The 2015 Web.com Graduating Class being celebrated on the back lawn of the TPC Clubhouse.
No disrespect to the PGA TOUR but can a day of tournament golf ever be more exciting than this day, the final day of the 2015 Web.com season and Finals competition?
Lucas Glover, in the next to last pairing, who is well within the Finals Top 25, bogeys the last hole. Glover, falling from a 3-way tie for 10th place to a 6-way tie for 12th place redistributes the money payout. One of those six in 12th place, Rob Oppenheim, who finished two hours earlier and was on his way home, edges out Eric Axley by $101 to be the final Bubble Boy in 25th place. At the end of the Web.com Tour Championship that bubble never bursts, at least for one year on the PGA TOUR.
Emiliano Grillo stroking his putt and ringing the bell to win the Web.com Tour Championship on the 18th green on Dye’s Valley.
Oppenheim (started 50th and finished at No. 25 after a T12 finish this week with a Sunday 67) was one of five players to play their way into the Finals Top 25 along with Derek Fathauer (34th, 15th this week with a Sunday 66), Tyrone van Aswegen (44th, 17th, T5 this week with a Sunday 68), Robert Garrigus (33rd, 19th, T12 this week with a Sunday 68), and Thomas Aiken (T95, 23rd, T5 with a Sunday 65 this week). Pushed out of the Finals Top 25 were Eric Axley (started 20th, ended 26th with a Missed Cut (MC) this week), Ryan Spears (21st, 28th, MC), Steve Allan (23rd, 30th, MC), Justin Hicks (24th, 32nd, MC) and Jhonattan Vegas (25th, 33rd, MC).
The sad reality is one needs to make the cut and play well on Sunday to get inside the Finals Top 25 Bubble or it bursts.
Emiliano Grillo (L), Patton Kizzire (C) and Chez Reavie (R) with the hardware they earned this week!
Then in the final pairing Emiliano Grillo and Chez Reavie come to the final hole tied at 13-under. They have been nip-and-tuck all day with Reavie erasing Grillo’s slim 2-stroke lead at the start of the final round of the Finals. If Reavie wins he also edges out Grillo for the Finals Money List and gets a full exemption to the 2015-2016 PGA TOUR and a THE Players Championship invitation. Grillo is 25-feet away for birdie while Reavie is half that distance on the same line. Grillo drains his putt and Reavie misses to win the Web.com Tour Championship. The Finals Money Title goes to Reavie.
The other golden ticket with a full exemption to the 2015-2016 PGA TOUR and a PLAYERS invitation goes to Patton Kizzire who won the combined Regular Season and Finals Money Title. At $567,865.58 in winnings, his lead was never really in jeopardy this week.
A beautiful Florida sunset highlighted the Awards Ceremony after an amazing week at TPC Sawgrass.
All three, Kizzire, Reavie and Grillo, are heading up to New York City tomorrow to join Web.com Chief Executive Officer David Brown in ringing the bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market. I remember back to high school baseball days when our pitcher Jim Sweeney’s dad who yell out the encouraging words of “Ring that bell Jim, ring that bell!” Evidently ringing the bell on a stock market is the quite an honor and a symbol of a lifetime of achievement. For this threesome and the 47 other Web.com golfers who earned their PGA TOUR card for next season—congratulations for a job well done.
The week started for me listening to an inspirational 13-year old First Tee participant in the Sunset Room of the clubhouse to kick off the 10th annual ‘Taste of Golf.’ It ended with a beautiful Florida sunset on the back lawn of the Clubhouse with a celebration of what these 50 Web.com golfers achieved this year.
What a perfect and exciting finish this week in the Web.com Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass!
What an exciting week at the Web.com Tour Championship for Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary!
