For Mark Calcavecchia and Eric Larson, Calc's longtime friend and caddie, a second victory together was worth the 12-year wait

	With a baker's dozen worth of victories and a major, is Calc Hall of Fame material? David Walberg/SI

Golf, like life, is often a waiting game, which doesn't mean that Mark Calcavecchia, a teenager trapped in the body of a 46-year-old, has to be happy with that. On Sunday, Calcavecchia only had to wait a minute or so, but he clearly hated every agonizing second as he watched Heath Slocum prepare to hit the par putt that would determine whether Calc had won the PODS Championship or if he and Slocum would head back to the 18th tee of the demanding Copperhead course at Innisbrook to begin a playoff. Slocum's four-footer hit the cup but spun out, drawing a collective groan from the gallery and giving Calcavecchia, standing with his head down like a man facing the gallows, the 13th victory of his distinguished if erratic career. "I guess I knew I had won, but it didn't feel like it," he said later.

Earlier in the week Calcavecchia had spent 10 minutes -- eternity in the Calc time zone -- behind another customer at a Tampa-area dry cleaner. "Some lady had $200 worth of dry cleaning," he said. "She must've waited six months. It took her four trips to get it out. I was so mad I was ready to break something." And the last time Calcavecchia took his two children, 17-year-old Britney and Eric, 13, to Disney World, he sprung for special treatment. "We got the in-the-out-door pass," he says. "It's expensive but worth it. We meet a lady, we skate in the exit and get on the ride. Nice." Calc doesn't wait in lines, he says matter-of-factly. What he means is, he won't wait in them.

This is relevant because Eric Larson -- Calcavecchia's friend and caddie and the man who helped him win lucky number 13 in Palm Harbor, Fla. -- is a master of time. In fact Larson waited nearly a quarter of his life to share Sunday's big moment with Calcavecchia. It had been 12 years since Larson had been on Calcavecchia's bag during a Tour win, at the 1995 BellSouth Classic. Larson spent almost 11 of those years in prison for dealing drugs.

A man learns patience in prison. It's a necessity. Larson's father died while Eric was serving time. So did his grandmother, a great-aunt and a nephew. "Life has ups and downs," Larson says. "You move on. You don't have a choice."

During Larson's incarceration friends died too. Fellow caddies such as Bruce Edwards, Tom Watson's bagman, and Jeff (Squeeky) Medlen, who won a British Open with Nick Price and a PGA Championship with John Daly. "They were big guys when I caddied in the '90s," Larson says. "You look at other people and you realize how fortunate you are and how short life is. I'm 46 and have my health."