After Cinderella victory, Slocum paired with Woods
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
NORTON, Mass. -- Thank goodness for television replays. Otherwise, Heath Slocum might have missed the biggest moment in his PGA TOUR career.
He knows he made that putt on the 72nd hole at Liberty National on Sunday. And he knows that 21-footer for par enabled him to kick off the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup with a win at The Barclays.
Slocum just can't visualize the ball tracking to the hole.
"Everything just kind of blurred from that moment, as soon as it left the putter," he said with a wry grin. "I was trying to just kind of go through my head when I was laying in bed on Sunday night, just ... replaying everything, and I was like, that's weird, I can't really remember where the ball was halfway there or anything.
"Did it ever look on line? It seemed like it just got there so quick, I suppose, that everything is a blur now. I think I'm going to have to keep looking at it on the replay to see what it looked like."
The aftermath of his third TOUR win was unforgettable, though.
The 2,500 points Slocum earned enabled him to jump from a near-afterthought at No. 124 to third in the FedExCup standings. He is assured of a spot in the all-important finale at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, too, where he and 29 others will decide who wins the $10 million bonus.
"It has not sunk in yet," said Slocum, who takes all that momentum into this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. "I'm still, I'd say, overwhelmed, but I'm getting used to it. It was a good week; it was a great week, and really, just looking forward to the position that it's put me in maybe to have a chance coming down the stretch of the Playoffs to maybe have another impact."
Slocum will be the first to tell you that he's unaccustomed to the limelight. One of his best friends is a high school teammate, Boo Weekley, the quintessential country boy and two-time TOUR champ. And the big-hitting Bubba Watson, he of the pink shaft on his driver, was a couple of years behind them in school.
"You've got two big personalities, and then there's Heath," Slocum said with a shrug. "Yeah, it is who I am. I don't change. I don't mind flying under the radar whatsoever.
"I get to do what I love every day on the greatest stage, and that's perfectly fine with me. My wife and my little girl know who I am, and that's all that matters."
But lots of other people do, too, now. Slocum did a rare pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday at TPC Boston, then patiently spent 45 more minutes on the phone doing eight more radio and print interviews. Three more were on tap later in the day.
Two days before, though, he'd been relatively incognito as he and his wife, Vicky, and their daughter Stella went into New York City. First stop was the office of Calvin Klein, his apparel sponsor, where he met with the legendary designer. Toys R Us was also on the agenda along with a picnic in the park -- complete with cupcakes for Stella (and if truth be told, the adults, he said).
The work begins anew on Friday when the second Playoff event begins. Slocum tied for 15th at the Deutsche Bank Championship last year, and he certainly comes in with a ton of confidence -- particularly after beating the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker.
"You look at the names and the credentials they brought, all the tournament wins, all the majors, yeah, it seems like a daunting task," agreed Slocum, who will play with Woods and Stricker in the first two rounds. "Maybe thank God I was so focused that I didn't have to pay attention to that. ...Otherwise, yeah, it might have been a different story. But I think that's why we all practice and stay in our routines is maybe so we don't have to think about stuff like that."
Slocum, who was No. 123 on the money list entering The Barclays, won't have to worry about keeping his card now, either. He has a two-year exemption on TOUR by virtue of the win -- not to mention, invites to all four majors and most of the invitationals next year due to his berth in THE TOUR Championship.
Job security is a wonderful thing.
"It was probably Sunday night sitting in the hotel room," Slocum said. "... I guess when we were back there and we had already put Stella to bed and my wife and I were just sitting there talking, yeah, this gets (me in) this, yeah (and) that, oh, wow. Then it kind of hits you what that win definitely does, not only for this year but for the following year.
"... Again, it's just another opportunity just like I had last week. You just never know where lightning is going to strike and when it's going to be your turn to have a putt to win a golf tournament. The bigger tournaments you get into, the bigger tournaments you have a chance to win."
Like the opportunity he seized at Liberty National, and like the chances he will get in the next three Playoff events. Should Slocum maintain his spot in the top-five in the standings when he gets to East Lake for the finale, he will control his own destiny -- and have a chance to pocket the $10 million bonus with a TOUR Championship win.
"That's what we're here for, if you've come this far now," Slocum acknowledged. "I've gotten off to a great start and gotten myself in the mix, so just see what the next three weeks have in store for me."
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