Wind at his back
Funk holds fast at TPC as others get blown away
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The Players Championship finally achieved the major status PGA Tour officials want it to have.
Major shock, that is.
It came with an exclamation point, too: A hat-slamming, fist-pumping, tear-flowing victory by one of the tour's steadiest though unheralded players, Fred Funk. When his 5-foot putt to save par at the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass fell true in twilight yesterday, Funk had done more than seal his one-shot victory in this prestigious event on his home course; he had turned the clocks back to an era when the style of play in which he excels was in vogue.
Fairways and greens, thank you. Bombers need not tee it up.
"I feel kind of like Herbie the
But on a day fit for Dennis Conner and the Kiwis to hoist sail, Funk won one for the pea-shooters. Anchored in his short-and-straight approach (he ranked first in fairways hit, .860, and first in greens, .810), Funk concluded a marathon week of golf by playing 32 holes in brutal winds that were steady at 25 miles per hour and often gusted to 40. He was 2 under par in that stretch, posting concluding scores of 71-71 that left him at 9-under 279, one ahead of Tom Lehman (72-68), Scott Verplank (72-70), and Luke Donald (70-76), while Joe Durant (71-76) was two back, alone in fifth.
Funk's effort was good enough for a $1,440,000 check and some sparkling Waterford crystal. Oh, and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
"What am I going to do with that?" asked Funk, who'll turn 50 in June 2006 and has made no secret of his desire to run, not walk, to the Champions Tour.
He can do so with a larger bank account and a lot more self-esteem, because what transpired on the third Monday finish in six years at TPC was a career-defining effort. Funk already had six PGA Tour victories -- including one at Pleasant Valley in Sutton, Mass., when it went by the name of the Ideon Classic in 1995 -- but labored below the radar.
"There are certain tournaments that hold higher value out here," said Funk. "I didn't have any of those. So now I've got one."
He got it on a day that will not be quickly forgotten in a tournament that will not be fondly remembered. There was lightning and rain to wipe out Friday's action, then more rain and lightning mixed with fog to cut short Saturday's action. Sunday? On a day when some players had yet to play more than 18 holes, there was more rain and more lightning. The stretch of bad weather forced officials to march 82 players out yesterday with orders to play . . . and play . . . and play.
Ernie Banks would have been smiling, even in the teeth of a ferocious wind that added another layer of the bizarre. It pumped the scoring average of the final round to 76.512, with only nine of 82 players breaking par, three going sub-70, and 16 failing to break 80.
On the bright side, said Mark Calcavecchia, "If we would have had fast and firm conditions, we couldn't have played. But they did a good job of keeping the greens slow."
Tell that to Funk, whose victory was nearly squandered with a trio of three-putt bogeys down the stretch, quick greens and sweeping winds frustrating him. That is why he displayed so much emotion at the 72d green, after his 5-footer had fallen.
"Finally, I did something I needed to do," said Funk.
The fact that he hadn't made key putts on a few homeward holes contributed to the wild finish at this $8 million showcase. Funk, who had returned to the course at 7 under, four shots behind Donald and Durant, was 8 under at the conclusion of Round 3 and still four back, only this time Donald had the lead.
That picture changed only slightly on Sawgrass's outward nine. Durant, to the turn in 37, was 10 under and in the lead, while Donald shot 40 and fell to 8 under. Tucked in between at 9 under were Verplank, who went out in 33, and Funk, who rolled in birdie putts at Nos. 7 and 8, shot 35, and started thinking about winning.
Those thoughts intensified when he birdied the par-4 12th to tie Durant. When he stiffed it to 5 feet and made that putt at the 181-yard, par-3 13th, Funk was 11 under and solo leader because Durant bogeyed the 12th.
That set in motion a race over the watery closing holes. Funk three-putted for bogey at the par-4 14th, then again at the par-4 15th, dropping him to 9 under, tied with Verplank, who shook off a double-bogey at the 11th with birdies at the 12th and 13th. Durant had fallen to 8 under with bogeys at the 12th and 14th. Lehman was in the clubhouse at that same number.
"I kind of felt that 9 under was going to be the score," said Verplank, who didn't birdie the par-5 16th, but did make a demanding par at the island green 17th. As he putted out at the 17th, Verplank was able to look across a pond at Funk, whose pinpoint accuracy ushered him onto the green at the 507-yard, par-5 16th in two shots. Two putts later, Funk was 10 under, the sole leader.
By the time it was Funk's turn to hit at 17, he knew that Verplank had bogeyed the 18th, so he had a two-shot cushion. Then it was one, because Funk three-putted from 25 feet on the island green.
Lehman and Verplank waited patiently behind the 18th green, and when Funk pulled his second shot into a greenside bunker, a tie seemed probable. After all, lost in the spotlight of the 17th was the fact that the 18th played hardest , a 4.817 field average in the final round with more bogeys (50) than pars (32).
Funk made one of those pars, his blast from the sand coming to rest 5 feet from the cup and his putt staying on line. He slammed his hat to the ground. He knew he hadn't won, that Donald and Durant in the next group could pull even with birdies. But, said Funk, "It was pent-up emotions, I think."
Minutes later, the emotions flowed again, because Durant missed the green and bogeyed and Donald went long with his approach, then narrowly missed a putt from the fringe.
In the final round, no one birdied the final hole, but Funk's par-saving putt will rank as more clutch than any other he ever makes. He had come from four shots back to win a championship on a course that had humbled the game's biggest stars in the worst conditions they had encountered in some time.
"I can't believe I won," said Funk. "It's been such a hard day. I'm overwhelmed. I just can't believe it."
Major, indeed. Major shock.
