Toms first win in 18 months at inaugural Wachovia
IN: News | US PGA | Wachovia Championship (2003) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 12 May 2003
It may not have been pretty but it was sure effective as David Toms staggered his way up the final hole to win the inaugural staging of the US$5.6 million Wachovia Championship.
Toms, who has not won since the Michelob event in 2001, had struggled somewhat this season. He had, admittedly, finished runner up to Woods at the Accenture Match Play and was eighth at the Masters but apart from those performances there had been some rather ordinary efforts by Toms' high standards.
Coming into round four, he led by five shots over Robert Gamez and J.P. Hayes and with three birdies in the first ten holes, he looked to have sealed the deal.
He stood on the last tee with a six shot lead and needed only a five over par nine to win. Not that that was about to happen or was it?
After driving his tee shot right he was forced to chip it out sideways and nearly put that into the hazard on the other side of the fairway. From a hanging lie he laid up and from ninety yards or so spun the ball back down the green to some fifty feet. The comedy of errors was not over however, as he proceeded to four putt for a quadruple bogey eight and a two shot win.
Still the victory and the huge winners cheque of $US1.08 million was his and no-one could take that away. Toms has now leapt to fifth on the money list with $US1.98 million and is behind Davis Love III, Mike Weir, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.
Vijay Singh recovered from a double bogey at the seventeenth to par the last and share second with Robert Gamez and Brent Geiberger and a cheque for $US418,000 each. First and second round leader Nick Price along with Kirk Triplett were one shot back in a tie for fifth.
Greg Chalmers, who after a slow start to 2003, has started to find form over the last few weeks and has now secured his first top ten since the 2002 Bell Canadian Open plus he was also the leading Australian.
As of just three weeks ago Chalmers had missed six of his first nine cuts this year and was clearly struggling. But he has turned that around it would appear, by making his last four cuts and in this event, challenging for a top three finish until the dangerous finishing holes took their toll. Bogeys at the 17th and 18th holes saw him fall from a possible share of second, to a share of seventh. He was, however, rewarded for his fine week with a cheque for $US168,000 and that will move him from obscurity to around 80th on the money list. The confidence such a finish will bring augurs well for the weeks ahead. It will be with a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment that Chalmers leaves Quail Hollow.
Mathew Goggin, looking to take advantage of one of the limited number of events he will get on the PGA Tour this year, was looking well placed for a top twenty finish early in his final round. He had reached three under for the tournament through three holes but three bogeys and a double bogey from there were to prove costly both in terms of where he finished and the crucial money he is trying to accumulate in order to get back to full status on the PGA Tour.
Peter Lonard and John Senden were tied for 40th. For Senden he managed this reasonable effort without the comfort of his own clubs. His. along with those of Rod Pampling. were stolen last week while he was staying with Pampling in Dallas. The replacement set seemed to do a reasonable job but not so for Rod Pampling, who missed the cut.
Lonard's return to competitive golf after a three week break resulted in a solid if unspectacular week. It gives him something to build on as he heads for Dallas, Fort Worth and The Memorial, his next three events.
The PGA Tour now moves to the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas.
