Late Charge In Oklahoma

The final round in Oklahoma a week ago was a pretty exciting one.  I was playing in the final group, one shot back of the leader.  He stayed one ahead of me through the front nine, but then made 3 quick birdies to start the back nine, and was 4 up on me with 5 holes to play.  I then made some clutch putts on the final 5 holes in order to birdie 4 in a row and par the last hole.  It was pretty exciting to make a comeback like that in order to force a playoff.  The week was full of very long days due to weather delays, so I was ready to play aggressive and end this thing as soon as I could.  But playoffs can be as short as one hole, or can go on for hours.  Ash didn't travel out there with me, so she had to sit at home watching the internet like everyone else.  She said that she had to get up an do something to settle the nerves, so she took to cleaning our already clean house!  It's always more nerve-wrecking when you feel like you have no control!

We both parred the first two playoff holes.  The third playoff hole (#18) was playing tough, so I knew if I hit a good shot, it would put some pressure on the other guy.  Well, I wasn't able to pull it off.  I took a gamble on the shot, and it didn't pay off.  But all in all, I was very happy with how I finished the regulation part of the tournament, and 2nd place is never a terrible result.  You know how when you are watching a basketball game, and one team makes a great comeback from 20+ points down in the second half in order to force overtime, only to lose in overtime because it's obvious they ran out of gas?? That's pretty similar to what I felt like.

When I arrived home the next day, Ash had made reservations at my favorite restaurant!  What a sweetheart!

So now we are home in Orlando, with a much needed week off.  The weather is absolutely gorgeous here, with Florida Fall lurking around the corner.  We are off to Miami this weekend to play in the Qualifier for the Nationwide Tour event that is there next week.  I feel like the course suits my game very well, so I'm certainly looking forward to next week.

-Ryan