Veazey captures 20th season opener in sudden death
By Kin Lo, PGA TOUR Staff
PANAMA CITY, Panama -- In local parlance, sacarse el gordo means "to hit the jackpot," and such was the fortune of Vance Veazey Sunday afternoon at the 2009 Panama Digicel Championship.
| Inside the Numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final Leaderboard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Veazey defeated Garrett Willis on the second playoff hole to earn the $108,000 winner's paycheck at the first event of the Nationwide Tour's 20th season after each finished regulation at 7-under 203. Jeff Gove finished alone in third at 5 under, and Henrik Bjornstad and Jim Herman tied for fourth at 4 under.
Veazey began the day with a one-stroke lead and got off to a solid start with a 2-under 33 on the front nine to lead by three strokes at the turn over Bjornstad and Len Mattiace.
Meanwhile, Willis, who started the day at 3 under and three shots behind Veazey, was quietly staging run at the leader. After playing the first 12 holes at even par, Willis birdied four of his last six holes -- including the 18th, which got him to 7 under and sole possession of the lead.
Veazey then dropped a shot on the 14th hole to fall one back of Willis.
"I didn't realize that I was behind by a stroke until I got to the 17th hole and realized I had to make birdie to have a chance to win." Veazey said after the round. "Coincidentally, I was in the same situation on the same hole in final round when I won here in 2005."
That year, Veazey was in a five-way tie for the lead and birdied 17 to take the lead and go on to win.
Veazey's tee shot on 18 found the right side of the fairway with 116 yards remaining to the flagstick. With the tournament on the line, he knocked a 54-degree wedge to eight feet right of the pin on the top shelf of the two-tiered green.
Left with a relatively flat putt, Veazey backed off as he readied to take his stroke, distracted by the movement of a photographer behind him. He then re-approached the ball and coolly made the putt in front of a standing room only gallery to force the first playoff in tournament history.
"You know, I have to thank that camera guy. I may have missed that putt had I not stepped back and taken a second look," he said with a grin.
Veazey and Willis returned to the 18th hole for the playoff and both made routine pars. The next playoff hole was the par-4 10th. Veazey hit a perfect drive down the center of the fairway while Willis' drifted right into the first cut of rough.
Willis was first to play, with 168 yards remaining from a half-up-half-down lie. His 8-iron jumped on him a bit and bounced over the green 30 yards from the whole. Veazey's second found the middle of the green approximately 20 feet from the hole.
Willis needed two more strokes to find the green, still six feet away and putting for 5. Veazey responded with a textbook two-putt to win.
This is the fourth win on the Nationwide Tour for Veazey and the second at the Panama Digicel Championship (2005) for the 43-year-old native of Memphis, Tenn. He is playing in his 10th season on the Nationwide Tour and has also played three full seasons on the PGA TOUR, where his best finish was a tie for 10th at the Stanford St. Jude Classic in 2007.
"I can't thank Digicel and the tournament staff enough -- you are keeping my dream alive," Veazey told the crowd at the trophy presentation. "I love Panama. The people are great. The support is great. The course is great. I love everything about it and wish I could play 20 tournaments here."
Veazey was the only player to record all four rounds in the 60s and the eighth player in Nationwide Tour history to win the same event twice.
Fourth-round notes: Scott Gardiner and Matt Every both shot a 30 (5 under) on the first nine holes Sunday, tying the tournament record for the best front-nine score (shared by four other players). The record for the back nine is 28 (7 under), set by Andrew Johnson in 2007. ... Bob May recorded a 5-under 65 Sunday after shooting an 81 on Saturday, a differential of 16 strokes. This is a new record for the largest improvement between two consecutive rounds. The previous record was 14 strokes (78-64) by Sean Pacetti in Rounds 1-2 in 2005. May moved from last place starting Sunday's round to finish tied for 47th for the event. ... This is the fourth time a Nationwide Tour season has opened with a playoff. The last time was in 1999 at the South Florida Classic, when Curt Byrum won over Stan Utley.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FREE iPHONE APP
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network