Scott Martin's Page - March-May 2007 - Archives
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Tuesday June 26, 2007
Ft. Worth,
Tx. 5-26-07 It's 11:35 on Saturday night and I find myself feeling a little excited. I realized that Peter is at -8 but what I didn't realize is that he was only one shot off of the lead when play was called today. I honestly thought that the leader, or leaders, were going to be at -11 or -12. Time Clarke, who has been playing great recently, was at 11 under par when the third round started late this afternoon. Everyone kind of scrambled when play was called just before 8:00 pm and it was kind of a zoo trying to get out of the club. I wasn't even interested in the scores but I knew Peter was somewhat in the hunt. But not this close. The weather today was absolutely terrible at times. Even while we were on the course. We were scheduled to start the final three holes of our second round at 8:30 this morning. I got to the course at 7 o'clock for a bite to eat then start our warm up at 7:30. That didn't happen. When I walked out of my hotel this morning at 6:30 the rain was coming down pretty good and only got worse as I got closer to Colonial. It really was a quagmire. There were a couple of hour long delays so I went back to the hotel to pick up my wife, Sunny, and head back to the course. But the delay got longer and longer. I didn't mind the nap at all. Peter would text me every once in a while to fill me in on the restart. We ended up starting our final three holes at 2:00 pm. A par on the par 3, 16th to start which was followed by a nice birdie on the par 4, 17th hole. After a pretty good tee shot on the 17th he found hilmself a little behind an overhanging branch. We had 123 to the hole and he hit a nice cut pitching wedge around the limb to 7 feet from the hole. It was such a nice shot. Very solid. We're playing lift, clean and place as well seeing as though the place is very wet. The greens are soft and it's like throwing darts for these guys. I have to tell you a funny story. As we were playing our final three holes of yesterday's round today (does that sound complicated?) the tv crew was out there to follow our group seeing as though Peter had the low round of players still on the course. The network was filing time so they followed us for our final three holes. David Feherty was the the guy walking with our group doing the commentary. He was hilarious. In between shots he would walk with Peter and chat. As he was walking away he let's a fart rip that was so loud. You should have seen the look on his face. He was looiking toward the gallery saying with a very serious look on his face, " Everthing is alright folks. I'll be OK!" I was in tears. Peter hits a great drive on 18. As we're walking off the tee, here comes Feherty again with another one of his bombs. Peter and I were in stitches. Peter told Feherty that he should fart into the microphone and Feherty said he saves those for commercial breaks. I have to tell you, it kept Peter loose. We had 140 to the hole 18 and Peter was in attack mode. He tried to go right at the flag but he pushed it a bit and it went into the greenside trap. It was plugged and he wasn't able to get up and down. He made bogey and finished the round at -6. We were able to play almost 9 holes after the third round started at 3:45. Our tee time was 4:55 but we ended up teeing off at 5:12. We played almost 9 holes and a couple of them were in a downpour. We stood on the 6th green hunkered down under our umbrella as it came down sideways. Fortunately, we waiting for Peter to tap in a 6 inch birdie putt. That was his 2nd birdie of the round and he was at 8 under par. We have a 30 foot birdie putt on #9 tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, weather permitting. The forecast doesn't look good, though. It's 12:15 and I have to get some sleep. I'm up at 5:30 and will meet Peter for breakfast at 6:45. Unfortunately, I feel like I just drank a cup of coffee. It's great to be excited going into the final round of a tournament. Like I said yesterday, I like Peter's chances.
Ft. Worth,
Tx. 5-25-07
Ft. Worth,
Tx. 5-24-07 |
Jacksonville, Fla. 5-13-07 What started out as bad round yesterday ended up being Peter's best tournament of the year. Even though he had a 3rd place finish in Mexico, this was a better tournament to have a good week because of the field and the course. It was a great week to be a part of. If only he could have sank that 3 or 4 footer on #2 I really think that he could have had a shot at a better finish. But he has now made close to $800,000 and has his playing privileges locked up for next year. The rest of the year is gravy. I really feel as though Peter can win this year and going to play in Atlanta next week is a good idea. It will be our 6th in a row and I really think we can both use a week off. Personally, I was coming to 2Mo if he took the week off but that didn't happen. He's playing with confidence right now and is on a roll so going to Atlanta is the right thing to do. Apparently, the field is not very strong except for a handful of solid players and that only increases Peter's chances for a good week.
Last week was exciting from beginning to end. Peter was leading the tournament at one point for each of the first three days. That's solid golf. He still had a few issues to deal with like the two double bogeys on Friday. He started struggling on the back 9 Saturday and lost some confidence. The shaky ball striking continued Sunday when he hit a bad tee shot on #1 and made a bogey. A short miss for birdie on #2, par on 3 and another bogey on 4. Now we're 2 over through 4 and the wheels were about to really fall off. Peter hit another bad tee shot on #5 but managed to muscle a 4 iron onto the green and even gave himself a birdie putt. The birdie on 6 was nice but the bogeys on 8 and 9 really hurt. He still struggled for the next few holes but his short game really came through this week. He has put hours in practicing his chipping and it really paid off when he needed it. On #13 Peter hit great 8 iron into the par 3 and made a birdie. Another birdie on 16 got us back into a top 10 position. All in all it was a successful week so we're hoping it carries over into our week in Atlanta. Man, there was some big money at stake near the top of the leaderboard. With a $9,000,000 purse, the numbers are huge for the first few spots. Sergio made over $900,000 for a 2nd place finish! If Peter could have shot 2 under yesterday, which really wouldn't have been that difficult if his ball striking was sharper, he would have tied Sergio. How about Sean O'Hair finishing with quadruple bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18? That cost him $747, 000! All those shots cost his caddy about $50,000! Ouch. We played with Sean on Saturday and he won't have to worry about spending all that money in 2 holes. He's so good and will win 10 times that in the next few years. What a gorgeous swing that kid has. With a great swing and a strong mind like he has, he'll be a star on tour soon. Now that Peter has made enough money to keep his card for next year , he can kind of free wheel from this point. But now I have a goal for this year. It's a long shot but it would be great if Peter could somehow make the President's Cup team that will play at Royal Montreal in September. He will probably have to win a least a tournament to get on make the team on points. Another option is to be a captain's pick. That means in the weeks leading up to the President's Cup he will have to play some really good, consistent golf. The International team's captain, Gary Player, picked Peter to be on the last team and he didn't let Player down. The two times Peter has played on the team he has not lost a singles match. That's a nice record to have. Imagine if he can somehow get on that team. To caddy in an event of that magnitude close to my hometown would be awesome to say the least. In the meantime, we'll grind away. Or as Peter and I tell each other on the course from time to time, "Keep throwing punches."
Ponte Vedra, Fla. Sunday 5-13-07 Well, it's 95 minutes before the biggest day of my caddying career. I'm kind of nervous but I know what I have to do out on the course today. It's really exciting. After yesterday's round, I had a number of calls, emails and text messages from family and friends. I've always said that I'm glad other people are having fun with this whole experience as well and I want to thank everyone for the support and words of encouragement.. It's pretty quiet around the caddy area right now. Only the caddies for the last few groups are around. As I was walking from the parking lot to the clubhouse earlier on, I found it to be somewhat eerie. There was no one around the lot as I was walking in. There are a number of groups that have finished and we haven't even teed off yet. Not a situation I'm really familiar with. I've had a chance to be in the hunt with a couple of guys at times in the past but this is a big one. All victories are career changing but The Players would rank right up there near the majors. But the bottom line is Peter just has to go out there and play against the course. I thought our focus was really good yesterday. I very rarely found myself looking at a scoreboard. We had a job to do and we grinded away. As I said, we have to play the course and not worry about anyone else. Peter and Scott against TPC Sawgrass. Weather permitting, by 7:00 pm today, we'll know where we stand. The double eagle on #2 yesterday was crazy. To hit a golf ball 233 yards with a 5 iron and have it roll into a hole 3 1/2 inches wide is nuts. It was great to listen to the crowd's rumble build into a roar as the ball went in. We couldn't see what was happening after the ball bounced the first time but the gallery let us know. As we were walking up to the green Peter said, "I don't know what to do." I told him to give them a wave and dig his ball out of the hole. As he walked to the hole the crowd gave him a good round of applause and cheers and a standing ovation as he took the ball out and gave it a kiss. Peter just showed up. Gotta run. Enjoy!
Ponte Vedra, Fla. Thursday 5-10-07 If shooting -3 in Thursday's opening round of The Player's doesn't get me motivated to write, I don't know what will. Yesterday was one of the most thorough rounds of golf I have had a chance to be a part of. Peter's ball striking was almost flawless and he managed to hole a few putts to put himself in good position going into today's 2nd round. We have a good pairing this week with Masters champ Zach Johnson and winner of this year's event at Hilton Head, Boo Weekly. It's hard not to think ahead but there is a ton of golf yet to be played here this week. The weather is touch and go but we managed to get our round in yesterday even though they were calling for scattered thundershowers. There could be some rain this weekend as well. Yesterday's round started out rough with a bogey on #1. The hole has been lengthened by 30 yards and was also playing into a 30 mile per hour wind. It's funny. Some rounds start out with a bogey and you have a good round and some rounds start off with a birdie and the end result isn't always good. Last week at Wachovia, Peter birdied the first hole, was -3 through 15 hole and was in 4th place. By the the time we walked off #18 30 minutes later we were at plus 1. We ended up missing the cut by a few shots. What I'm getting at is that when the round starts off with a bogey a player will really focus or it could be a long day. When it starts with a birdie it seems things might come easy. Nothing is easy out here, especially at this course. This week the caddies got to hit a shot on the island green #17 on Wednesday. Even though we didn't play a practice round that day because of a great short game practice session, Peter told me to grab a couple of clubs and head out to 17 to hit my shot. I took a 7 and 8 iron for the 142 yard shot. When I got out to the tee the only player out there was former US Open champ, Tom Lehman. I don't get as nervous as I used to but this guy was also the Ryder Cup captain so my palms were sweaty to say the least. I hit first. I hit a 7 iron since the wind was into us. I hit it a bit thin but it still managed to land on the front of the green. It was tracking towards the hole like a putt. When it stopped, it looked like it was 3 or 4 feet from the hole. It ended up being 6' 1". The winner was 5'4". I'll take 2nd place against all of these other caddies any day. A very memorable experience indeed. Even Lehman was impressed. By the way, I lipped out the birdie putt. I'm sitting in the caddy lounge using the wireless hook up and have to get the bag ready for today. We're off in 90 minutes. I will do my best to have an update soon.
Placentia, Ca. 4-5-07
I'm sitting at home in California watching
the Masters on TV. Hearing
the commentators talk about how wonderful a place Augusta is makes me
appreciate even more, how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to
caddy in that event, even if it was only one time. I would love to go
back and caddy in the Masters for years to come but I would have no
problem with going there to caddy only once in my caddy career. I mean,
as I watch this on TV I can see the huge galleries that line the
fairways. I remember looking at the crowds from the fairways when I
caddied there and thinking that the experience seemed surreal, almost
dreamlike.
Like a lot of golf fans everywhere, I remember getting together to watch
the tournament on TV with a few guys every year. I never imagined that
I would be one of the caddies in the Masters some day. Never. It may
sound weird but there are a lot of veteran caddies that are tired of
going there for the week. I still don't understand why they feel that
way. It can be an expensive week to stay, traffic is really bad because
Augusta is such a small town and the people who run Augusta are
somewhat stuffy. On top of that, it can be a long week. Some players
come in early and they will play and practice quite a bit. I know a
caddy (whose name I won't mention) who was on the bag for a victory at
Augusta and he can't stand going there. Personally, I'll never really
understand why some guys feel that way.
I know one caddy this week who has waited almost a lifetime to have the
opportunity to fulfill his dream to caddy in the Masters some day. Back
in the late 90's when I caddied on the Nike Tour, I became friends with
a guy named Jody Keepers who is from Augusta. At the time, he caddied
for a player named Sam Randolph. Sam had once played on the PGA Tour
but at that point of his career he was on the Nike Tour after losing
his card. Sam was once the low amateur at the Masters which is a huge
accomplishment for a young player. Jody caddied for Sam for a number of
years and was making no money. But he was loyal and stayed with him.
Jody grew up in Augusta but didn't caddy at Augusta National for
members until he was in his 20's. He was one of the first, if not the
first, white caddy at the National. At one time all the caddies were
black that caddied there. When the Masters was being played, the tour
players couldn't bring their own caddies. They had to use one of the
local black caddies. When that rule changed years ago, Jody started
caddying at the National.
Jody had been going to the Masters for his whole life, literally. There
have been Masters tickets in his family for years. They are now an
almost impossible ticket to get. That's unless money isn't an object.
Growing up, Jody was and still is a huge Jack Nicklaus fan. Every year,
he would follow Nicklaus for every hole, every day. A few years ago,
Steve Tutt and I were lucky enough to go to the Masters for the first
time. While in Augusta, Jody put us up at his place. On Friday evening
after Nicklaus had missed the cut, a few guys got together at Jody's
place. I remember Jody crying knowing he wasn't going to get to see
Jack play on the weekend.
For the last 3 or 4 years Jody has been caddying on the LPGA Tour and
working at the National in the off season. While working at Augusta a
few weeks ago, he was asked if he would caddy for an amateur player
that was in town who had been invited to play at the Masters. He was in
town a few weeks before the tournament for some practice rounds seeing
as though he had never played there. He also didn't have a caddy and
wanted to try a few Augusta caddies to see if he could find a good one
for his Masters week. Well, after trying 5 or 6 caddies, Jody was given
a chance at the job. After their round, the kid took Jody's phone
number and said he would call if he wanted him to caddy at the Masters.
Three weeks before the tournament he got the call. He got the job for
the week. For someone who grew up in Augusta and had gone to the
tournament his whole life, it was a dream come true. I'm really looking
forward to talking to him about this week.