Bart Bryant coasts to six shot victory

Bart Bryant's wife sat patiently in the back of the room, holding a rolled-up poster and a Tour Championship sign that some smitten fans in the gallery wanted him to autograph.

She was especially amused by the handwritten message on the poster: Atlanta Loves Bryant's Cool Mustache.

OK, so it was a blatant attempt to get some TV time, because the big letters A-B-C were highlighted. Still, it showed just how far Bryant has come.

Yep, he's got groupies.

``There was a group of young guys -- looked like they're late high school or early college -- who just started rooting for him,'' Cathy Bryant said. ``They were really whooping it up.''

Well, here's a guy worth celebrating.

After years of bouncing between Q-school and mini-tours, after rotator cuff surgery and operations on both elbows, after being told by one doctor that it was time to find another line of work, the 42-year-old Bryant is experiencing a life he never dreamed possible.

During a Sunday afternoon stroll at East Lake, he finished off a six-stroke victory over the world's greatest golfer and left the rest of the elite field even further behind.

Not bad for a player who once set the goal of being a consistent top-100 finisher on the PGA Tour, who still goes with an old-fashioned mustache in this era of goatees and soul patches, whose Joe Average physique and Everyman demeanor seems as suited to hold a wrench as a golf club.

``Well, this certainly exceeded my expectations,'' Bryant told reporters after darkness claimed the brilliant autumn day, but failed to snuff out the afterglow from the greatest four rounds of his life. ``I'm very surprised, just as surprised as you are.''

It would have been easy for Bryant to walk away. There were plenty of opportunities.

Start with all those trips to qualifying school. He made it through five or six times, but isn't sure how many times he fell short.

``I missed a lot, too,'' Bryant said. ``I know I've been there a bunch.''

Then there was the year, sometime around 1996 or '97, that he skipped Q-school altogether and settled for a life on the lowest rung of the professional ladder.

``I wanted to be home with my family. My game wasn't all that great,'' Bryant recalled. ``I decided to play the mini-tours and see if I could make a living. If I didn't make a living on the mini-tours, I probably would have packed it in.''

The following year, Bryant went back to Q-school, made the grade and began the ever-so-gradual process of gaining enough confidence to compete with the world's best players. He felt all along that his game was suited to make it on the PGA Tour, but the mental edge was a lot longer in coming.

``Every week, I feel more and more like I belong where I am,'' Bryant said. ``Certainly I don't put myself in the same class with Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Davis Love or Tiger Woods. But I have found that if I'm at the top of my game and playing in the right conditions, I can definitely compete with those guys.''

This Texas native didn't just compete at his first Tour Championship -- he gave everyone a Texas-sized whipping.

Bryant's wire-to-wire victory began with a course-record 62 on Thursday and finished with a tap-in par for a 67 on Sunday. His 17-under 263 was the lowest in Tour Championship history, beating Phil Mickelson's 2000 mark by four strokes. The margin of victory was the second-largest of 2005, surpassed only by Kenny Perry's seven-stroke win at the Colonial.

The $1.17 million check was more money than Bryant earned his first 18 years on the PGA and Nationwide tours. After never finishing higher than 80th on the money list, he won more than $3.2 million this year to place ninth.

Despite all his success, Bryant is still gripped by moments of insecurity. For instance, after making birdies on three of the first four holes to extend his Sunday lead, he wondered if it was all falling apart when his tee shot at the par-3 sixth tumbled into the water.

He was coming off a bogey at the No. 5 -- the toughest hole on the course -- and seemed likely to make even worse as he walked slowly toward the drop zone.

``That was an anxious moment there,'' Bryant conceded. ``There were things going through my mind like, 'How many times can I chunk it into the water from here?'''

Not to worry. Bryant easily cleared the water with his next shot, the steadied himself for an 8-foot putt to salvage another bogey. When the ball dropped in, he pumped his fist a couple of times -- about as much emotion as he'll ever show.

``That's probably one of the best putts of my career,'' Bryant said. ``I felt like I was supposed to make that putt. Two years ago, I don't think I would have believed I was supposed to make it.''

Bryant broke through with a win at the 2004 Texas Open. He showed that wasn't a fluke by beating a strong field at this year's Memorial. The, he took out the best of the best at the season-ending championship, limited to the tour's top 30 money winners.

Woods, beginning the day four strokes behind, tried to make a charge with three birdies on a four-hole stretch beginning at No. 9. Bryant never faltered, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th, followed by a 30-footer at the 12th.

``He did what he had to do,'' Woods said. ``That's what he was doing all week.''

Goosen, trying to become the first back-to-back winner of the Tour Championship, played in the final group with Bryant but faded to a 74, settling for a fourth-place tie with Singh and Love.

Scott Verplank shot a 69 and was third at 271.

So, what's next for Bryant? Well, he's headed for surgery Tuesday to clean up a left knee that's been bothering him all year.

``Just feels like the thing to do,'' Bryant quipped. ``I haven't had surgery in a while.''

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