by Jeff Skinner
Robert Garrigus was standing on the eighteenth tee with a three shot lead at The St. Jude Classic. He must have been thinking, at least for a second, how his life was about to change. The fifth year player on The PGA Tour had only eight top ten finishes in 118 events and never placed higher than third. A win would change his life. He would go from the “have nots” to the “haves” as in a two year exemption on the tour, passes into the majors and a million dollar check. That’s enough to test the concentration of any player. He made his worst swing of the day and soaked his tee ball. His second shot was no better as he hit it fat into the trees. A triple bogey left him tied with Lee Westwood and Robert Karlsson they and headed into a playoff.
He lost the tournament on the eighteenth twice as he was knocked out of the playoff on the first hole, his Waterloo the eighteenth again. If you don’t feel for Garrigus you don’t have a heart.
Lee Westwood went on to win and his game looks sharp going into the U.S Open but I’m afraid he may have doomed his chances. Who wins the week before a major and then wins the major? Who does he think he is? Phil Mickelson in 2006, when he won the week before he won The Masters. Or maybe he thinks he’s Tiger in 2007 when he took the PGA after he won the WGC the week before. We’ll see if Westwood has anything left in his tank as he tries to win his first major this week at Pebble Beach.
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