2006 RESULTS - ROUND 4, NOVEMBER 18
Leading The Pack: Sullivan's 64 Snatches TaylorMade Title
Chip Sullivan's last words following a Friday round that left him a distant five strokes behind leader Tom Carpenter were, "I'm excited about the final. Anything can happen."
On Saturday afternoon, long after a threat of wet weather had evaporated, Sullivan The Prognosticator made things happen with a storm of his own on the Weiskopf course at Vista Vallarta. He fired birdies at holes 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 17, and 18, and he rolled a bit of thunder, too, with an eagle at 8. And the lightning? Those two closing birdies when Carpenter was trying to mount a comeback.
"I felt great going into the round and really felt I could win," Sullivan siad. "I just wanted to play solid. I knew it would apply pressure to everyone around me on the leader board."
Sullivan had a few factors working in his favor to apply the pressure, not buckle under it. First, he has PGA Tour playing experience. In fact, he finished tied for 31st at the 2004 PGA Championship, in the process recording the lowest club professional score since 1969. Second, he had won 10 tournamnets this year. And last but not least, he had help from his teammates and wife, Kari.
"I credit all of them for keeping me loose," he said. "I tend to get a bit too serious sometimes."
In fact, that nearly happened in a stretch of holes that included a three-putt bogey at 12. But the turning point came at 14. "That hole always seems to get me," he said. "My approach found the bunker, but I got out and made a very difficult, 15-foot downhill-sidehill putt to save par."
There was no stopping the storm after that.
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FINAL SCORES - ROUND 4, NOVEMBER 18