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 Steve Flesch showed a veteran's cool with a wise layup on the 72nd hole at New Orleans, leading to the par that keyed his first Tour win
By Wayne DeFrancesco
Tour players are driven by one thing -- winning -- and those who haven't won are obsessed by the gaping hole on their résumés. Many winless pros come undone when they get in contention because they try too hard to force the action. Heading into last week's HP Classic, Steve Flesch had gone without a Tour victory in 14 pro seasons, but on Sunday the 35-year-old lefty prevailed thanks to his tremendous poise. Only a shot off the lead at English Turn's 18th tee, Flesch was playing for birdie and the win, but he drove into a fairway bunker at the 471-yard par-4, his ball coming to rest near a tall lip. This was the moment of truth: Would Flesch make a reckless play and blow himself out of the tournament? Would he let his mind wander back to an agonizing miss of a long birdie putt at 17? Would he be haunted by all those years of futility on mini-tours from India to Indiana? Flesch answered with a resounding no by smartly laying up with a five-iron (above) and then knocking an 80-yard lob wedge to seven feet. He drilled the par putt, and then, after Bob Estes forced a playoff, Flesch hit two clutch shots on the first playoff hole and buried a career-defining 35-footer for birdie to clinch the first of what I predict will be several victories.
Wayne DeFrancesco, the 2001 National Club Pro champ, teaches at Woodholme Country Club in Baltimore and is one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers. Issue date: May 12, 2003
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Courtesy of CBS
