   
| A decade later, Elkington's back in the hunt at THE PLAYERS  PGATOUR.com Correspondent PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- He whapped it down the right side off the tee at 18 and found his ball in a divot. With a 3-iron left to the green. Steve Elkington shook his head. Same shot he had in the final round a decade ago. Maybe even the same divot.  Steve Elkington seems poised to go on one of his classic runs. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
Elkington ruled that year. He closed with a 69 to beat Scott Hoch and win his second PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP by a tournament-record seven shots. And, yes, the record still stands. Ten years later, Elk's still got it. At 44. On this, well, not-so-nice course. He opened this windy PLAYERS with a 73, which left him six shots behind co-leaders Rory Sabbatini and Phil Mickelson. Not great, but when you've got two of these -- the other was 1991 -- and a T6 in 2005 ... you're in the game. "There were a couple of good scores this morning,''' he said, "but 73 in this event isn't bad.'' This is a shotmaker's course, which makes it a good one for Elk. He's got the touch, especially in the wind gusts, to place the ball in corners, which was a gift when the wind kicked up Thursday. "It's a real test of skills,'' he said. "This is an attritional event. When the wind blows, it seems to put guys right out of it. Fewer and fewer are able to hit shots into the corner. "You saw last year Stephen Ames was able to keep it in play. He never slop-jarred it in. The same thing with Greg Norman, Nick Price and Freddie [Couples].'' And Elk. After a lean year in 2006, Elk's game is rounding into form. After missing a couple of early cuts, he ran off a pair of T18s at the Nissan Open and Mayakoba Classic. The last three events, he's played steady but not spectacular. "I haven't been getting the numbers,'' he said. "I've played 15, 16, 17 events, but I've got to get back to playing 25. That's what I want to do.'' This makes it an even dozen for the season, and Elk seems poised to make that run. While everyone else came off shaking their heads, he walked off with a smile because it was fun to play. Elk needs one more win to tie Jack Nicklaus' record of three PLAYERS, but there's a twist. Nicklaus never won on the TPC layout. In fact, he had just two top 20s and missed six cuts. "He was saying the other night at the champions dinner that he didn't learn to play this course,'' Elk said with a chuckle. "He just learned to play most of the others.'' Elk, on the other hand, is always a good bet here. The shot making. The local knowledge -- this is his 17th PLAYERS. But back to that final hole. And the divot. And that 3-iron? In 1997, he birdied. Thursday, he came up short, knocked it on and two-putted for par. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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