The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament ended on Sunday at the second hole in a playoff with Mark O’Meara and Nick Price defeating John Cook and Joey Sindelar. It marks O’Meara’s first win on the Champions Tour. He’s come in second several times, but has never won the top spot, and credits his partner Nick with making it possible.
O’Meara is no stranger to winning—he won the Masters and the British Open in 1998, after all—but this is his first win since 2004. He won the Dubai Desert Classic that year, and has since gone winless over 181 PGA Tour events and 57 Champions events. Price, also no stranger to the top of the leaderboard, hadn’t had a win in over a year. They started out with 2 birdies on Sunday, the Price managed an eagle at hole #4 and another birdie on #5, giving them 5-under. Their play slowed down a bit after that, without another birdie until hole #11.
The tournament wasn’t won solely by good play from O’Meara and Price, but also thanks to a mistake by John Cook. Cook and Sindelar were headed for a win in regulation play with the ball 4 feet away from hole 18. Cook missed the putt and the tournament went into a playoff hole. Strong winds and rain interfered with both teams’ play and they both bogeyed playoff hole #1. They replayed the 18th hole in playoff #2, and Price sunk the par putt from 7 feet away, winning the tournament. They finished with 28-under 18.
In third place, Lu Chien Soon and Andy Bean were only one stroke behind. The two teams that tied for 4th place with 23-under were Jay Haas/Fred Couples and Tom Lehman/Bernhard Langer. And Ken Green came back to professional golf for the Championship tour to pair with Mike Reid, but ended far down the leaderboard in 26th place.
Green has won 5 PGA titles and played in the Championship series for the last couple of seasons. He suffered from mental illness and had difficulties concentrating, but worked hard to maintain his game. Last June he was involved in an RV accident that took the lives of his long-time girlfriend and his brother, and left him seriously injured. The doctor told him that his best chance of playing golf again was to have the lower part of his right leg amputated, so Green agreed. Then more tragedy struck in January when his son was found dead in his college dorm room.
Because of all the hardships he’s faced over the last year, no one was sure when or if he would come back. But he chose to come back for this Championship Tour, and is now considering whether he can play in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic next week, and Dick's Sporting Goods Classic a short while after that. Green said that he desperately wants to play in these tournaments, but the nerves in his lower leg will need to calm, and he’ll have to make some changes to his swing.
Photo Credits: Keith Allison
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