Two horrible drives cost Habig
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2011 (5427 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
HE was quick to the salute the crowd and the first to graciously offer congratulations to champion Tom Hoge.
But darn it if Josh Habig won’t look back at the 2011 Players Cup — especially the final round — as the one that slipped out of his hands like a wet bar of soap.
Yes, while the final leaderboard featured a pile of players who threw up scores in the 60s — 15 of the top 16 shot 69 or better, 33 competitors were under par — Habig was a one-over 72 on an absolutely perfect day for low numbers.
And he can point to two holes that led to his unraveling and quickly erased a one-shot advantage he carried into the final day.
“I had two bad drives today that really cost me out there on four (a triple-bogey eight) and 11 (double bogey) and those were the two big numbers,” said Habig while Hoge was being directed to the trophy presentation on the 18th green.
“I felt like it was just sloppy out there today on a couple of those swings and that was really the difference. I still made plenty of birdies (six in total). I birdied the holes you need to in order to win, but just didn’t care of my business on those tee balls.”
Ironically, it was Habig who led a charge from behind in 2006 when he won this event courtesy a final-round 63. This time…
“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “It was a solid start, really. Then I was feeling comfortable and just lost my focus with my tee ball on four… I was over it and I heard something that kinda distracted me a little bit and I should have stepped away and I didn’t. That’s just bad discipline on my part and I put a bad swing on it.”
DAY JOB SAFE: It was fun and the golf got his heart pumping, but fan favourite Rob McMillan won’t be leaving his gig as the regional sales rep for Titleist to hit the Canadian Tour again. McMillan shot a final round 70 on Sunday to finish the Players Cup tied with the only other Manitoban who made the cut — Brad Kirton — for 47th overall.
“It’s fun to a point because it’s fun to still compete and get the juices flowing,” McMillan said. “You can play in a one-day tournament here and there, but it’s not like a four-round with a cut, with a gallery, with all those things. It’s a different animal.
“I didn’t play last year so this is my first in a couple of years and it’s really fun. But I still know what my day job is. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of it. It was great. But I’m just at a different time of my life now.
ACES, ALBATROSS: John Ellis had the third hole-in-one of the tournament, scoring a one on the seventh hole on Sunday. He hit a pitching wedge beyond the hole and spun it back to pay dirt on the 148-year par-3.
Meanwhile, fellow American Chris Cunningham had a two on the par-5 eighth hole Sunday, holing his second shot with a six-iron on the 506-yard par-5.
BIG HEAT, BIG CROWDS: It was one of the best weather weeks in Winnipeg’s Canadian Tour history. While the golf fireworks were going on at Pine Ridge, crowds increased dramatically. Officials said that attendance went from 880 a year ago to more than 5,000 for the week, which also featured a couple of early fund-raiser events sponsored and hosted by Jonathan Toews. Officials said at the end of the tournament they had raised $70,000 for charitable causes over the course of the event.
RAN OUT OF HOLES: Two of the third-place finishers at the Players Cup just ran out of holes. Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch and New Zealander Jae An each caught fire on Sunday and wound up with 65s, but just started too far back of the leaders.
They wound up at 11-under, tied for third with third-round leader Josh Habig, five shots back of winner Tom Hoge.
ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca
