Major rebound for Toms

Major kudos to David Toms for his perseverance at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial this week.

 

After the gut-wrenching, three-putt from 18 feet on the first playoff hole, including a lip-out from 31/2 feet, cost him The Players Championship, Toms rallied from one back entering the final round in Fort Worth, Texas, to overtake Charlie Wi on Sunday.

 

Toms' closing 3-under-par 67, highlighted by an 83-yard wedge shot for eagle 3 at the 11^th hole, enabled him to beat Wi by a stroke and earn his 13^th PGA Tour victory but first in 125 events over more than five years.

 

"I had a lot of people call and text me asking if I was OK after what happened last week," Toms said. "Of course I was disappointed, but it helped. To win after this time frame and to come back after what happened last week certainly means more to me than any other victory. It's the most satisfying win I've ever, even more than my major championship (the PGA in 2000) and my hometown win (Compaq Classic of New Orleans in 2001) after what happened."

 

It was also the most emotional, especially coming a day after national Armed Forces Day. Five months ago, Toms was playing in a golf outing at TPC Sawgrass -- of all places -- when he got a phone call that his grandfather Tom had been rushed to the hospital. A few days later, Tom died, and David was crushed. Tom had taught David to play golf, reading instruction books from Bob Toski and Jack Nicklaus. Tom was the grandfather who took David to the course at the nearby military base, shagging balls and encouraging him. But Tom Toms was much more.

 

"He was a great man," David said. "A military man. He loved to hunt and fish."

 

That explains why the loss at TPC Sawgrass hit particularly hard and why Toms deserved a fortuitous shot like the one at No. 11 that hit a few feet short of the cup, bounced past and then spun back in, causing him to throw both arms in the air and break into a wide grin as he moved to 15 under and regained the lead. But a 15-foot birdie putt at the difficult 14^th hole, where he made a three-putt double-bogey 6 from half that distance on Saturday, proved the difference after Wi birdied No. 16 and Toms bogeyed No. 17 at wind-swept Colonial Country Club.

 

Toms righted himself with a routine par at No. 18 for a 72-hole total of a 15-under 265 and a gritty win of redemption a week after the most disappointing loss of his career.

 

"It just took a lot of guts," said Toms, who committed last week to play in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on June 23-26. "That's what I got by on today. It was another tough day on the golf course. I played a great round of golf and was under control all day, and that's what I had to do. Charlie played fantastic and kept making putt after putt when he needed to. I feel so blessed. It's a crazy game, and I'm just glad to be part of it."

 

Toms opened with two 62s, one off the course record, to tie the PGA Tour 36-hole record set by Pat Perez in the 2009 Bob Hope Classic (61-63) and forge a tournament-record, seven-stroke lead. But a third-round 74 dropped Toms a shot behind Wi, a 54-hole leader for the first time in search of his first tour title.

 

Wi, a 39-year-old South Korean who made his 100^th PGA Tour cut on Friday, extended his lead to three strokes when he birdied the first two holes Sunday. But Toms, his playing partner in the last twosome, rallied to match Wi's 1-under 34 on the front nine and got even when Wi missed a 13-foot par putt at No. 10.

 

Then came the 11^th hole, where Toms' playoff loss to South Korean K.J. Choi at The Players turned into good fortune and seemed to reenergize the quiet Louisianan.

 

"It really was about the most perfect shot I've ever hit," said Toms, who had had six runner-up finishes since his previous win in the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2006. "When stuff like that happens, it's meant to be. If it was meant to be, I just kept plodding along.

 

"Man, what a great day. I've wanted this tournament for a long time. It's a great course for me, and I'm just glad to have one of those plaid jackets (that goes to the champion). The two 62s and hole-out just showed it was meant to be."

 

Toms had come close to winning the Colonial on several occasions as he tied for fourth in 2000, tied for second in 2002 and tied for third in 2005. Now he finally was No. 1 and could give a happy hug on the 18^th green to his family, including 13-year-old son Carter, who recently took up golf and got his father more interested in the game. And he had an early present for his wife as the couple celebrates their wedding anniversary Monday.

 

The 44-year-old Toms is the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2000 to rebound from losing a playoff. Mickelson and Davis Love III lost to Jesper Parnevik in the Byron Nelson Championship and then won the Colonial.

 

Toms earned 500 FedEx Cup points to move from 22^nd to fourth in the standings with 1,229 points, 154 behind leader and reigning Travelers Championship winner Bubba Watson. He also earned a spot in the British Open as one of three players, not otherwise exempt, from among the top 20 players on the FedEx Cup points through the Colonial. He joined Mark Wilson and Rory Sabbatini.

 

Wi shot 69 and hung tough down the stretch with 8-foot putts for birdie and a saving par on the 16^th and 17^th holes. But he flew his approach at No. 18 from the rough 44 feet long and left his birdie try 18 inches short, enabling Toms to two-putt for the win and leaving Wi a runner-up for the fourth time.

 

Bo Van Pelt shot 65 to finish third at 270, one ahead of defending champion Zach Johnson, who also closed with 65. Johnson also has committed to the Travelers Championship.

 

Stuart Appleby, playing in the group in front of Toms and Wi, had victory in sight after a 4-under 31 on the front nine helped get the Aussie within a stroke with seven holes to go. But just as Toms was holing out on No. 11, Appleby pulled his drive on the 12^th hole into the trees, leading to a back-nine 43 in which he was 8 over the last seven holes, including a triple-bogey 7 at No. 14. He made only one par in that stretch to finish in a tie for 16^th at 274.

 

Glastonbury native and University of Hartford grad Tim Petrovic shot 68 to move into a tie for 40^th at 278.

 

WAY TO GO, CROWNE PLAZA

 

Toms wasn't the only entity to earn high marks Sunday in Fort Worth.

 

U.S. Army Specialist Louis Dahlman, wounded in Iraq, and his family were presented with a mortgage-free home by Crowne Plaza during a patriotic celebration.

 

The tournament also hosted and honored six Medal of Honor recipients during the 150^th anniversary of the Medal of Honor, which is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.

 

Lt. General Leroy Sisco, founder of the Military Warriors Support Foundation, surprised Dahlman and his wife, Laura, with the new mortgage-free home in Sugarland, Texas, near Houston. The home resulted from the foundation's initiative called Homes 4 Wounded Heroes, which is sponsored by Chase and Bell Helicopter. MWSF awards mortgage-free homes to wounded heroes injured during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The homes are for families who have severe and/or unique circumstances due to their injuries received while serving the country. In addition to the home, the families receive three years of family and financial mentoring.

 

Dahlman, 27, was severely injured by a road side bomb in 2007 while serving in Iraq. Shrapnel to his face resulted in the loss of his lower mandible and all of his lower teeth. He has undergone numerous surgeries, including five that have been more than 12-hour procedures to reconstruct his mandible. In those surgeries, doctors have taken the fibula from both of Dahlman's legs, and bone was harvested from his right hip. He said the bone has finally taken in the jaw, and he is hopeful that he will soon be receiving implants after upcoming reconstructive surgeries are finished.

 

In a twist of fate, while Dahlman was recovering and undergoing treatment at Brooks Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, he met his wife at a Clay Walker benefit concert for Military Warriors Support Foundation where Laura was volunteering. The couple married in 2009, and they now have a daughter Stella, who will turn 1 on Dec. 29. The Dahlmans' anniversary is May 29.

 

"Getting his house is incredible," Louis said. "We can't believe it, and we couldn't be happier. This is going to allow me to finish surgeries and not have to worry about howe we will be able to afford to pay rent or a mortgage. Plus, Laura is from Houston, so we will now be close to family."