Mother Nature fails to dampen final-round fireworks during 70th playing of the Piedmont Triad’s annual PGA Tour event
GREENSBORO, NC – When Ryan Moore drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the third hole of sudden death to capture the 2009 Wyndham Championship at venerable Sedgefield Country Club, he not only earned his first PGA Tour victory, he signaled the successful transformation of the former Greater Greensboro Open into one of the most popular events of the FedEx Cup’s stretch run.
Indeed, the tournament the PGA Tour named as its “Most Improved Event” last year cemented its reputation by overcoming a handful of challenges to provide a thrilling finale in 2009.
In the end, the story was Moore, one of the most accomplished amateur players in recent memory, who catapulted atop the Sunday leaderboard with five consecutive back-nine birdies, and eventually prevailed in a playoff over Kevin Stadler and Jason Bohn for his first PGA Tour victory in 112 events.
Stadler, Moore, and Bohn were tied at 16-under through 72 holes, but the excitement didn’t end there. Sergio Garcia, who had blown a three-stroke lead midway through the final round, could have joined them in the playoff had he holed a delicate, 35-foot bunker shot on the 72nd hole.
But somehow, impossibly, Garcia’s blast – heading for the center of the cup – had just enough spin to stop a millimeter short, triggering stunned gasps and screams from the large, giddy audience surrounding the green, all hoping the world’s seventh-ranked player would provide one, final, playoff contestant.
In the sudden-death playoff, Bohn, whose thrilling 62 was the day’s best round, was eliminated on the first hole, leaving Stadler – attempting to join his father, Craig Stadler, a 13-time Tour champion, in winning in Greensboro – and Moore, the 2004 U.S. Amateur champion, Walker Cupper, and four-time college All-American.
“The first PGA Tour event I ever played in was Greensboro in 2004,” said Moore. “To start here and win [in Greensboro], that’s pretty exciting. I couldn’t really have done it in a better place.”
The final round provided exactly what Wyndham Championship organizers had envisioned following heavy rains during the first three rounds that led to nine hours of combined weather delays.
Yet, the Wyndham Championship overcame not only Mother Nature, but also an unfortunate position on the Tour calendar, sandwiched between The PGA Championship and The Fed Ex Cup, to provide a finish that would resonate with the 30,000-plus fans on hand and TV viewers around the world.
Indeed, buoyed by the success of the 2008 Wyndham Championship, which returned to Sedgefield Country Club following a 31-year hiatus, this year’s tournament field included 13 major championship winners, names like 2010 Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin, two-time British Open champ John Daly, and reigning U.S. Open Champion, Lucas Glover, who hails from nearby Greenville, S.C.
Throughout the week, another local favorite, Bill Haas, a three-time All-American at nearby Wake Forest University, located just 22 miles away down I-40 in Winston-Salem, was in contention to the delight of many local fans. Another big name occupying the leaderboard during the exciting four days of action was U.S. Presidents Cup Captain, Fred Couples.
It was yet another step in the grand heritage and tradition of the event. Arnold Palmer, who also starred at Wake Forest, once said that out of all the tournaments he didn’t win, he regretted most never having won the PGA Championship – and the GGO. Why? Because the Champions’ Board at Sedgefield comprises a veritable Who’s-Who of golf’s glory years – including legends such as Hogan, Snead, Nelson, Casper, Goalby and Player. Perhaps no other non-major championship has ever accumulated such a stately list of champions.
In 2008, the 71-year old tournament moved back to Sedgefield Country Club, designed by legendary golf course architect Donald Ross, where it had been played on alternate years between 1938 and 1961, and continued there exclusively from 1961 until 1976. For 31 years, until 2008, the tournament moved to Forest Oaks, an Ellis Maples design.
While U.S. Opens, PGA Championships and Ryder Cups are occasionally held on Ross designs (Pinehurst No. 2, Oak Hill and Oakland Hills come to mind), today the Wyndham Championship is the only “regular” PGA Tour stop on a Ross design. Moreover, there hasn’t been a regular PGA Tour event on a Ross design since the GGO was last held at Sedgefield in 1976.
In 2006, Kris Spence meticulously restored Sedgefield to its original identity, using Ross drawings from the late-1940s, as well as a few aerial photographs from different eras. Spence returned the putting surfaces to their original sizes and rebuilt every bunker in their approximate positions to reflect the Ross style, while also adding around 400 yards of length to the course. Sedgefield now plays 7,230 yards at par of 70, with a slope of 141 and the handicap rating of 75.1.
For years, the Wyndham Championship has been considered a “Greensboro” event. But today, the Piedmont Triad region with a population of 1.6 million has evolved into one large market for economic development. Recognizing this, the move to Sedgefield, which is located in a central Triad position, furthers the regionalism concept – its proximity to Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Burlington luring residents to take a greater ownership stake in its success.
In return, the Wyndham Championship serves as an economic engine of the entire Triad, because the tournament organizers are committed to use foundation proceeds to fund not only charities, but economic development as well – both inside and outside of Greensboro – namely with The Piedmont Triad Research Park in Winston-Salem and Furnishings initiatives in High Point.
For the second year in a row, the 2009 Wyndham Championship sold out of tickets over the weekend at 32,000 per day, and stood as only the second PGA Tour event this year to sell out of hospitality, a fact acknowledged by tour commissioner Tim Finchem during his Thursday visit.
Today, it is clear that the region has rallied around the Wyndham Championship – and the Wyndham Championship has rallied around the region.
Contact:
Mark Brazil: 336-457-9443
