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Out from the shadows
With one major under his name, Toms is closing in on notoriety
Posted: Saturday April 06, 2002 8:29 PM
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David Toms watches his ball drop on the par putt that sealed his one-shot win over Phil Mickelson in the 2001 PGA Championship in Duluth, Ga. Toms has been in the top 15 on the PGA Tour money list for the past three years. AP |
By David Westin
The Augusta Chronicle
David Toms still isn't a marquee player on the PGA Tour, but fewer people will scratch their heads and wonder who he is at the Masters Tournament this year.
Toms is so unassuming he might never become a household name, no matter how many tournaments he wins.
And that number is growing quickly for Toms, a 35-year-old Louisianian.
Six of his seven career victories have come since 1999. He's also been in the top 15 on the PGA Tour money list in each of the past three years, coming in third in 2001.
Only Tiger Woods won more than Toms during the 2001 season. Woods had five victories to Toms' three.
They both had the same number of major championship victories - one.
Woods, of course, won the Masters, and Toms took the final major of the season, the PGA Championship.
Since August, Toms could have won two more upper-tier tournaments. He lost sudden-death playoffs in the 2001 season-ending Tour Championship and the 2002 season opener, the Mercedes Championship.
"I don't feel like I lost either tournament," Toms said. "I didn't have a wreck down the stretch. I didn't fall into a playoff either time."
It wasn't surprising that Toms nearly won the Mercedes Championship. He has a history of being a fast starter on the tour. He followed that up with a tie for fourth place in the Sony Open the next week. He also tied for fifth in the Match Play Championship six weeks later.
"The last few years I've played well early," Toms said. "It kind of jump-starts your year and gets you confident going into springtime and, obviously, into the Masters."
The strong starts haven't carried over into the Masters, though.
After tying for sixth place in his Masters debut in 1998, Toms missed the cut in 1999 and then tied for 49th and tied for 31st the past two years.
"I haven't played well in the Masters in the last few years," Toms said. "I'd like to at least get in the hunt this year."
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Toms kisses the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the championship. He has seven career victories, six since 1999. AP |
The victory in the PGA Championship earned Toms a five-year exemption into the Masters. It also proved he could win at the highest level.
"I'd always wanted to play well in the majors, and I was finally able to win one," he said. "I think it will give me the extra confidence you need to be able to perform well in them."
In the PGA Championship, Toms used superb course management to win the tournament.
Going to the final hole of the tournament with a one-shot lead, he elected to lay up to the water-guarded green on the par-4 hole rather than go for the green in two shots. His ball was in a poor lie in the rough, 213 yards from the hole.
He then wedged his third shot to within 12 feet of the hole and made the par putt to beat Phil Mickelson by a shot.
The crowd reaction to his successful par putt was mild to say the least. Many of the fans were pulling for Mickelson to win his first major championship.
Weeks later, Toms watched a tape of the final round. When he reached the part that showed his par putt on No. 18, Toms looked closely at the gallery.
"Only about one-third of them are cheering with me," Toms said. "I thought, 'Man, did I do something wrong or what?"'
The lengthening of Augusta National Golf Club by 285 yards this year doesn't concern Toms, even though he ranked 96th in driving distance on the PGA Tour in 2001.
He proved with his victory in the PGA Championship, held at the 7,213-yard Atlanta Athletic Club, that he can win anywhere. With the changes to Augusta National, it will measure 7,270 yards.
"I don't know much about the changes to the golf course," Toms said of the Augusta National. "I've heard it's going to definitely be more difficult and longer. I'll have to wait and see how it plays into my game.
"I need to go there and play good golf," he said. "If I do that, I think I'll be in contention. That's the main thing for me - not to focus on the changes to the golf course."
If it comes down to stringing together some birdies on the back nine to win the Masters, Toms can always remember what happened there in 1998. In the final round, he shot a 7-under-par 29 to tie the tournament's back-nine record.
"It's a nine I'll remember for the rest of my life," Toms said. "I wish it hadn't gone by so fast. It's a tournament I enjoy going to every year. There is so much history there. I've watched it since I was a little kid. It's just nice to be a part of it now."
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