Cameron Beckman completed a thrilling comeback to win the Frys.com Open in Scottsdale Arizona following a playoff against Kevin Sutherland.
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The 38-year-old started the week 176th on the money list and, having missed much of the season with back problems, a trip to Q-school seemed likely. But, with this victory Beckman earned a cheque for $900,000 and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
"It's just been a tough year," Beckman said. "I honestly was thinking about quitting the game. That's how bad I felt. I can't explain to you how good I feel right now. I don't know what it was and why I did it, but I just felt good all day."
Beckman trailed Sutherland by four shots after nine holes of the final round but he then birdied five of the next seven holes to peg back the deficit. Sutherland missed a putt on the 72nd green to win it outright and that meant extra holes were required.
On the second extra hole Sutherland hit his second shot way right then missed the green with his third. Beckman had found the green in two and had the luxury of taking two putts from six feet to secure his second PGA Tour victory. He also won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic of 2001.
Sutherland was playing with less pressure than many of the competitors in the field. Going into the week 32nd on the money list his card is safe for 2009 and he’s already qualified to play in next year’s Masters and Open Championship.
“I feel good about how I played. A second-place finish is nothing to sneeze at," Sutherland said, "but right now it's a little hard to see that through the disappointment." He said. “Cameron was playing with a lot more pressure than I was.”
1 Cameron Beckman (USA) 69 66 64 63 262 $900,000 2 Kevin Sutherland (USA) 67 66 63 66 262 $540,000 3 Matthew Goggin (Aus) 69 63 68 63 263 $340,000 T4 J.J. Henry (USA) 65 69 68 64 266 $206,667 T4 Mike Weir (Can) 66 68 69 63 266 $206,667 T4 Arron Oberholser (USA) 65 64 71 66 266 $206,667 T7 Steve Allan (Aus) 67 63 68 69 267 $150,625 T7 Paul Goydos (USA) 70 62 66 69 267 $150,625 T7 Pat Perez (USA) 71 66 67 63 267 $150,625 T7 Michael Sim (Aus) 72 63 68 64 267 $150,625
Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage.
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