A 'Sterling' win  PGATOUR.com Contributor Bill Kitchen, a New Orleanian with a serious superstitious bent, could not bear to watch, especially on a computer, where news from halfway around the world came across at a glacial pace. "I just didn't want to know,'' Kitchen said of the final-round happenings at the Jacob's Creek Open Championship, where Kitchen's son-in-law, Scott Sterling, entered as a 54-hole co-leader.  Scott Sterling's win on Sunday was his first on the Nationwide Tour. (Rivoli/WireImage) So Kitchen went to bed in suburban New Orleans while the city let the good times roll in the midst of a party-hearty Mardi Gras weekend. Kitchen counted sheep while his wife, Phyllis, son Steven and Steven's wife Stephanie, each apparently made of sterner stuff, elected to follow Sterling's nerve-wracking progress hole by hole on PGATOUR.com. "I was hoping Phyllis would come to bed late,'' Kitchen said, knowing the longer his wife lingered on the computer the better the news would be from Down Under. At 11:30 p.m. Kitchen detected a racket in the hallway. Soon the bedroom door popped open and there were three beaming Kitchens holding their index fingers high in the air. Sterling, 35, had overcome a spate of early bogeys with three birdies and two magnificent par saves over the last eight holes to score a hard-fought one-shot victory over David Lutterus, an Aussie whose home track is the quirky Kooyonga Golf Club, site of the event. It was the biggest victory of Sterling's 11-year professional career. So the Kitchens did what any self-respecting residents of the Crescent City would during Carnival time. "We started dancing,'' the proud father-in-law said, describing his leap from under the covers onto the bedroom dance floor. Soon thereafter the Kitchens had their daughter, Stephanie, Sterling's wife, on the phone. "They were yelling and screaming,'' said Stephanie, who resides in Baton Rouge with the Sterling's 2-year-old son, William. More celebration was in order Sunday. Bill and Phyllis Kitchen piled into a car and drove an hour to Baton Rouge, where they would sweat-out the final round once more on the tape-delayed telecast on The Golf Channel. And, despite the fact that they were acutely aware of the outcome, the taut nature of the stretch drive did not make it an easy watch. At one point, Stephanie Sterling became so nervous she had to look away from the TV screen. "It doesn't matter he's going to win,'' Phyllis Kitchen said, admonishing her daughter for the scaredy cat approach. Those butterflies were nothing compared to the swarm Stephanie, who also was staring at the computer screen, experienced when her husband got off to a very slow start in the final round. "I was sitting at the computer, saying, 'Oh no. Come on Scott,' '' she said. William, who had to go to bed, picked up on his mother's anxiety. "Come on daddy Scott,'' he said, parroting his mother's words. Stephanie laughed at the thought. "He was so serious,'' she said of her son, who has been known to develop blisters on his hands from hitting golf balls. When Sterling's final 3-footer for par found the cup on the 72nd hole, the veteran pumped his fist. Back in Baton Rouge, tears of joy rolled down Bill Kitchen's cheeks and another celebration ensued. "We were jumping up and down and hugging,'' Stephanie Sterling said. "It's like all the hard work Scott has put in was rewarded.'' Some of the hardest work came in 2006, a season where Sterling had no status on the Nationwide Tour. He opted to stay close to the family home in Baton Rouge, playing selectively on the Tight Lies Tour so he could spend quality time with Stephanie and William. That brought peace of mind and Sterling found a solution to putting woes that plagued him throughout the downer that was 2005. He made three putts of more than 30 feet in Saturday's third round and another in the final round, underlining the fact that he is cured. Sterling tore up the Tight Lies, winning twice and finishing in the top 10 in each of his 10 outings. He led the money list, but more importantly, the confidence he gained from those victories proved to be invaluable. "You always have your doubts until you do it,'' Sterling said via cell phone Monday morning after he had moved on to New Zealand, scene of this week's HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship. "Looking back, playing on the Tight Lies Tour last year was a blessing in disguise.'' Sterling won $72,000 for his work on the mini-tour in 2006. He banked $108,000 for four days of work at Kooyonga, a tidy sum that put him at the pinnacle of the Nationwide Tour's money list. Meanwhile, Bill Kitchen could be found at mass Monday morning, making good on a promise. "I said I would attend mass daily for two months if Scott got back out on the Nationwide Tour,'' he said. "I'm almost done, but given what happened over the weekend, maybe I'll extend it.'' |
