Choking???

Watching the end of this year's first PGA Tour event was somewhat of a letdown as we have gotten used to seeing the guys roll in three birdies to catch the leader and go into a playoff. This time, however, after a birdie on seventeen, the eventual winner, Stuart Appleby, hooked his drive on eighteen enough that he had to play out sideways, knock his third on the front of the green, and then two-putt for a par on a hole that routinely gives up a lot of birdies. Following hip, two players, Ernie Els and Jonathan Kaye, both of whom needed birdie to tie, finished with a bogey and a par respectively. Ernie Els, the #3 ranked player in the world, hit his drive farther right than anyone all week and lost his ball. Jonathan Kay couldn't get up and down from the very front of the green for his birdie, so Appleby ended up with the win for the second year in a row.

So the question is, did these guys choke? I guess you could say they did in a way. However, the one thing to realize is that the reason these guys compete (it isn't the $$$) is that there is no feeling in the world like the feeling of being in position to hit a shot that really means something. We have all experienced this, whether it be to win a bet on 18th or to make your first birdie ever on a particular hole. Sometimes it works like you planned, sometimes it doesn't. To watch 2 of the best in the world not be able to pull it off is a bit unusual (I would have bet both of those guys would have made birdie), but sometimes it happens.

Did they choke? Yeah, I guess a bit. But, I will guarantee they both will be back and we will see them pull off the winning shot.