Calcavecchia
Breaks Through
SNOQUALMIE, WASHINGTON | It took nearly a
season-and-a-half, but Mark Calcavecchia finally
fulfilled what had been expected of him when he
turned 50 – he won on the Champions Tour.
Calcavecchia captured the Boeing Classic on
Sunday in a playoff over Russ Cochran for the
first victory of his senior career.
Calcavecchia had won 13 times on the PGA
Tour, as recently as 2007, but since joining the
Champions Tour in June 2010, he had done
nothing but come close.
Last year, in half a season, six times he
finished inside the top six. This year, prior to
the Boeing Classic, he had nine top- 10 finishes,
including a second – to Cochran – at the Senior
Open Championship at Walton Heath and a
third place at the U.S. Senior Open.
But Cochran didn’t go down without a fight.
Calcavecchia and Cochran were part of a four-
way tie for first entering Sunday’s final round at
TPC Snoqualmie.
They separated themselves early and fin-
ished five clear of their closest pursuer. Both
players shot 7-under 65s in the last round to
get in a playoff at 14-under 202.
To arrive at the playoff took some last-min-
ute heroics. Calcavecchia had a one-shot lead
at 12 under after he chipped in for birdie at the
par- 4 16th. He also birdied the par- 4 17th and
the par- 5 18th, but it still wasn’t good enough
as Cochran also made a tap-in birdie at the
17th and an eagle at the 18th to tie.
Calcavecchia birdied the 18th, the playoff
hole, to win the championship.
Sunday in that four-way tie for first at 7 under
but neither mounted a charge. Sluman could do
no better than 1-under 71 to finish fourth and
Perry posted an even-par 72 to tie for fifth with
Bob Gilder, who shot 70 in the last round.
Chip Beck climbed into third place on his own
at 9-under 207 with a 4-under 68 on Sunday.
Cochran was going for his second Champi-
ons Tour victory of the year to go with his win at
the Senior Open Championship. He had spent
much of the season on the shelf with a wrist
injury and won at Walton Heath shortly after he
had come back on Tour.
Cochran took the first-round lead with a
6-under 66 and Calcavecchia came back to
forge the tie with rounds of 70-67, which includ-
ed a birdie-eagle finish on 17 and 18. Sluman
was one shot behind Cochran after the first
round and climbed into the tie with a 2-under
70 on Saturday. Perry opened the tournament
with rounds of 67-68.
To Scotland, no less?
Coordinating all of the arrival times, the airport pick-ups
and hotel rooms so everyone has time for a quick nap after
their long, overnight flights. Then lunch in an
Edinburgh pub,
where you go over the golf itinerary, lock in the bets and confirm the
pairings for 8 rounds of golf (now including an emergency 18 at Kingsbarns).
include a Scotch tasting at Glenmorangie one day, a castle tour
Of course everyone must play with Dad at least once, and be sure to
on another and dependable dinner reservations every evening.
Finally, there are the daily Skins winners to announce, the partner matches and
the overall net champion. Not to mention the accounting necessary to ensure the
It takes a genius
What does it take?
