Editor’s note: In “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) kept saying, “Who are those guys?” That line reminds me of the PGA Tour some weeks. Like last week.
IT HAS BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE my last edition of “Who Are Those Guys?” (WATG), so I guess it’s fitting to have the first ever double edition. Thank you, Ted Potter Jr. and Troy Kelly. And thank you, Greenbrier Classic, which last year also produced WATG-winner Scott Stallings.
Yesterday the Greenbrier gave us a WATG sudden-death playoff between Potter Jr. and Kelly after 54-hole leader (and U.S. Open champion) Webb Simpson made a mess of the back nine at Old White. (Webb shot a 40 that added up to a 3-over 73 and a T7 finish.)
Kelly, a 33-year-old University of Washington grad with a replaced hip and a 464th world ranking, had a chance to win the thing outright but couldn’t find a needed birdie on the final four holes. Potter, a southpaw who had missed five straight cuts coming into the week, caught Kelly by finishing eagle-birdie for a 64. Then he sipped an iced tea and sat with his girl friend while waiting for Kelly to finish. Hitting balls is overrated, especially in suffocating heat.
I thought Potter had finished off Kelly on the second playoff hole, the par-5 17th, but Troy rolled in a 20-foot par-saving putt and Potter’s four-foot birdie stab rimmed out. It turned out OK for Potter, who birdied the next hole from about the same distance for his first PGA Tour win. Both men happily collected fat checks. And both are now more recognizable to golf fans, but are still unlikely to be stopped in airports.
There was also WATG Charlie Beljan, who finished T3 and is only a household name in his own household.
Good playing, guys. You never know where this might lead. After all, a little more than a year ago Keegan Bradley was the first of my WATG bunch when he won the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Then Bradley went on to win the PGA Championship.
More ‘Who Are Those Guys?’: