Haas wins Tour Championship with amazing lake shot

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 'All or nothing' shot closes playoffs Young talent shakes up the old guard as FedEx Cup awarded at East Lake Golf Club By John Carroll, Special to the Daily Report

(REUTERS/Tami Chappell) FedEx Cup winner Bill Haas on taking a shot from the lake: "I got an unbelievably fortunate break. My first thought was that it's playable. The lake down there is just a big bunker."

Professional golf was back in Georgia last weekend as the Tour
Championship presented by Coca-Cola took center stage again at East Lake Golf Club.

The annual PGA Tour stop in Atlanta is billed as the playoff finale to determine the winner of the $10 million FedEx Cup. The traditional field of 30 golfers consisted of tour veterans, such as Vijay Singh, David Toms, Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson, as well as a slew of young talent looking to shake up the old guard.

The tournament was played over four days, and the golfers competed in balmy and soggy conditions, jockeying daily up and down the leader board via pars, bogeys and birdies.
PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley, who won the PGA Championship in August at the Atlanta Athletic Club, led the tournament after Thursday's play by firing a 6-under 64. Australia's Adam Scott took a 1-shot lead on Friday by birdieing the tough, par-3 18th hole.

Through Saturday, fellow countryman Aaron Baddeley shared the lead with American Hunter Mahan at 9-under 201.

Entering Sunday's final round, 10 golfers were within five shots of the lead,
including two-time Tour Championship winner Mickelson, who was four strokes back. In 2009, Mickelson overcame a 4-shot deficit to win the tournament and the FedEx Cup. This year, Lefty never made a run on the final day, carding a pedestrian 1-over 71. But the two-time Masters champion did draw the biggest galleries of the week.

As the tournament unfolded on the back nine at historic East Lake, two 29-year-old former NCAA Players of the Year—Mahan and Bill Haas—finished tied at the top at 8-under 272. The golfers returned to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff to determine the champion.

After they both got up-and-down for par on the 235-yard par 3, Mahan and Haas were shuttled to the par-4 17th hole for a second playoff hole. While Mahan hit his approach shot to about 15 feet from the pin on the 470-yard hole, Haas slightly pulled his second shot and it rolled down the bank next to the green and settled half submerged in the shallow lake.

After assessing his dilemma, Haas grabbed a sand wedge, opened the clubface, put one foot in the lake, and blasted his ball like it was a routine bunker shot, spraying water everywhere. The golf ball shot up into the air, bounced on the green, spun back a little and stopped less than 3 feet from the cup.

From there, the former Wake Forest golfer knocked in his improbable par. Meanwhile, Mahan missed his birdie putt and also made par.

Riding momentum after what several golf analysts described as "the shot of the year," Haas parred the third extra hole at 18—while Mahan made bogey—and won the Tour Championship.

As a large bonus, Haas also won the FedEx Cup, pushing his total earnings to $11.44 million.

Afterward, the champion discussed his amazing lake shot on 17.

"I got an unbelievably fortunate break. My first thought was that it's playable," said Haas. "The lake down there is just a big bunker. It was all or nothing. Definitely some luck involved. I feel lucky that I was able to pull it off."

LAW FIRMS ON SITE

As usual, the legal community was well represented at the Tour Championship, which offers a great opportunity for area businesses and law firms to entertain clients and guests. The corporate village that stretched between holes 12 and 17 was full of hospitality suites and tents, and included law firms such as Alston & Bird; King & Spalding; Morris Hardwick Schneider; Bryan Cave; Arnall Golden Gregory; Ford & Harrison; Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose; The Cochran Firm; Greenberg Traurig; and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.

Alston & Bird placed an ad in the tournament program identifying its connection to former partner Bobby Jones, the legendary Atlanta golfer and only player ever to win the Grand Slam, or all four major championships, in the same year (1930). The headline in the ad read, "One Golfer and His Law Firm Continuing the Tradition of Excellence Set By Our Colleague and Partner Bobby Jones."

East Lake is where Jones grew up and the place where he developed his prodigious golf skills.

John Carroll is a Georgia-based freelance writer who writes about golf for the Daily Report. He can be reached at jkcarroll@knology.net or at (706) 332-5926.