Two for One at Bay Hill
Posted March 20th, 2005 by Erik J. Barzeski
Kenny Perry wins as Vijay Singh, who took advantage of a faltering Tiger to return to #1, dunks his ball on the last.
Vijay Singh hit a 7-iron into the water at the 18th hole and Kenny Perry walked away with a two-shot victory at the Bay Hill Invitational. All was not lost for Singh, as he reclaimed the #1 spot in the world over a struggling Tiger Woods, who finished at -1 after an unusual - and lengthy - week.
Singh began the fourth round three back of Perry, -7 to -10 before closing the gap at the 17th when Perry failed to get up and down from the back middle of the long par 3. Hitting first at 18, Vijay cut a 7-iron into a right-to-left wind, the ball stood up, came down on the rocks, and bounded back into the water. Perry played cautiously to the green, two-putted for par, and bettered Singh's double-bogey to claim his first Bay Hill Invitational.
Said Perry of Singh's miscue, "It looked like it was going to fly right next to the hole. From my angle you're thinking, 'Man, that looks perfect.' And then to see it… I was stunned." Singh's water ball marked the second time in as many weeks he lost a tournament on the last hole, missing a 2½-foot putt last week to lose to Padraig Harrington.
This tournament was billed as the battle for #1 as Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, or Ernie Els could have been #1 in the end. Woods and Els both finished T23, leaving the door wide open for Singh. Singh, who lost the top spot in the World Rankings two weeks ago at Doral, wasn't terribly happy to be back on top of the world rankings. When asked of the achievement, Singh stated gruffly "Big deal. I lost the tournament." Woods agreed, saying "It's all about winning. I'm sure Vijay feels the same way. #1 is just a number. If you win a bunch of tournaments each year, the ranking will follow."
When asked later about his club selection, Vijay said "I was trying to win the golf tournament. If I had to do it again, I probably would have hit a different club, played safer a little bit and hopefully see if Kenny made a mistake. But that's not the way I play. I play aggressive and I went for the flag. It just came up a little short."
US Open champ Retief Goosen - part of a fantastic threesome with Els and Woods - opened the tournament with a 78, but finished 67, 68, 70 to finish in solo fourth. Ernie Els saw his hopes drift away with a second-round 77, but closed with a 70 to "catch" the faltering Woods, who hit two shots in the water on Sunday. Northern Irelander Graeme McDowell, who finished at -10 tied with Vijay Singh, will move from #54 to #38 in the world, granting him access to the Masters. Said McDowell, "It would be a dream come true, really. The Masters… I've watched that tournament since I was a boy. For me, it's the pinnacle of the golf world."
Kenny Perry, the hooker with the unusual swing, became the oldest winner in Bay Hill history at 44 and earned his eighth career victory and $900,000 in the process.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot 1 Kenny Perry -12 70 68 68 70 276 T2 Graeme McDowell -10 69 73 70 66 278 T2 Vijay Singh -10 72 68 69 69 278 4 Retief Goosen -5 78 67 68 70 283 T5 Patrick Sheehan -4 71 71 75 67 284 T5 Corey Pavin -4 72 70 71 71 284 T5 Aaron Baddeley -4 70 74 68 72 284 T8 Bart Bryant -3 72 73 71 69 285 T8 Zach Johnson -3 73 69 73 70 285 T8 Chad Campbell -3 76 69 72 68 285 T8 Charles Howell III -3 71 68 75 71 285 T8 Joe Ogilvie -3 68 74 72 71 285 T8 Darren Clarke -3 76 71 70 68 285 T8 Stewart Cink -3 74 70 70 71 285 T8 Sergio Garcia -3 70 70 73 72 285 T8 Fred Couples -3 71 72 70 72 285 T8 Briny Baird -3 69 73 70 73 285 T8 K.J. Choi -3 70 70 70 75 285
Next week, The Player's Championship, where Adam Scott will defend and Tiger Woods will likely have another chance to get back to #1.
Photo Credit: © AP.
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 at 1:05am #
The top 50 golfers in the world will all be looking to do one thing this weekend: Tame the TPC at Sawgrass!
Posted 30 Mar 2005 at 8:41am #
Players look to fine-tune their golf games one last time before heading to Augusta National next week.
Posted 08 May 2005 at 10:53am #
Sergio Garcia will take a six shot lead into the final round at the Wachovia Championship.
Posted 22 May 2005 at 8:41pm #
Kenny Perry tied his own 72-hole record en route to winning for the second time at Colonial.
Posted 26 Aug 2005 at 4:16pm #
Kenny Perry has quietly build one of the most successful games on the PGA Tour. He is a man who has not only made a place for himself, he's made a place for others as well.
Posted 15 Mar 2006 at 9:32am #
The 2007 event will be called the Arnold Palmer Invitational but could easily be called the Tiger Woods Invitational as he goes for his fifth win here.