Bart Bryant fended off a challenge from world number one Tiger Woods on Sunday to post a six-shot win at the $6,5-million PGA Tour Championship that surprised even himself.
”I didn’t think I could make it into the Tour Championship, and I certainly didn’t think I could win,” Bryant said. ”I feared choking my guts out all week long.”
Starting the final round with a three-shot lead, Bryant birdied three of the first six holes to double his advantage and easily survived a mid-round challenge from Woods to clinch his third victory in the past 14 months.
This one was worth $1,17-million and bumped him to ninth on the money list — not bad for a 42-year-old who never had previously won on the PGA Tour.
”I’m thrilled beyond description,” said Bryant, whose closing 67 gave him a tournament record of 17-under-par 263.
A medium-length, straight hitter, Bryant led the field in both fairways hit and greens in regulation. His game was ideally suited to a bone-dry East Lake course with plenty of roll, and the mental resilience he displayed to cope with the pressure of leading after every round was perhaps even more impressive.
”Last night in bed, I really pictured myself getting off to a really hot start, and that’s what happened,” he said.
Bryant needed the cushion, because bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes gave his rivals a glimmer of hope.
The dropped shot at the par-three sixth could have been worse, because he found the water short of the green and did well to limit the damage to one stroke by sinking an eight-footer.
”I was very shocked to see it come back into the water,” he said. ”I thought if I just got my club on the ball, I was going to get over the water. I hit it just a touch heavy. That was an anxious moment. I started having things going on in my mind, like, ‘How many can we chunk in the water from this ball drop?”’
Retief Goosen, who started the day in second place, was off his game, leaving it to Woods to provide the only real threat.
But even Woods was too far back to mount much of a challenge.
He picked up three birdies in four holes midway through the round, but Bryant matched him and had the luxury of cruising to victory by playing the final six holes in one-over.
”Every week, I feel I belong more and more where I am,” he said. ”I certainly don’t put myself up there in the same category as Tiger, but I have found that if I’m on top of my game, under the right conditions, I definitely can compete.”
Woods, who shot 69, paid tribute to the winner.
”He did what he had to do,” he said. ”He was very consistent all week. He just kept hitting fairways and greens and making a couple of putts and he had a little spurt on the back nine that basically iced it.”
Bryant will celebrate his career season by undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday. Next year, he will be exempt for all four majors for the first time and is looking forward to The Masters, which he has never played.
Down the leader board, consistent Scott Verplank (69) finished third at 271, while Goosen (74) faded to a tie for fourth with Davis Love (69) and Vijay Singh (67), another two shots back. — Sapa-AFP