Carrying a one-stroke lead into the 14th hole on Sunday, Paul
Goydos showed why a day at Pebble can often be a cruel day at the
beach.
By the time Goydos reached the green on the massive par-5,
573-yard No. 14 at a wind-swept AT
&
amp;T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday, playing partner
Dustin Johnson was putting for birdie, while Goydos himself was
trying for double-bogey.
”
It was just a tough day,
”
said Goydos, who led with a 17-under at that point, one stroke
ahead of Johnson.
It got worse for Goydos, though. Much worse, in fact, and not
even Phil Mickelson’s fashion-forward, pink-metallic pants could
have saved him.
PEBBLE BEACH
Carrying a one-stroke lead into the 14th hole on Sunday, Paul Goydos showed why a day at Pebble can often be a cruel day at the beach.
By the time Goydos reached the green on the massive par-5, 573-yard No. 14 at a wind-swept AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday, playing partner Dustin Johnson was putting for birdie, while Goydos himself was trying for double-bogey.
“It was just a tough day,” said Goydos, who led with a 17-under at that point, one stroke ahead of Johnson.
It got worse for Goydos, though. Much worse, in fact, and not even Phil Mickelson’s fashion-forward, pink-metallic pants could have saved him.
“It wasn’t like I didn’t try on all nine shots. Well, the ninth one I wasn’t really excited about,” said Goydos, his spirits surprisingly high following the dramatic turn of events on No. 14 where he carded a quadruple-bogey 9, and where his one-stroke lead evaporated into a three-stroke deficit.
“Everything I did on that hole didn’t work out,” he added.
Part of the appeal with golf is that there’s really no other sport in the world where professional athletes can walk away from a round looking so, well, human.
It’s the reason why after five years of not playing a single hole, I still have a bag of clubs in the trunk of my car. It’s also the reason why a thousand cringing faces on Sunday were coupled with the same noise a person makes when ripping off a Band-Aid.
Watching Goydos criss-cross the pin at 14 was difficult to take, but everyone greenside had been there before. They could relate to it.
Goydos’ character and etiquette, however, are what sets him apart from everyone else.
“I thought we were doing a pretty good job hanging in there,” Goydos said of him and Johnson. “But he hung in there a lot better than I did in those last few holes.”
Goydos’ third shot from 139 yards on No. 14 landed on the green, but fell well right of the pin before rolling backwards to some light fringe. His fourth shot then bounced to within two feet of the flag before rolling onwards into the rough and down a hill on the backside of the green.
Ironically, while standing on the fairway awaiting to take his approach shot to the green, Goydos watched Bryce Molder record a quadruple-bogey 9 on No. 14 as well.
“It would have been much better to skinny-push it,” Goydos said afterward. “And then it went down the hill, and then it stayed down the hill, and then I chipped it on the green, and then I hit a bad putt, and then another bad putt …”
“You guys need anything more than that?” Goydos joked to a group of reporters. The 45-year-old golfer kept the mood noticeably light after Sunday’s round.
By now, you’ve most likely heard Dustin Johnson claimed the Pro-Am trophy on Sunday with a 2-over 74, his second straight victory at Pebble after he earned last year’s rain-shortened event in which he led after 54 holes.
The 25-year-old putted in for birdie on the 18th to win on Sunday, saving what would have been a three-way playoff with J.B. Holmes and David Duval had he missed the roughly four-foot shot, much to the disappointment of many golf fans in attendance.
Carding a 2-over 74 on the final day, and still winning a PGA Tour event, came as a bit of a surprise for Johnson, who has officially validated last year’s win.
“It was a long day — very long” Johnson said. “Birdying the last hole made the day so much better.”
Goydos, meanwhile, tied for fifth place at 12-under. He handled his placing like a pro, though.
In a sport where some golfers won’t give more than one-word answers following a collapse, Goydos couldn’t help but poke fun at himself. His self-deprecating humor lives on through the Internet, where stories of his tragic family life also live on in detail, and put into perspective why the 45-year-old golfer with just two wins in his 18-year career can shrug off blowing a one-stroke lead with five holes to go.
His ex-wife, who suffered from migraines and later became addicted to pain-killers, passed away in January 2009.
Said Goydos of No. 14, almost shrugging off the day, “It was one of those things.”
