For an unlucky few, painful finishes at Bay Hill still hurt
By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.COM Interactive Producer
There have been few courses over the years on the PGA TOUR that have offered more incredible finishes than Bay Hill. That's both good and bad, which is only fitting for a tournament whose namesake is that of a legend, a man who always went for all the blue chips.
As the TOUR returns to Bay Hill this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, it's time to take a look at five of the more memorable finishes at the home of the King.
1. Robert Gamez is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, but the most famous of those three came at Bay Hill in the 1990 Nestle Invitational when Gamez was a rookie.
With already one win to his credit earlier in the season, Gamez found himself trailing no less than the Shark, Greg Norman, by one shot as he made his way to the par-4 18th hole that Sunday afternoon.
After a perfect drive, Gamez had 176 yards left to the hole. Knowing he needed a birdie to earn a spot in a playoff with Norman, Gamez did one better, holing a 7-iron for an eagle 2 and a one-shot victory.
It doesn't get more dramatic than that and went a long way toward helping Gamez lock up PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors that season.
2. Clearly a list of the top-5 moments at Bay Hill wouldn't be complete without having Tiger Woods on it... multiple times. So here's the first of three entries for the man who has owned Bay Hill more than any other player, evidenced by his five wins, which is four more than anyone else.
With a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson and one hole to play at the 2001 Bay Hill Invitational, it was anything but the normal victory stroll up the 72nd hole for Woods.
After cranking a miserable hook that looked sure to be headed out of bounds, Woods finally got an example of what it feels like to be us hackers who always know it's better to be lucky than good.
The ball cracked a spectator in the neck (the spectator was OK) and caromed back toward the fairway. Woods proceeded to knock a 6-iron onto the green and made the birdie putt.
In a matter of moments, what looked to be a sure playoff and possibly a crushing defeat, turned into a two-shot victory.
It wasn't exactly patent Tiger, but it got the job done and left Mickelson shaking his head with the rest of us.
3. In 2003, Woods entered the final round of the tournament with a five-shot lead. It shaped up to be another Tiger romp and in the end, that's what it was. But, the in between here is what made the win so special. Some, including Woods himself, were wondering whether or not he'd even be able to compete in the final round.
After Friday's second round, Tiger's then girlfriend -- and now wife -- Elin collapsed in the parking lot at Bay Hill and was rushed to the hospital with a bout of food poisoning that caught up with Woods on Saturday night.
With a record four consecutive wins at one event on the line, Woods said at the time it was the only reason he got out of bed for that final round. He opted not to go to the hospital for treatment Saturday, noting that it's easy to check yourself into a hospital, but not as easy to check yourself out. Woods didn't want a doctor messing with golf history and neither did we.
So, what did he do? On a rainy day at Bay Hill which certainly didn't help someone feeling under the weather to begin with, Woods essentially dragged himself around the course with stops along the way to vomit, but still turned in a stunning 68 for an unimaginable 11-shot win.
Being sick never felt so good. And to celebrate, Woods went home to get to bed, while the scribes added another entry into the history books next to his name.
That victory at Bay Hill was the first of five trips to the winner's circle for Woods in 2001, which also included the Masters and his lone PLAYERS Championship title.
4. Professional golf has its share of sad stories. However, few can top what happened to England's Greg Owen at Bay Hill in 2006. This one you truly had to see to believe.
A confident Owen looked poised to earn his first win on the PGA TOUR. And what a win it would have been, when you consider Palmer -- the King, the legend -- would be handing over the trophy.
Instead, it was a tragedy -- at least in golf circles.
Playing the 17th hole that Sunday afternoon, Owen was five feet away from having a two-shot lead on the final hole. Unfortunately, the Golf Gods had different plans for poor Mr. Owen.
Everyone misses 5-footers, including the best players on the PGA TOUR. Owen, however, sent this par effort on No. 17 sailing three feet past the hole. Rather than take time to collect himself, Owen did what we've all done, but on a far superior stage -- he took a quick stab at the bogey putt and watched in disbelief like the rest of us as the darn thing lipped around the hole. Nobody even yelled, "NOONAN!" Instead, there was a collective gasp and a sudden double bogey.
Goodbye, two-shot lead. Hello, tie with Australia's Rod Pampling with one incredibly difficult hole left to play.
Owen never recovered and went on to bogey the final hole to lose by one. Aside from Jean Van de Velde's debacle on the 18th hole at Carnoustie in the 1999 Open Championship, I've never felt so bad for a player I had never really heard of.
Then again, Owen's fate was probably worse. At least Van de Velde's triple bogey still gave him a spot in a three-man playoff with Justin Leonard and eventual champion Paul Lawrie.
5. I'm not sure if this is the best moment at Bay Hill, but it's up there. And, it's the freshest on my mind because it happened just last year.
Woods went to the King's place in 2008 riding a win streak of four tournaments. At this particular track, win No. 5 seemed like a no-brainer since Woods had prevailed there on five other occasions.
True to form, Woods was right there on Sunday.
But, as he headed to the 18th tee, Woods was deadlocked with veteran Bart Bryant. He'd need a birdie to win and a par for a playoff.
Do I have to tell you what happened next?
Delivering an approach shot to the left half of the green, Woods was left with a tricky birdie putt. Not since the 2001 Bay Hill Invitational -- the victory over Mickelson -- had Woods won a tournament by birdieing the 72nd hole.
Until now, that is. Woods stroked the putter and watched as the ball made a beeline for the hole. When it found its home, Woods reached for his hat and whipped it into the fringe in celebration as thousands at the course -- and millions at home -- could only look on, not believing that what they expected to happen actually happened.
"That's why he's Tiger Woods," Bryant said. "He has an incredible way of pulling off the shot or the putt when he needs to. He's done it before. He'll do it again."
That sums it up beautifully, doesn't it?
T.J. Auclair is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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