Bateman wins Buick for first PGA Tour title
IN: News | US PGA | Buick Open (2007) | Round Four | by Bruce Young | 02 Jul 2007
34-year-old Brian Bateman holed a 14 foot putt at the 72nd hole of the Buick Open and in doing so sealed his first win on the PGA Tour and put paid to the hopes of three others who were waiting in the wings for their chance at a playoff.
Bateman, who regained full status on the USPGA Tour in 2007 via a 29th place finish at Tour School, has hardly given an indication of late that such an historic moment in his golfing career was close at hand. His best finish in eight events in 2007 had been 31st and he had missed the cut at his last event in Hartford. He had not performed well in the times he had been to Warwick Hills either so to suggest he was a surprise winner is perhaps an understatement.
The win will change the golfing life of Bateman but those who know him seem to suggest it will not change him personally. He now gets the chance to play the US Masters for the first time now that the committee at Augusta National have reintroduced the rule that any USPGA Tour winner over the previous twelve months gets a start at the Masters.
“I’ve been out here for six years and I’ve only played in one major and that was in ‘04, the PGA,” said Bateman later. “It looks like I’ll probably get in the PGA again this year. I’ve only played in one major. I’ve never been close to playing at Augusta because I always battled through Q-School every year. That means a lot. It’s a life-changing week. Life-changing putt, but like I told someone outside, my wife and I are pretty simple people and I doubt this is going to change us much.”
“I’ve always loved the golf course. I think it’s pretty straightforward, and I think in this day and age with all the golf courses being built that are 7,500 yards and tricked up, and pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway and that kind of thing, non-traditional, if you will, that I think guys know when they come to Warwick Hills it’s going to be a traditional golf course that’s right in front of you. The crowds are great. There are a lot of birdie holes. There are a lot of positives this week.”
“I was talking to Justin Leonard earlier in the week, we played a practice round on Tuesday, he said he always loved it here, always felt he had great vibes here. And then Scott Verplank the last two days said he always felt like he was in a good frame of mind when he came here. They’ve had success here. I’ve never really had success here, other than enjoying the course and enjoying the people.”
Bateman started the final round just one behind the leader, Tom Pernice, but there were so many players with chances to win even late in the final nine that he was just one of ten or so players with a chance to win with just a few holes to play.
Jason Gore was first to get to 14 under when he birdied the 14th and appeared to put back on track a season which had been less than memorable to date.
“I thought I had to shoot 7 or 8 under today to have a shot. It was blustery today,” said Gore later. “We had some different wind. The greens got really hard and it made it very difficult because by late in the day, there are heel prints. That’s what happens on poa annua. It was a great tournament. You had 10 guys who could win at any point. It was who stepped up and pulled the trophy away, and Brian did it.”
Others would soon join Gore at that number including Justin Leonard and Woody Austin who were both previous winners of this event. Austin continued some good form in 2007 by finishing strongly with an eagle, two birdies and a bogey in his last six holes to move to 14 under.
Leonard birdied three of his last five holes to come from nowhere to be one of those waiting on the driving range as Bateman played the last hole. His second place finish signalled a significant turnaround in fortunes for Leonard who recorded his best finish in more than two years. He later credited revisiting footage of his US Amateur win for rekindling his game.
“My wife and I watched coverage of that event recently and I saw that I was standing up with a much more decisive attitude then than now. I have tried to apply that this week.”
One shot further back in a share of fifth were Steve Elkington, Jim Furyk, Scott Verplank, Marco Dawson and John Rollins. For Elkington this was his best finish on the PGA Tour since his marvellous runner up placing to Phil Mickelson at the 2005 PGA Championship. It was a good bounce back from a first round of 84 and a missed cut at the US Open and Travelers Championship.
The next best of the Australians was Gavin Coles who was once again at home on a golf course where power was not a prerequisite to success. His 10th place finish earns him one of his bigger cheques on the PGA Tour.
Stephen Leaney was 20th, Mark Hensby was 34th, Paul Sheehan and Robert Allenby 64th and Michael Sim 70th.
The USPGA Tour now heads to the Congressional Golf Club in Bethesda, Maryland, for this week’s AT&T National Championship hosted by Tiger Woods.
