Nothing came easily for Bart Bryant until he turned the Tour Championship into a Sunday afternoon stroll among the magnificent colors of autumn at East Lake in Atlanta.
During his vagabond years of bouncing between Q-school and mini-tours, he used to lie awake at night and wonder if he should find a better way to support his family. When he did play well, he took himself out of contention because he was afraid to fail.
But when he tapped in a par putt to finish off a wire-to-wire, record-setting victory at the Tour Championship, the 42-year-old Bryant only had to look back at four spectacular days and one incredible year to see how far he had come.
He closed with a 3-under 67 to beat Tiger Woods by six shots. His 17-under 263 broke by four shots the Tour Championship record set five years ago by Phil Mickelson.
And the $1.17 million check was more money than he earned his first 18 years on the PGA and Nationwide tours. A guy who had never finished higher than 80th on the money list ended the year with more than $3.2 million to finish ninth.
“I’m thrilled beyond description,” Bryant said. “To have struggled for as long as I did, and all of a sudden in the last 15 months to win three events, even if I hadn’t won this weekend, this would all be worth it.”
Not win? It wasn’t even close.
Bryant started the day with a three-shot lead over Retief Goosen and birdied the first two holes. The only glitch was a bogey from the rough on the 520-yard, par-4 fifth hole – the toughest at East Lake – and a 9-iron into the water on the par-3 sixth.
But he saved bogey with an 8-foot putt and steadied himself quickly.
“I felt like I was supposed to make that putt,” Bryant said. “Two years ago, I don’t think I would have believed I was supposed to make it. That may have been the biggest difference.”
Woods had three birdies in a four-hole stretch to give himself a chance, but the best he could do was a 69 to finish at 11-under 269. Woods earned $715,000 and finished his six-win, two-major year with $10.6 million.
Scott Verplank shot 69 and was third at 271.
Heath Slocum shot a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic in Madison, Miss.
With his father – former Mississippi club pro Jack Slocum – as his caddie, the younger Slocum finished at 21-under 267.
Loren Roberts (68) and Carl Pettersson (67) tied for third while Joey Snyder III, a rookie who led after three rounds, shot 70 and finished at 270.
LPGA: Annika Sorenstam birdied four of the last five holes and closed with an 8-under 64, winning the Mizuno Classic in Otsu, Japan, by three shots to become the first player in tour history to win the same tournament five straight times.
Another trophy, another milestone.
“I had the chance to do something today that nobody else has done, so of course I felt some pressure all week,” Sorenstam said. “That is what motivates me. To come here and do something like this, it’s just very gratifying.”
Jennifer Rosales closed with a 66 to finish three shots behind.
