Ben Crane wins playoff over Webb Simpson
SEA ISLAND, Ga. - Ben Crane entered the day five strokes behind Michael Thompson before rallying with eight birdies in his final 11 holes for a 7-under 63, placing him in a playoff with Webb Simpson. The 35-year-old Portland, OR native then parred the second playoff hole to edge Simpson for his fourth PGA Tour win and first since the 2010 Farmers Insurance Open. Crane’s closing 63 is the lowest finish by a winner this season.Crane and his wife, Heather, are expecting their third child on Monday.
With the victory, Crane earns $720,000 and moves from No. 89 to No. 50 on the official money list. He also extends his fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour through the 2013 season.
Crane’s five-stroke come-from-behind win is the second largest of the season, behind only Brandt Snedeker’s six-stroke comeback victory at the RBC Heritage.
Sunday’s playoff, the first for Crane, was the 18th on the PGA Tour in 2011, the most in a single season in PGA Tour history. There were 16 playoffs in both 1988 and 1991.
Webb Simpson
Webb Simpson, who recently finished No. 2 in the FedExCup, missed a four-foot putt for par on the second playoff hole to fall to Ben Crane. The silver lining for Simpson is he moves from No. 2 to No. 1 on the official money list, with the leading-money winner at season’s end earning a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Simpson, a 26-year-old native of Raleigh, NC, entered the week $68,971 behind Luke Donald, but now leads Donald by $363,029. Both players are entered in next week’s season-ending Children’s Miracle Network Classic.
Just once since 1990 has the leader of the money list "exchanged hands" in the final official week of the season. The year was 1996 when Tom Lehman entered the week with $1,240,159 and won THE Tour Championship to earn $540,000 for a season total of $1,780,159, passing Phil Mickelson who had entered the week of Tour Championship with $1,620,99 and finished 12th to earn $76,800 for a season total of $1,697,799.
Simpson falls to 1-2 in career playoffs on Tour (lost to Ben Crane at 2011 McGladrey Classic; defeated Chez Reavie at 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship; lost to Bubba Watson at 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans).
The runner-up finish is the third of Simpson’s career, all coming in 2011: Transitions Championship, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, McGladrey Classic. He owns two victories (Wyndham Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship) and has surpassed the $6 million mark in season earnings.
Simpson was seeking to become just the sixth player currently under the age of 30 with at least three wins. The list includes Dustin Johnson (5), Sean O’Hair (4), Camilo Villegas (3), Anthony Kim (3) and Hunter Mahan (3).
A year ago, Simpson finished T12 at the inaugural McGladrey Classic with rounds of 69-68-67-67.
Simpson made his 25th start of the season this week, with career-best numbers in cuts made (22), top 10s (11) and top-25 finishes (20). A missed cut at the PGA Championship represents the only time Simpson has failed to finish inside the top 25 in his last 13 starts.
Michael Thompson
After entering the final round with a one-stroke lead over Billy Horschel, Michael Thompson entered the final hole on Sunday tied with Ben Crane and Webb Simpson before a bogey on the par-4 18th hole denied him a chance for his first PGA Tour win. The career-best, solo-third place finish was worth $272,000 and moved the former University of Alabama standout from No. 116 to No. 94 on the official money list. Thompson’s previous-best Tour finish was a solo-fourth at the 2011 Travelers Championship.
Dating to the par-4 13th hole on Friday, Thompson played 43 holes without a bogey until doing so on the par-3 12th hole on Sunday. He later added another at the par-4 18th for a final-round 1-under 69.
As an amateur at Alabama in 2007, Thompson finished second at the Southeastern Conference Championship on the Seaside Course, with his team finishing fourth. A year later at Frederica Golf Club on St. Simons Island, he won SEC low medalist honors and helped his team take top honors as well. Thompson went on to become the SEC Golfer of the Year in 2008.
Thompson lists Tournament Chairman and Host Davis Love III as one of the members of his dream foursome.
Bud Cauley
Jacksonville’s Bud Cauley, who recently joined the Tour as a Special Temporary Member, finished T15 following a final-round 4-under 66. With $735,150 in non-member earnings this year, Cauley would currently rank No. 112 on the official money list as the Tour heads into the season-ending Children’s Miracle Network Classic. Should he remain inside that number, he’ll play out of the Top 125 Non-Member category in 2012.
Cauley will tee it up this week via a sponsor’s exemption at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters – the next-to-last event on the 2011 Nationwide Tour schedule.
Cauley, who turned professional in June after his junior season at the University of Alabama, has now made seven of eight cuts on Tour this year. In addition to his career-best third-place finish last week at the Frys.com Open and T15 this week at the McGladrey Classic, Cauley finished T63 at the U.S. Open, T24 at the Travelers Championship, T4 at the Viking Classic, T13 at the RBC Canadian Open and T52 at the Wyndham Championship. His lone missed cut came at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Cauley’s last 13 rounds, including Sunday’s 4-under 66, have been at par-or-better.
Since 1980, the only players to go from college to the PGA Tour in the same season without going to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament are Gary Hallberg, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore.
Miscellaneous Player Notes
Louis Oosthuizen, making his 15th start of the season, finished solo-fourth for just his third top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since winning the 2010 British Open (T9 – 2010 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, T9 – 2011 U.S. Open, 4 – 2011 McGladrey Classic).
Trevor Immelman, seeking his first Tour win since the 2008 Masters, carded a career-low, 8-under 62 on Saturday (tying the course record set by Charles Howell III in 2010) and followed with a final-round 1-under 69 to finish solo-fifth. It comes 56 starts since his last top 10 at the 2008 Tour Championship by Coca-Cola (T10).
Angel Cabrera (T6) recorded his first top 10 since a seventh-place finish at the 2011 Masters Tournament.
Scott McCarron finished T6 for his first top 10 since a T7 at the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship. Sunday’s 2-under 68 was McCarron’s 1,300th official round on the PGA Tour.
Bryce Molder, winner of last week’s Frys.com Open, carded a third-consecutive 2-under 68 to finish T11.
Defending champion Heath Slocum finished T15 in his bid to join Steve Stricker (John Deere Classic) as the only player to successfully defend a title this season. Since his first full season in 2002, Slocum has never failed to record at least one top-10 finish. He heads to the season-ending Children’s Miracle Network Classic hoping to add his first of the season.
PGA Tour rookie and 36-hole leader Billy Horschel entered the final round one stroke behind Michael Thompson but struggled to a final-round 5-over 75 to finish T20. Five of his six top-25 finishes this season have come in his last eight starts.
Miscellaneous Stats
This week’s field included 15 Major Championship winners. Here’s how they fared this week: Louis Oosthuizen (4), Trevor Immelman (5), Angel Cabrera (T6), Jim Furyk (T11), Lucas Glover (T15), Ben Curtis (T48), Shaun Micheel (T48), David Toms (MC), Stewart Cink (MC), David Duval (MC), Zach Johnson (MC), Justin Leonard (MC), Davis Love III (MC), Graeme McDowell (MC), Vijay Singh (MC).
The third-round leader/co-leader has won 22 of 42 stroke-play events on Tour this year, most recently by Kevin Na at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Last year, eventual champion Heath Slocum held the third-round lead at 12-under 198, one stroke ahead of Troy Merritt and Joe Durant.
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: Zack Miller (63), Angel Cabrera (65), Nick O’Hern (65), Michael Thompson (65), David Hearn (65), Kevin Streelman (66), Colt Knost (66), Bryce Molder (67)
R2: Louis Oosthuizen (67), Tim Herron (67)
R3: Kevin Streelman (66), Jonathan Byrd (66), Michael Thompson (67)
R4: Webb Simpson (66), Carl Pettersson (66), D.J. Trahan (67), Tag Ridings (67), Roland Thatcher (68)
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