Couples trailed Cook by one stroke with three holes to play in regulation, but Cook opened the door for Couples at the par-3 16th by making bogey after a poor pitch shot from short of the green. Couples was over the green on the 225-yard hole, but he managed to save par and force a tie by holing a 15-foot putt just after Cook missed his par effort from 25 feet. After both players made routine pars on the final two holes of regulation and the first playoff hole, Couples appeared to have the advantage when he hit the par-5, 18th hole in two. However, he squandered the opportunity to win by three-putting for par from 70 feet. The duo went back to the par-4 17th hole where Cook pulled his wedge shot from the fairway 18 feet left of the hole. Couples, just barely in the right rough, launched a sand wedge shot that stopped just three feet from the cup. After Cook missed his birdie putt, Couples tapped in for the victory.
So what's next for the tournament? Executive Director Steven Schoenfeld told me yesterday before the final round that it's all up in the air for 2012 and beyond. While the event will be definitely be held--it is the Champions Tour's fifth major, after all--the venue is far from decided. The only thing for sure, Schoenfeld said, is that it won't be at Westchester Country Club next year. The PGA Tour would like to keep it in Westchester, and there are plenty of great courses that could host it here, but they need a title sponsor to make that happen. Otherwise, the event will probably move to one of the tour-owned TPC Courses where there's no rent required. This was the final year for Constellation Energy's sponsorship and the prospects of finding another title sponsor in this economy aren't great, although Schoenfeld said there are several meetings with potential sponsors next month.
It would be a shame to see professional golf leave Westchester again. Watching the game on television is nothing like standing fifteen feet away from a player like Corey Pavin while he goes through his pre-shot routine and blasts a bunker shot to three feet from the cup. Or seeing Mark Calcavecchia hurl his driver against a rock outcropping that snagged his off-line tee-shot. You'd never hear the words he used on TV, either. the Golf Channel did a great job of covering the tournament, but it can't match being there in person.
You also can't see the real golf course on the TV screen, no matter how big it is. The hardest hole at Westchester this year was the par-4 12th, which played to a stroke average of 4.421, ranking it as the fourth hardest hole on the 2011 Champions Tour. Only 10 birdies were made there during the four days of competition. You can't begin to see how elevated that green is when you see it on a TV screen, or how awkward the lies can be for the players' approach shots from the steeply falling fairway.
Let's hope the tour can find a sponsor and a keep professional golf in Westchester. I'm sure I'm not the only golfer who'd like to see Freddie defend his title next year.
In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, hiring, firing, and motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.
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