Final round: Beckman earns big win after tough season
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Cameron Beckman had more than just a tournament to worry about this week. His future on the PGA TOUR was in jeopardy.
That's no concern, now.
The 38-year-old Beckman tapped in a par putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to complete a big comeback and beat Kevin Sutherland in the Frys.com Open.
"It's just been a tough year," Beckman said. "I honestly was thinking about quitting the game. That's how bad I felt. I can't explain to you how good I feel right now. I don't know what it was and why I did it, but I just felt good all day."
Beckman, 176th on the money list and 447th in the World Golf Ranking entering the tournament, had skipped eight weeks this season because of back problems and was in danger of losing his tour card. He already had filled out his application for qualifying school, a process he knows all to well.
"I sat down with my wife and said, `What do you think?'" Beckman said. "I honestly was just trying to finish in the top 150 so I'd get to the (qualifying school) finals."
With the victory, worth $900,000, he's exempt for the next two years.
"He was playing with a lot more pressure than I was," Sutherland said.
Beckman was four shots behind Sutherland at the turn, then made birdies on five of the next seven holes. Sutherland missed putts of 13 and 9 feet that would have won it at the end of regulation and on the first playoff hole, also the 18th.
The second playoff hole was the 464-yard, par-4 17th, and it was a nightmare for Sutherland. His second shot sailed far to the right over a cart path and into the dirt. His third shot went over the green and down a hill.
Beckman, meanwhile, hit his second shot 6 feet from the pin. He just missed the putt, and the tap-in gave him his second PGA TOUR victory. His first was the Southern Farm Bureau Classic seven years ago.
"I don't know, I just had a calmness about me this week, and it just happened," Beckman said. "...It's just like the last time I won. It just kind of happened. It's strange. I don't know what it is."
While many players were scrambling to finish high enough to earn full exempt status, Sutherland had no such pressure. He entered ranked 32nd on the earnings list and already had qualified for next year's Masters and British Open.
"I feel good about how I played. A second-place finish is nothing to sneeze at," Sutherland said, "but right now it's a little hard to see that through the disappointment."
It was the second playoff loss for Sutherland this year. He and Sergio Garcia were beaten by Vijay Singh at The Barclays on Aug. 24.
"This one seems a little harder than Barclays for some reason," Sutherland said. "I had a nice lead on the back side, and it was really nothing that I did wrong. I guess the bogey on 16 hurt. But Cameron played terrific."
Beckman made the turn at 13 under, then stormed back with birdies on the 10th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes.
He finally tied it at 18 under when Sutherland missed a 6-foot par putt on the par-3 16th, snapping his 53-hole streak without a bogey. Beckman finished with a final-round 63, and Sutherland had a 66.
Australian Mathew Goggin closed with a 63 to finish third at 17-under 263. Defending champion Mike Weir also had a 63 to wind up tied with J.J. Henry and second-round leader Arron Oberholser at 14 under.
Sunday was the warmest yet, with a high near 90 degrees, in what was a perpetually sunny four days of play on the 7,115-yard Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club.
The Frys.com Open event, in its second year, was the fifth of seven stops on the TOUR's Fall Series.
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The par-4, 429-yard 14th was easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 3.451.
The par-4, 515-yard 18th was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.221.
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Mike Weir made an eagle two on the par-4, 15th hole when he holed out from the fairway. The eagle plus six birdies during his round moved him into a tie for fourth. 
A total of four players shot 63s on Sunday but it was Cameron Beckman's that was the most important. He used it to vault into a playoff and eventually win the event. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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FRYS.COM OPEN: NOTES FROM THE FINAL ROUND
By Joan vT Alexander, PGA TOUR Staff
• Cameron Beckman beat Kevin Sutherland with a par-4 on the second hole of the playoff to win the FRYS.com Open. Beckman won in his first-ever playoff on the TOUR. Sutherland is now 0-2 in playoffs on the TOUR. Sutherland lost to Phil Blackmar at the 1997 Shell Houston Open.
| 152 | As in Davis Love III's position on the Money List at the start of the Fall Series |
| 115 | Love's current position after three top-15 finishes in four starts |
| 89 | Number of spots Cameron Beckman advanced on the Money List thanks to his win |
• Mike Weir earned $206,667 this week with his T4 finish, making him the 14th player this season to surpass $3 million in earnings ($3,020,135).
• Ninety-eight players have earned more than $1 million this season. Bill Haas is the last player to go over the $1 million mark for the season. Haas surpasses the $1 million mark for the first time in his career thanks to his T20 finish at the FRYS.com Open. He goes over the mark by $939. Last year, 99 players collected over $1 million, the most in the history of the TOUR.
• Beckman, winner of the 2001 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, won for just the second time since joining the TOUR in 1999. It is his first top-10 effort since he finished T5 at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro. He entered the week 175th on the money list and moves to 86th, thanks to his career-best $900,000 payday.
• Sutherland recorded his third runner-up finish since winning the 2002 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and his second runner-up effort of the 2008 season. Sutherland finished T2 at the 2008 Barclays, the first of the four PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup events.
To read the remainder of the notebook, click here.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Satellite Radio announcer Fred Albers offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Never underestimate the importance of a caddy. John "Cubby" Burke was on Cameron Beckman's bag this week. He is a veteran looper and was like a security blanket. As Beckman walked to the 17th tee, he turned to "Cubby" and said, "Slow me down." Burke answered, "Partner, we are going to walk as slow as we can."
Kevin Sutherland almost pulled a rabbit out of the desert. On the par-5 11th hole, his drive found the desert. However, rules officials determined his ball was next to a rabbit hole and Sutherland received a free drop and eventually made par. Sometimes the rules work in your favor.
The Grayhawk Golf Club had a few visitors without a badge this week. The golf course is home to a variety of animals and a couple of curious roadrunners delayed play. Steve Allan had to wait to hit while a roadrunner chased a lizard across a tee box.
Cameron Beckman putted his way to victory. He used just 11 putts on his final nine holes of regulation play. That number includes five straight one-putts to finish his round and get into a playoff.
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