Norman, of course, famously blew that six-shot lead on the final day at Augusta, and now here was South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini — wearing a Norman-style black hat — threatening to blow the five-shot advantage he held at the start of Sunday’s final round.
The stakes were much lower, but Sabbatini went from up four shots with six holes to play to clinging to a one-shot lead over South Korea’s Y.E. Yang after the 15th hole.
Sabbatini has a reputation as a bit of a hothead out here on the PGA Tour, so plenty of folks had to be expecting him to complete the meltdown. Instead, Sabbatini drained an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th to give himself some much-needed breathing room.
That was enough for him to survive a 28-minute weather delay and Yang’s birdie (and near eagle blast from a greenside bunker) at the 72nd hole to squeeze out a one-shot victory.
“He was mentally in it; he showed that today,” said Jerry Kelly, who finished third, 2 shots behind. “He didn’t let his emotions get the best of him. He stayed in there, he stayed positive.”
Kelly, who calls himself a “fairly loose cannon as well,” sounded proud of Sabbatini for playing against character and finishing things off.
“It’s kind of the same [perception] they have of me,” Kelly said. “We’re so much two different people, on and off the golf course. When things aren’t going great for us out here, we’re tough on ourselves. I’ve never tried to get in the way of somebody else, but I tend to get in my own way an awful lot. I think that’s the way Rory is. He gets in his own way an awful lot and rubs some people the wrong way, but he usually has the best intentions for everybody else around him.”
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