Knoxville Open - Final Round

We put ourselves in position and had our chance. After getting off to a rocky start, pulling two six irons in a row, Kevin settled into the round and played well. We made the turn at one over for the day (37) and made birdies on 10, 12, and 13 to get within one shot of the lead with 5 holes remaining. On 14, our tee shot found the fairway bunker only 115 yards from the hole but we caught a bad break as the ball finished close to the edge. Kevin could not get his left foot into the sand at address and had to stand with it outside the bunker on a severe downslope. As he swung the wedge, his left foot slipped down the slope and his natural reaction was to come up out of the shot. He thinned it over the green, out of bounds. We then had to drop another ball in the bunker, slightly plugging in the sand, he hit his next shot heavy into the greenside bunker. When we got to the greenside bunker, we found the ball buried just over the front lip of the trap and he had no backswing. We had to play the ball out sideways away from the hole. The end result was a quadruple bogey 8 and our chance of winning was washed away in a matter of 5 minutes. It was a horrible feeling because we did nothing wrong. He worked hard all week to get himself into a position to win the tournament and it all ended because of a lie and stance.

We question why things like this happen, it sucks and it really stings the psyche. But after a few days, we have to look at the big picture. Kevin played well enough to win the golf tournament. We finished 2nd in putts per green in regulation and led the field in birdies. Golf is a process. We are now back in Pittsburgh (Mylan Classic), site of his last win on the Nationwide Tour. We should have a lot of confidence heading into this week and if we continue to build on what we are doing, we'll have another opportunity this week.

After Sunday's round, Kevin and I both went home. He is flying into Pittsburgh this afternoon (Tuesday). I drove up yesterday after taking Alex to his first day of school and Geraldine out for breakfast for her birthday. We are going to meet this afternoon for a nine hole practice round and then we are in the pro-am tomorrow afternoon.