Ben Crane secures surprise victory at BellSouth Classic
IN: News | US PGA | BellSouth Classic (2003) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 07 Apr 2003
Ben Crane's whirlwind finish at the BellSouth Classic has once again shown the fine line between making the cut and success on any given week on the USPGA Tour.
Crane just survived on Friday finishing one shot inside the cut line and nine shots behind the then leaders Bob Tway and Lee Janzen. He stormed into calculations with a third round 64 and then a final round 63 consisting of eight birdies and an eagle at the final hole and, just to prove he was human, a bogey at the ninth.
Starting round four he trailed Janzen by six but by the time he had reached the turn he was gaining quickly on Janzen who was struggling with an outward nine of 40. Tway had taken the lead from Janzen by the sixth hole and, with Janzen continuing to go backwards in a big way, it looked as if Pernice may be the main challenger to the 1986 US PGA Champion.
Crane kept coming, however, and the bogey on nine was just a small hiccup as he reeled off a back nine total of 29. Bogeys by Tway at the 11th and 15th holes saw him slip back to two behind and when Crane eagled the par five 18th the margin was too great.
Tway held on for second place ahead of Retief Goosen, Williamson and Hank Keuhne, who did a great job for third while playing here on invitation. Keuhne is a great talent leading the Canadian Tour in 2002 but struggling with health and personal issues over the years. When he is good however, he is very, very good and on a golf course like this, which seems to suit longer hitters, he was in his element. This should mean another start for him at the Heritage event in two weeks.
Crane made it to the PGA Tour in 2002 having gained his card via qualifying at the end of 2001. He had been a two-time winner on the Buy.Com Tour in 2000 and 2001. He finished second last year at the Byron Nelson behind Shigeki Maruyama and was sixth at Reno Tahoe before finishing seventieth on the money list with $US921,000, not too shabby for a rookie year. His best this year had been a 10th at the Bay Hill two weeks ago, before missing the cut at the TPC despite a second round 68. By his own admission he was confident of a good week here and had been disappointed with his slow start on Thursday and Friday. There won't be too much disappointment tonight, however, as he celebrates his first PGA Tour win.
Tway has not won since the 1995 MCI Classic but his form of late has been promising. He was fourth at Tuscon and third at the Ford Championship at Doral then seventeenth at the TPC before this week. He has now moved to 12th on the money list with just a tick over $US1,000,000. At age 43 he is going as well as ever right now, but he will not unfortunately get a start at Augusta. Neither will Ben Crane.
Retief Goosen gave a promising indication for this coming week at Augusta with a last round 65 to tie for third. He was second at Augusta last year and his solid finish here this week will give his confidence a boost following his missed cut at last week's TPC.
Other Augusta players who did well this week were Chris DiMarco (9th) Paul Lawrie (9th) and Fred Couples (13th). Conversely, Mickelson and Weir missed the cut.
The Leading Australian was Scott Laycock, who turned around an ordinary season to date, with a cheque for $US50,000 for his 19th place. His previous best finish in six starts in 2003 had been 40th at the Sony Open. James McLean was 28th his second round of 70 including a quadruple bogey nine at the par five eighteenth, Mathew Goggin was 53rd, and Steve Allan 66th.
