Ben Crane, one of the slowest players on the PGA Tour, walked away with the US Bank Championship. Carding a 1-under-par round of 69, Crane was never pressured as his nearest competitors Scott Verplank, Chris Smith, and Kenny Perry folded with rounds of 71, 71, and 73. Crane eventually won by four over Verplank and five over Chad Campbell, one of the few players to have a decent day in the blustery conditions, firing a 65.
Ben Crane, a full-line Titleist staff member, used the popular Pro V1x and is the first player to win with a Titleist 905 driver on the PGA Tour this year. In fact, the top six players all played Titleist balls. Go figure. I’m pointing this out only because last week’s winner, Jason Bohn, is also a full-line Titleist guy, and it’s odd for any one company to have back-to-back winners.
Ben Crane, as I mentioned, is one of the slowest players on Tour. His pre-shot routine – from the time he first addresses the ball to the time he starts his swing – takes upwards of 30 seconds and is filled with jerks and jiggles and twitches. It appears as though he’s having a seizure. Finally, he sets the club down and swings.
The problem, as Lanny Wadkins pointed out, is not his pre-shot routine. Many players take awhile, and nobody expects Ben Crane to hit the shot before he’s ready. The problem lies with his pre-pre-shot routine. Crane is not a short hitter, so he’s usually hitting second. His pre-pre-shot routine – getting a yardage, choosing a club, figuring out the wind – is the problem. Instead of doing this while his playing partners are engaged in their swing, Crane often doesn’t get yardages until it’s his turn to play.
Slow play on the PGA Tour is a bad thing. Regular golfers, whether they’ll admit it or not, are influenced by what they see on TV. When they see someone take 30 seconds to make a swing, or to look at the hole six times before stroking their 10-footer, they incorporate some of that into their own game. After all, a ten-footer for a buck is no different than a 10-footer for a million of ’em, is it?
Pros typically play in four to five hours. The five-hour round is a big, big reason why so many people give up the game and a large part of the reason why 18 holes often sucks up an entire day.
Congratulations to Ben Crane. He kept his pace with the groups ahead on Sunday (perhaps because they were busy taking bogeys). Maybe that could be Ben’s new trick – take a lot less strokes than everyone else and you’re bound to play faster.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot 1 Ben Crane -1 -20 62 65 64 69 260 2 Scott Verplank +1 -16 64 65 64 71 264 3 Chad Campbell -5 -15 66 68 66 65 265 4 Jeff Sluman -2 -14 64 64 70 68 266 T5 Steve Elkington -2 -13 65 70 64 68 267 T5 Chris Smith +1 -13 64 67 65 71 267 T7 Lee Janzen -5 -12 69 66 68 65 268 T7 Mark Calcavecchia -1 -12 69 65 65 69 268 T9 Glen Day -4 -11 67 70 66 66 269 T9 Brad Faxon -2 -11 67 64 70 68 269 T9 Dean Wilson -2 -11 66 69 66 68 269 T9 John Huston -1 -11 68 67 65 69 269 T9 Kenny Perry +3 -11 63 69 64 73 269 T14 Jason Bohn -5 -10 67 68 70 65 270 T14 Richard S. Johnson -3 -10 68 70 65 67 270 T14 Rocco Mediate -3 -10 69 68 66 67 270 T14 Stephen Leaney -2 -10 65 69 68 68 270 T14 Jerry Kelly -1 -10 64 68 69 69 270 T14 J.L. Lewis -1 -10 68 67 66 69 270 T14 Briny Baird E -10 66 69 65 70 270 T14 Fred Funk E -10 69 67 64 70 270 T14 Bo Van Pelt +1 -10 70 65 64 71 270 T14 Matt Davidson +1 -10 67 68 64 71 270
Photo Credit: © AP.
I was glad to see Verplank play well once again. I was hoping he would pull out the win, but a 2nd place finish will earn a few dollars too.
Also, as a big Lee Janzen fan, I was happy to see him in a tie for 7th place. Maybe he will continue to play the golf he is capable of.
Overall, this was a better tournament than what I originally expected. I didn’t watch near as much of it as I did the British Open, but I still enjoyed it.