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You are in: Special Events: 2001: USPGA |
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Monday, 20 August, 2001, 03:46 GMT 04:46 UK
Toms: Reluctant hero
Toms has earned a place on the US Ryder Cup team
Little-known David Toms was thrown into the spotlight on Sunday, after sinking a 10-foot putt that won him the 38th PGA Championship.
Put under constant pressure by high-profile playing partner, Phil Mickelson, the 34-year-old held his nerve on the 18th green of the Atlanta Athletic Club to win the final Major of 2001. "I'm shocked that it's happened to me but I am proud of the way that I hung in there," Toms, a Louisiana native, said afterwards.
But he admitted that it was hard to keep his composure during a gripping final round.
"I hate to say this but I was shaking so bad," he said of his state-of-mind after missing a short par-putt at the 10th. "I was trying to breathe. I mean, I didn't have two-and-a-half feet to the hole. I didn't hit the hole and I said, 'Oh No'." His defining moment came on the 18th fairway, however. A reasonable drive had left him with a 209-yard shot from light rough and over water to reach the green. As the crowd bayed for him to attack the pin, Toms had to make an important decision. "You weigh your options - I have said all week I would not be afraid to lay that ball up if I did not have what I though was a good shot to get on.
Resisting the pressure of the fans, many of them Mickelson supporters, he laid up short of the water and still made par in a show of amazing control and self-belief. "The crowd was oohing and ahhing and moaning 'Just like you, wimp'. I just had to put it out of mind and hit two good shots and make a good putt and I did that." His choice to lay up was praised by Mickelson. "He made a great play. That was a very intelligent play. It played right to his strength. He's a very good sand wedge player." Toms will now join Mickelson on the US Ryder Cup team and says he is looking forward to that honour and to sharing a competitive experience with his peers. "I wanted to make the team but I wanted to earn it.
"It is something I really wanted to do, to represent my country. But I think it will be neat to get to know those other players in a different way."
"You get to be a little closer to them, find out what they are all about." The Ryder Cup will bring its share of media attention, but Toms does not appear keen to adopt the lifestyle of the next superstar of US golf. "I like it this way. I don't know how well I would do if I were in Duval's shoes or Tiger's or Mickelson's. "I've had an absolute blast all week but I'm glad it's over." Early years Toms has laboured hard since turning professional in 1989. In 1991, the year Mickelson won the Tucson Open as an amateur, Toms was playing on the Asian Tour. "I don't ever want to do that again," Toms said of that spell abroad. "But that was a good experience for me, though, because it made me appreciate what I had over here and I knew I wanted to play on the PGA Tour." In 1994, Toms reached a low point, failing to keep his tour card and having to play the then-Nike Tour. Two years later, he was back on the top US circuit and began a steady improvement that has culminated in his first Major triumph. |
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