The Greenbrier Classic, Ted Potter Jr. Wins

Ted Potter Jr/Martin/Getty Images

The Greenbrier Classic 2012 was won by Ted Potter Jr, on Sunday at The Old White TPC, White Sulphur Springs, Western Virginia.      Ted spoke about all the missed cuts he has endured over the years;

“When you’re missing cuts every week, you get down on yourself, It’s hard to pick yourself back up. But the one plus side for me is I was still young. I was only 20 years old. I knew I had a long road ahead of me. I just like to win, I just always enjoyed coming down the stretch and having a chance to win. It was the thrill of that. Finally to win, I mean, I know it’s my first year out here, but just to win, period, I mean, it was just a big relief.”

Ted made a  4-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff Sunday to beat Troy Kelly, both players had finished tied at -16 under par for the tournament. Ted had a last round -6 under par 64, and Troy also had a great round of -4 under par, 66, which left them both in the play-off.

A disappointed Troy Kelly earned his best career finish yet, and is looking forward to more of the same;

“I had a lot of fun, and looking forward to kind of getting in that position some more.”

Webb Simpson, the third-round leader, had gone 50 consecutive holes without a bogey in the tournament, but then made three of them in a row. Webb finished tied seventh, in the log jam at -11 under par;

“I felt really confident and then just got on a bad run there. I’m probably going to learn something from it. Have to learn the hard way.”

Tied in third place at -14 under par were, Charlie Beljan and Charlie Wi.

Footnote:

John Daly and Tiger Woods have teamed up to help Greenbrier owner Jim Justice to lose some weight. The 6ft 7in Justice is literally larger than life, but needs to lose some of those excess pounds. John and Tiger came up with a plan to help Jim by offering him $100 dollars for every pound lost, donated to any charity he pleases. John spoke to Jim on Sunday;

“I told him I’d give him $100 for every pound he loses, to any charity he wants, Tiger said he’d do it, too. We care about him. If we could get him to lose some weight and add about 30-40 years to his life, he’ll be happy. It’s time somebody did something for him after him always doing something for everybody else. He’s just got the biggest heart of any man I’ve ever known,” Daly continued. “I just want him to know that we all care about him. Every year I talk to him, his back is hurting him, and his knees are hurting him. I can get to my doctor and help him lose a ton of weight. He’ll feel better. We just want to help him. We want to add years to his life. “

The Greenbrier Classic, 54 hole leader, Webb Simpson

Webb Simpson/Martin/Getty Images

Webb Simpson has a two shot lead at The Greenbrier Classic after a beautifully crafted third round of -5 under par 65 and a total of -14 under par, at The Old White TPC, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The tournament he could and probably should have won last year. Two strokes adrift is Troy Kelly, who enjoyed a magnificent round of -8 under par, 62 for a tournament total of -12 under par, and a further shot back are three players on -11 under par. Those players are, Ken Duke, J.B. Holmes and Charlie Beljan.

After being congratulated on a good round, Webb replied;

” It was a similar round to yesterday. I just had to be patient there early, I couldn’t get anything to drop on the first six holes. But, you know, this golf course will give you some birdies. If you kind of keep plotting and putting the ball in the fairway, you’ll have plenty of wedge opportunities. That’s what I did, and fortunately for me I took advantage of those holes coming in. I wasn’t greedy, I would have taken two or three, but I got five so it’s a great feeling to play another bogey-free round and I’m in great position for tomorrow. “

He admitted that not having Tiger Woods in the mix was comforting;

“When he’s not lurking around on Saturdays and Sundays, it makes it a little easier I think for other guy’s. I’ve almost got to imagine that these guys are all going to shoot 4, 5 under. I’ve got to stay aggressive.”

Troy Kelly said he had fun out there;

” You know, I played good. I got off to a good start. I made about an eight-footer on the 1st hole and I made about, gosh, probably about a 20-footer on 2. So that got my round going at least, got me comfortable for the day. It was just nice to see some putts go in. I haven’t made a lot of putts the last, I mean, pretty much the whole year. I mean, if you look at my statistics, my ranking’s not very good in the putting category, so it’s just good to see some putts go in. And I had fun today, it was a fun round. I haven’t made a lot of putts pretty much the whole year. It’s just good to see some putts go in. I had fun today.”

Troy Kelly underwent hip-replacement surgery in September 2010 after being diagnosed with arthritis, he is happy just to be playing;

“For me to just play this game at a high level, I had to go get it done.”

43-year-old Ken Duke commented on how hot it was out on the course, but he also had some fun;

“ Very hot day, but it was a good solid round. Didn’t get off to a very good start, but made a couple of birdies on 5 and 6, kind of got the round going. Hit some really good shots in that little stretch right there, and got 10, 11 and 12, so it kind of got the day going and having fun out there and that’s what it’s all about.”

J.B. Holmes had part of his skull removed in September 2011, four months after he started having vertigo symptoms. He only returned to the Tour in January. He believes his swing and yardage assessment has become better since his return;

“I feel like I’ve improved a whole lot and really narrowing it down and getting back to where I was.”

The Greenbrier Classic, Woods and Mickleson Miss the Cut

Both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson missed the cut at The Greenbrier Classic, played on The Old White TPC course, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It was the first time both of them had missed a cut at the same event, as playing as professionals on the U.S PGA Tour. The only previous time both failed to make the cut in a  U.S. PGA Tour event was the 1993 HP Byron Nelson Championship, when Tiger Woods was in high school and competing as an amateur.

Webb Simpson (Getty Images)

Webb Simpson was at the top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of play, with a tournament total of -9 under par, in the weather affected second round of The Greenbrier Classic. A lightning storm had halted play for two and a half hours, and there are still some players who have to complete their second rounds, which was suspended due to darkness. Most notably of the players having to return tomorrow to complete their rounds is Martin Flores. Martin still has two holes to complete, the par five 17th and the par three 18th, and as he is currently at -8 under par for the tournament there is a good possibilty that he could surplant Webb at the top of the board.

The leaderboard is tightly packed at  the top with five players currently tied at -8 under par, and two others at -7. To predict a winner from here would be an impossibility, but it certainly will not be Tiger Woods.

Other names not making it to the weekend are; Jim Furyk, Jhonattan Vegas and Camilo Villegas.

The Greenbrier Classic, 1st Round, Vijay shoots 63

   

Vijay Singh/Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Vijay Singh shoots a 63, -7 under par on the opening day of The Greenbrier Classic on Thursday at The Old White TPC · White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It was the big Fijian’s lowest round for  six months, to take a one-stroke lead over Jeff Maggert, Jonathan Byrd and Martin Flores, and also leave Tiger Woods eight shots behind. Vijay was pretty surprised at the sudden upturn in his form;

“Gosh, I don’t know where that came from, I’ve been playing pretty good golf for a while, but just never got any scoring going. But today seemed I hit it close and drove the ball really well, hit a lot of greens and made some nice putts. Hopefully it keeps going, I don’t feel tired. I feel really energized. I’ve been working really hard on my game, so it’s nice to see something happen.”

On the other hand, Tiger Woods struggled all day with his putter;

“I was a little bit off with my game, and on top of that I didn’t have the speed of these greens at all. I missed literally every single putt high today.”

Jeff Maggert found it hard to recall some of his putts;

“At my age, it’s hard to remember, short-term memory’s going. I feel really comfortable here, there’s a lot of guys out here in their 40s, late 40s, that can really play some good golf still. So it’s not surprising to see some of the old guys up on the leaderboard.”