Final-round notebook: The Shark Shootout

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Dec. 13, 2009
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff

• The Jerry Kelly/Steve Stricker team posted a 13-under 59 for a 26-under 190 to win The Shark Shootout. Kelly/Stricker held off challenges from several teams on the final day making a final-hole par to secure the title after J.B. Holmes/Kenny Perry missed a nine-foot putt for birdie to force a playoff. Chad Campbell/Tim Clark and Justin Leonard/Scott Verplank finished in a tie for second with Holmes/Perry at 25-under 191.

• The turning point came at the par-5 17th hole when Stricker/Kelly took a one stroke lead, making eagle with an 8-foot putt, while Holmes/Perry could only manage a par.

• Kelly and Stricker are both from Madison, Wis. and were born exactly three months apart (Kelly-11/23/66, Stricker-2/23/67). They have 10 PGA TOUR victories between them -- Kelly three and Stricker seven.

• Kelly/Stricker (2008-T5) and Leonard/Verplank (2006-2nd) were the only two teams this year who have previously teamed together at The Shark Shootout.

• The Kelly/Stricker combination was the only team in this week's field with both players posting victories on the PGA TOUR this season. Kelly won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Stricker posted three victories at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, John Deere Classic and Deutsche Bank Championship.

• This marks Kelly's second victory in five appearances at The Shark Shootout. Kelly also won in 2006 with Rod Pampling, defeating Leonard/Verplank in a playoff. Stricker wins in his second appearance at The Shark Shootout. With Kelly as his partner last year, they finished tied for fifth.

• This was the third appearance for Holmes at The Shark Shootout, having finished T6 in 2006 with John Daly and second last year with Boo Weekley. Holmes and Weekley also partnered each other in the Four-Ball format for two days at the 2008 Ryder Cup, going undefeated.

• Perry was attempting to become the fifth player with a record three wins at The Shark Shootout joining Steve Elkington (1993, '95, '98), Fred Couples (1990, '94, '99), Brad Faxon (1994, 2000, '01), and Scott McCarron (1997, 2000, '01).

• Perry was attempting to join Elkington and Couples as the only players to win with three different partners.

• Kentucky natives Holmes and Perry have won three of the last four FBR Opens. Holmes won in 2006 and 2008 while Perry won this year. The FBR Open will be known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2010.

• Holmes waited for the green to clear at the 370-yard, par-4 13th hole before hitting his tee-shot 25 feet from the hole resulting in a two-putt birdie.

• Holmes and Perry began the final round with an eagle. They also eagled the 17th hole on Saturday, making it two eagles in a three-hole stretch.

• Clark/Campbell played the back nine in 10-under 26 with eight birdies and the ace at No. 12 to shoot 15-under 57, the low score of the week.

• The lowest round in the Scramble format is 55, recorded three times. Tournament host Greg Norman was a part of two teams to perform this feat.

1993 -- Norman/Nick Price
1998 -- Peter Jacobsen/John Cook
2005 -- Norman/Elkington

• Clark used a six-iron to make a hole-in-one at the 183-yard 12th hole on Sunday. It represents the first ace recorded at The Shark Shootout since the event has been held at Tiburon Golf Club, starting in 2001. Sadly for Clark, he picked the wrong hole, as a Land Rover was available to any player to ace the 16th.

• A total of nine eagles were recorded during the week, including Clark's ace.

• Clark's teammate, Campbell, is one of just two players in the field this week to have scored an ace during the 2009 PGA TOUR season. Rickie Fowler is the other.

• Clark and Campbell both joined the PGA TOUR in 2002. Both players have multiple victories on the Nationwide Tour, but Clark is winless on the PGA TOUR, while Campbell has four career TOUR victories.

• This was the fourth Shark Shootout appearance for Campbell who came close to victory here in 2003 when he teamed with Shaun Micheel, losing a three-way playoff.

• All but one team (George McNeill/Jeff Sluman) posted bogey-free rounds on Sunday. Nine of the 12 teams recorded bogey-free rounds on Saturday. No bogey-free rounds were recorded in Friday's opening round.

• Fowler celebrated his 21st birthday on Sunday. The youngest competitor in the field this week was serenaded by the sizeable gallery at the final hole.

• Last year, Faxon and McCarron wore chef hats, to the gallery's delight, while playing the last hole. Faxon and teammate Matt Kuchar went one better this year and had a couple of chefs from the Ritz Carlton caddie for them on the final hole.

• Local favorites McNeill and Sluman were the only team to record a bogey in the Scramble format on Sunday. The bogey came at the 223-yard, par-3 5th hole. They were also the only team to score an eagle on a par-4 during the tournament -- at the 370-yard 13th hole on Sunday.

Steve Flesch was the first left-hander to compete in The Shark Shootout (2004) and was in the hunt to become the first left-hander to win. Bubba Watson is the only other left-hander to have made an appearance here, teaming with tournament host Norman to finish second in 2007.

• Sunday featured the Scramble format where each player hits a tee shot and the best tee shot is selected. Each player then plays a second shot from the spot where the selected tee shot lay and the best second shot is selected. The process is repeated until the hole is completed.

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