Canadian Tours Largest Playoff Reveals A Champion
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:19:18
finish in Canadian Tour history.
Steve Scott of Wellington, FL won a six-man playoff, the largest ever on the Tour, by outlasting Jess Daley (Chicago, IL) on the sixth extra hole Sunday in front of about 2500 fans at Point Grey and Country Club.
The previous record for the largest playoff was four players at the 1997 TELUS Edmonton Open.
The 23-year-old Scott birdied three of his final five holes Sunday to finish with a 5-under par 67 and a four-day total of 276, joining Daley, Steven Alker (New Zealand), Scott Hend (Australia), Mark Slawter (Raleigh, NC) and Roger Tambellini (Templeton, CA) in the playoff. Kenneth Staton finished one stroke back, while Doug McGuigan of Langley, B.C. was the top Canadian, finishing in a tie for 17th place, five shots behind the leaders.
With just Scott, Alker and Daley left on the fourth extra hole, the par-3 13th, Alker's shot from the sand hit the pin, but the defending McDonald's Order of Merit winner missed the three-foot putt coming back to bow out. On
the final hole, Daley's third shot out of the sand on the par-5 12th flew over the green. Scott, who had stayed alive by draining a 35-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole, pushed another long putt to within three
feet of the cup and Daley, hitting his fourth shot from the fringe, nearly holed out before Scott sank the winning putt.
"I have never been involved in anything like that. Anytime you get into a six-man playoff, it's a combination of luck and never quitting," admitted
Scott, who joined the Canadian Tour three weeks ago at the McDonald's Spring Qualifying School after playing two events as a sponsor invite earlier this year in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "That long putt (on the third extra hole) was something I knew I could do, and I didn't have much of a choice at the time."
Steve Scott does not need to be reminded of the last time he faced such pressure on the golf course. In the 1996 U.S. Amateur Championship, Scott led Tiger Woods by two strokes with three holes to play before eventually losing in a playoff. The experience has prepared him for situations like that he faced Sunday in Vancouver.
"When I played Tiger, that was my first time facing pressure like that. I know that experience has helped me prepare and I am looking forward to the rest of the year up here. This just has me psyched."
The Canadian Tour now travels east to Alberta for this week's TELUS Edmonton Open.
