personal record with four double bogeys in the final round, an 80; he had six doubles all told and shot 9-over 297 for the tournament … David Duval continues his years-long search for a return to his once-big game; he shot 72-73-75-76 … Daniel Summerhays, a freshman from off the Nationwide Tour, made an 11-shot swing, going from a robust 80 in the third round to a closing 69, including three straight birdies from the 14th, and shot 292 … Chris DiMarco, challenger in the first round but a bust in the middle two, closed with a 71 and a 1-over 289 … Similarly, Chris Riley: 66-75-77-67 – 285.
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