Ben Curtis – Validates Open Championship
Ben Curtis won the 84 Lumber Classic today and in the process finally validated his 2003 Open Championship at Royal St. Georges. This was also his second win of the year and propelled him from 51st to 22nd on the PGA Tour money list with a little over $2.0 million. For those unaware, Curtis won the 2003 Open Championship primarily because the big guns kept spitting the bit on the final few holes.
No one was more surprised than Curtis when he won that July day at Royal St. Georges, and while that is not meant to take anything away from his victory, Thomas Bjorn pretty much had the tournament in hand until he couldn’t get up and down from a bunker on the closing holes. Sadly, 2004 and 2005 came and went without a victory for Curtis and there were tons if whispers by pros and media alike who felt it was a fluke win by a journeyman golfer that no one would ever hear from again.
Excuse me, but the majors are full of one-hit wonders who’ve won and never been heard from again. Professionals like Larry Mize (Masters), Bob Tway (PGA Championship), Paul Lawrie (Open Championship), and Orville Moody (U.S. Open). That doesn’t mean they aren’t deserving of the trophy, it’s just that they happened to play better on that particular day than anyone else and in some cases were the only ones left standing. In other cases, a little luck was involved. Bob Tway’s miracle bunker shot that he holed to beat Greg Norman on the 72nd hole. Or Larry Mizes’s miracle chip to beat Greg Norman.
Ben Curtis played extremely well all week and he easily looked like he belonged in the top 20 today. I hope he continues his consistent play and possibly makes a run for the Ryder Cup in two years.