Rick Rhoden wins eighth American Century Championship
Rick Rhoden, a former major league pitcher, won the American Century Championship on Sunday for his eighth title at this premiere celebrity event.
Rick Rhoden
Rhoden collected 18 points on Sunday and won the championship with a total of 74 points at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Club.
Under the modified Stableford scoring system, players are awarded 10 points for a double-eagle, eight points for a hole-in-one, six points for an eagle, three points for a birdie, one point for a par and zero points for a bogey. Two points are subtracted for each score of double-bogey or worse.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo took second after 22 points on Sunday gave him 71 for the tournament.
Former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver and Dan Quinn shared third place with 70 points.
The championship came down to Rhoden and Quinn.
On the final hole, Rhoden held a slight edge, but both players hit terrible tee shots into the trees. Each player got back into the fairway, and Rhoden knocked his over the flag. Quinn came up short in the water, essentially handing Rhoden his eighth win.
“I did not play well today,” said Rhoden, who, despite eight wins, finally successfully defended his title for the first time. “I actually was getting nervous in the end.”
Jeremy Roenick netted 22 points to take fifth with 69 points.
Grant Fuhr, the Stanley Cup winning goalie, shared the overnight lead with Rhoden but managed only 11 points on Sunday. He came in sixth with 67 points.
Stewart Cink the 2009 British Open Winner
Stewart Cink of the US looks at the trophy after winning a playoff following the final round of the British Open Golf championship, at the Turnberry golf course, Scotland, Sunday, July 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Tom Watson stood over an 8-foot par putt Sunday evening on the final hole of a mystical British Open, one stroke away from becoming the oldest major champion in history. For the first time all week, he showed his 59-year-old nerves.
The putt never had a chance.
A little more than an hour later, neither did Watson.
Stewart Cink, who made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole of regulation, took advantage of Watson’s missed opportunity and overwhelmed him in the four-hole playoff to win by six shots.
Watson stood on the 18th tee one last time, blinking away tears. He wasn’t alone in his sadness. Thousands of fans who filled the grandstands for the first time all week sat in stunned silence.
The loudest cheer was for the player who won the silver medal.
Cink, who was never atop the leaderboard all week until Watson missed the winning putt, was flawless in the playoff and finished with two birdies. As he gazed at the fabled claret jug, he paid his due to Watson, the modern day King of the Links.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Cink said. “My hat’s off to him. He turned back the clock. Just did a great job. I speak for all the rest of the people here, too.”
Cink’s birdie gave him 69, and at 2-under 278, it looked as though he would be the runner-up.
“It was almost,” Watson said. “The dream almost came true.”
2009 British Open Winner Update – Tom Watson falls at last hole
Tom Watson
History faltered at Turnberry today when Tom Watson, bidding to become oldest man (and the first with a hip replacement) to win one of golf’s major championships, was finally vanquished by his countryman Stewart Cink at the 2009 Open Championship.
The 59-year-old American, whose last major championship victory came 26 years ago, had an eight-foot putt on the final hole to secure one of the greatest upset victories in the history of sport, let alone golf.
Alas for him, alas for sporting romantics around the world, his ball came up short, sending the two compatriots into a four-hole play-off.
Cink, younger by 23 years, won that easily — by six shots, to be precise – as Watson’s efforts over the previous 72 holes took their predictable toll.
Stewart Cink
To the winner went the famous claret jug and a cheque of £750,000. To the runner-up went £450,000 and the comfort of knowing that he had given inspiration to millions – as well as palpitations to those who had backed him at 1,500-1 before a ball was struck.
“The old fogey almost did it,” Watson said afterwards when asked to provide a headline for publications around the world which had catalogued his amazing efforts through the four days of the championship. “It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn’t it. It wasn’t to be and yes it was a great disappointment. It tears your gut, as it always has torn at my gut. It’s not easy to take.”
Tied for second place after Thursday’s first round, Watson lead the tournament for most of the next three days. He saw off Tiger Woods, who missed the halfway cut, and the vast majority of the other young tyros who dominate the modern game.
In the end, only Cink, the eventual winner, and England’s Lee Westwood, stood between him and a famous victory.
Westwood, who stood to make a £2m bonus from a sponsor had he won, needed to birdie the last. Instead, he could only bogey the hole and fell back into a tie for third alongside Englishman Chris Wood, 21. Disappointingly for Watson, Cink was not so accommodating, rolling in a 12-foot putt on the 18th hole of regulation play for birdie. He followed that with a series of wonderful shots in the play-off to take the prize.
Original from:
