Hamilton gains first PGA Tour victory

Todd Hamilton took 17 years to fulfill his dream of playing on the PGA Tour. It felt like sheer fantasy Sunday in The Honda Classic.

After losing a four-shot lead, Hamilton recovered with birdies on his final two holes, stuffing an 8-iron into 4 feet on No. 18 to close with a 2-over 74 and defeat Davis Love III by one shot.

"This is a dream come true," Hamilton said. "There's probably a lot of other golfers who deserve it more talent-wise, but I guarantee you no one will appreciate it more than I will."

Hamilton, who finished at 12-under 274, earned $900,000 and a two-year exemption on Tour.

The perks don't stop there. The 38-year-old Tour rookie should easily move into the top 50 in the world ranking and qualify for the Masters.

Not bad for a guy who was living in obscurity on the Japanese Tour last year, despite winning four times, and who spent the last 12 years toiling in the Far East.

"I struggled today for a long time and then, lo and behold, I found a couple of birdies at the end," Hamilton said. "I don't know how I did it."

Hamilton has struggled longer than that. Eight times he tried to get his tour card through qualifying school until he finally made it last year. He is only one year young than Love, who was trying to win for the 19th time.

Instead, Love was a runner-up at The Honda Classic for the second straight time after closing with a 69.

"I give him a lot of credit," Love said. "He gave everyone a chance, and then he took it away from us."

Last year, Love lost the lead to hard-charging Justin Leonard. This time, Love applied the heat by playing mistake-free down the stretch, taking the lead with a great lag putt from a deep swale on the 17th, and looked like the winner when he saved par with a 6-foot putt on the 18th.

Hamilton had not made a birdie throughout the gusty day at Mirasol, but he poured in a 10-foot putt on the 17th to catch Love at 11 under.

He split the middle of the 18th fairway, and had 162 yards to a front pin. Nervously wiping the grip of his 8-iron, the ball took dead aim at the flag and stopped 4 feet behind the hole.

Brian Bateman, who had never finished in the top 10 on the PGA Tour, had a share of the lead at 10 under when he finished with his 68. He wound up third and earned $340,000.

Kevin Na, at 20 the youngest player on the PGA Tour, shot a 69 and tied for fourth with Robert Allenby (70), Woody Austin (70) and Fredrik Jacobson (73).

Hamilton closed out his third round with a 15-foot birdie putt, and he figured that extra stroke might come in handy.

This was only his 18th start on the PGA Tour, and while he is coming off a four-win season in Japan, the former All-American at Oklahoma has never been in this position.

At times, his inexperience showed.

Hamilton made one bogey from the bunker, two others by missing the green, and by the time he walked off the ninth green, his four-shot lead was down to one.

He might have surrendered the lead sooner except for two brilliant saves. One of them came at No. 10, with a chip from a downhill lie, up the steep slope to tap-in range. The other came on the par-5 12th, when he chipped his third shot too short, and down the slope. He chipped again to 6 feet and made that one.

"I'm not making this easy on myself," he said.

He three-putted the 13th for his fourth bogey, and suddenly was tied for the lead at 10 under.

Just when it looked like he would fall apart, Hamilton kept it together with a remarkable short game.

He left himself 50 feet from the hole on No. 14, but rolled in a 7-foot par putt. He missed the green well to the right on the par-3 15th, into a deep collection area some 80 feet from the cup, but knocked it up to 3 feet for another par that kept him in the game.

The key putt came on the 17th.

From about the same area where Love, playing three groups ahead of him, had rolled up a putt to 2 feet for birdie, Hamilton left his 10 feet short. But the birdie tied him with Love, and it looked as though The Honda Classic was headed for a playoff.

Hamilton ended the suspense with the most crucial 8-iron of his life.

Divots: None of the six players in the final three groups broke par ... Michael Allen closed with an 80, meaning at least one player shot in the 80s all four rounds. ... Brad Faxon, who fell out of contention Saturday with a 76, birdied three of his final four holes for a 70. Faxon, who decided not to have surgery after tearing ligaments in his right knee over Thanksgiving, made the cut for the first time in four stroke-play tournaments this year. He tied for eighth.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page