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Shines At Valhalla

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY | Trevor Dodds was looking at a John Daly kind of chance to get into the Senior PGA Championship early last week. He was the 15th alternate, figuring he’d have the week off. But the list of withdrawals suddenly became long and when Joey Sindelar withdrew with a back problem, Dodds was in the field.

Dodds, a native of Namibia, shot a 5-under 67 and trailed first-round leader Kiyoshi Murota by one stroke.

After a third-round 67, tied for low round of the day with Jeff Sluman, Dodds was in fourth place, two shots out of the lead shared by Murota and Hale Irwin. He finished T11.

Competitors played under lift, clean and place the first two days after heavy rain at Valhalla Golf Club, but the rule was lifted on Saturday and the ball was played down.

That created a bit of controversy when every player battled mud on the ball after their tee shots.

“Every ball had mud on it and especially the last hole, I didn’t have a shot on the last hole going into 18, because there was so much mud on the ball it just, the ball just turned over, it’s like I almost hit a top shot,” said Tom Watson. “But that’s the difference. That’s the difference when you have the ball in your hand.”

Ken Green, who has been playing a few Champions Tour events, was entered at Valhalla and shot 80-82 to miss the cut.

Green, who plays with a prosthetic left leg, was not deterred by the performance.

“It was good,” Green said. “I hit good solid shots and it was fun. That’s what golf does. That’s part of the reason I keep still trying to play is to have those kind of moments and those kind of feelings. And then on the reverse side it’s the complete total just, wow. I mean it hurts as much as it’s ever hurt to have something just fall apart. It’s cold.”

Nick Price showed up at the golf course on a chilly Saturday morning with only a sleeveless sweater.

“Today this morning was
as cold I think as I’ve been
on a golf course this
year,” Price said. “So us
old guys, we don’t really
like that cold weather too
much, we need WD-40 or
something in our drinks
to get us going in the
morning.”
Irwin on why he still
plays golf:
“I don’t know
what retire means.
Anybody retired in
here?” l

A Self-Described ‘Geezer,’
Watson Still A Crowd Pleaser

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY | The ageless wonder won the Senior PGA Championship, just not the one that had everyone’s attention for three rounds.

Tom Watson holed a three-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday to beat David Eger and win his sixth major championship on the Champions Tour.

In doing so, Watson became the second old-
est, at age 61, to win the Senior PGA. He won
this championship for the second time, 10 years
after his first victory. Watson now has 14 victo-
ries on the Champions Tour.
“That’s pretty good for an
old geezer,” Watson said.
“This is what I’m out here
to do, to compete and
try to win. It was
a struggle but I
made some key
putts on the
back nine. We
had a tough
week to play.”
Watson, who
started the day
one shot behind
54-hole co-lead-
ers Hale Irwin
and Kiyoshi
Murota, shot
a final-
round 70 at
Valhalla
Golf

Eger began the final round four shots behind the leaders and turned in the round of the day, a 5-under-par 67, to get into the playoff.

Watson reached the greenside bunker in two at the playoff hole, the par- 5 18th, and hit his bunker shot to within three feet and made it to claim the title.

Eger hit his tee shot into an awkward lie beside a fairway bunker and his third shot found the green, about 12 feet away. His birdie chance slid by on the right.

Both players missed short birdie putts on the 72nd hole that would have won the championship.

Eger missed from five feet in the pairing just in front of Watson, after playing a bunker shot from behind the hole. And Watson missed from six feet after a similar bunker play.

Watson had chances to put the tournament away before the final hole, narrowly missing birdie opportunities at the 16th and 17th.

Irwin, at age 65, had a chance to win his fifth Senior PGA Championship, but an early double-bogey, bogey slip-up on the sixth and seventh holes knocked him from the running.

Irwin shot rounds of 69-68-70 to share the lead with Murota at 9 under going into the final round. He ended the day with a 1-over 73 to finish fourth at 8 under, one behind Murota, who shot 72, good enough for 9 under and third place.