New Orleans adds another first-time winner to its list
By Dave Lagarde, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AVONDALE, La. -- Welcome to the club Andres Romero. But remember, better bring your interpreter should the Zurich Classic of New Orleans ever borrow from a Masters theme and institute a champions' dinner.
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Romero cemented his reputation as an emerging star on the world golf stage Sunday, chasing down his first PGA TOUR victory at -- where else? -- the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where there is precedent for just such a feat. Romero, 40th in the Official World Golf Rankings last week, is the fourth consecutive player to break through in the Crescent City and the sixth in the last seven years. Vijay Singh, in 2004, was the rally killer.
And oh by the way, Romero's win figured in another way too. Not only is New Orleans a comfy place for first-timers, it also has been a fertile proving ground for players carrying passports from outside the borders of the United States, providing a simmering gumbo of champions with a slew of around-the-world flavors.
Romero, a 26-year-old native of Tucuman, Argentina, planted another ceremonial victory flag in the soil at TPC Louisiana, adding to this event's penchant for rich nationalities diversity. He joins a Canadian (the late George Knudson in 1967), a Spaniard (Seve Ballesteros in 1985), two South Africans (Gary Player in 1972 and David Frost in 1990), a Welshman (Ian Woosnam in 1991), an Englishman (Lee Westwood in 1998), a Paraguayan (Carlos Franco went back-to-back in 1999 and 2000), a South Korean (K.J. Choi in 2002) and a Fijian (Singh) in hoisting the championship hardware.
It wasn't easy for Romero, who had the British Open's fabled Claret Jug in his grasp until he closed with a double bogey and bogey at wicked Carnoustie last year. But he had the luxury of finishing his fourth round early in the rain-interrupted event and posted a 72-hole number -- 13-under-par 275 -- no one could match.
"I didn't know if I was going to win, but I'm finished and that's the most important thing,'' said Romero, who holed out on the 72nd hole at 2:31 p.m. CDT, two hours and 50 minutes before the final putt fell. "The score was there and they had to catch it.''
Australian Peter Lonard did with birdies on 11, 13 and 16, but like Woody Austin and Nicholas Thompson before him, he ran afoul of the bogeyman coming home spoiling his plans for a celebration.
"I figured I'd par 17 and birdie 18, then happy days,'' Lonard said.
Trouble was, Lonard missed the green on the par-3 17th and left his 7-foot par saver four inches short. Then he drove it into a gaping fairway bunker on the par-5 18th, a shot that minimized his chance for a tying birdie when he was forced to play his approach from 198 yards.
Lonard's failure just added to the follies experienced by Austin and Thompson, who trailed by one coming down the home stretch. But when it came time to produce the goods on the 17th and 18th holes, neither man could. Matter of fact Austin did his best Aquaman impression on the 18th, dumping his third in the water -- after a near whiff from the rough on his second -- for a costly double bogey. Thompson closed with a pair of bogeys.
"I choked my guts out,'' Austin said in a biting self-assessment. "I flat-out played like a dog the last nine holes. I'm not afraid to admit it.''
Meanwhile Romero spent his lengthy down time lounging in the players' dining room, talking to friends in Argentina on his cell phone and keeping an eye on the television sets. He admitted the long wait made him slightly nervous, but things turned out just fine in the end.
That's because he came out firing on Sunday morning, completing a tournament-best seven-under-par 65 in the rain-interrupted third round with a birdie on No. 17 from seven feet and No. 18 from eight feet. He followed with a fourth-round 68 that included a birdie on the 70th hole and a key up-and-in for par on the 71st hole. If there was a key, it was the fact that Romero, who loves to go after every flag, made a lone bogey over the course of the final two rounds.
"Very strange in my game,'' he said.
That's true considering Romero announced himself as a serious player in the final round of the 2007 British Open by making a mind-bending 10 birdies. Then he got socked by the agony of defeat when he stumbled and bumbled toward the finish line, falling one stroke shy of the playoff between champion Padrig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.
"I learned much from that experience,'' said Romero, who began playing golf at the age of five and made enough money in two PGA TOUR co-sanctioned events (the British Open and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational) to earn PGA TOUR membership this season.
Undaunted, Romero scored his first victory on the European Tour the following week at the Duetsche Bank Players' Championship of Europe in Hamburg, Germany.
"I didn't expect to come back that quickly,'' said Romero, who won by three with a 19-under-par aggregate. "But I've always been aggressive. That's my way of playing. That's the way I got here.''
And now with a PGA TOUR victory in his 12th career start, a winner's check for $1.16 million and an exemption through 2010, he plans to play the majority of his events in America.
"This is all a very good experience,'' he said.
No kidding.
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