Monday, September 18, 2000
Green wins Kroger with late charge
Overtakes Nelson with birdie on 18
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — On a dazzling Sunday, Hubert Green had a dazzling birdie on the par-5 18th hole to win the Kroger Senior Classic by one stroke over Larry Nelson.
The gallery got what it came for: The suspense of a tour event coming down to the last shot.
Never mind that Green shot a 64 to come from two shots behind to win.
Crunch time came in the middle of the 18th fairway.
Green, a 19-time win ner on the PGA tour and two-time major winner, stood over his 5-wood shot that was 206 yards from the hole, much of it over water. He fought a fear more common to everyday hackers than touring pros — the fear of hitting it in the water.
“I've always had trouble going at that green from a downhill lie,” he said. “I'm not a real good fairway-wood player, and with that water in front, I knew I could top that shot into that water in a heartbeat.”
Adding to the pressure was that he had to hit before Nelson, who was contemplating a much-easier 5-iron shot.
The crowd, which lined the gallery ropes five- and 10-deep, did not know what Green was thinking. He looked downright cool and composed in his gray Panama hat, despite a light, swirling wind.
The wood he was swinging had an 18-degree loft — a cross, he figures, between a 2-iron and 7-wood.
So, what was he thinking when the club hit the ball?
“Hooray, I'm over the water!” he said.
“I'm telling you, I've topped more shots into the water with fairway woods than you can imagine,” he said.
The ball landed on the front edge of the green, skittered across the firm putting surface, and came to rest in the fringe beyond. Nelson hit his 5-iron to almost the same exact place, barely five feet left and a foot closer to the green, which meant Green had to hit first.
He hit a low 8-iron shot that rolled four feet short of the cup.
Which was the better shot — the 5-wood or the 8-iron chip?
“The chip was better,” he said. “That was a finesse shot. The wood shot, I was just trying to hit it hard and not top it.”
Nelson hit an even better shot, leaving himself a tap-in. That left Green facing his tricky 4-footer for victory.
“Larry's chip broke hard, Gil's (Morgan) broke hard and I knew my putt was going to break more than it looked and I had to play it at the top of the hole and put a good stroke on it,” Green said.
that's what he did.
Green, a diabetic, has been giving himself insulin shots for the past eight years. But this was the first time he'd ever given himself one during the tournament (right after the 12th hole). He birdied 14 and 15, before bogeying 16 and 17.
Green began the day two strokes back, and clearly felt like the underdog to Nelson and Morgan, who both have had better senior careers.
“But I knew when I shot five-under par the first nine (30), that I had a chance to make a game of it,” said Green, who is in the top ten on the senior tour's money list with over $1 million earned.
The crowd on the 18th hole was about 15,000. For the week, including the pro-am's, it totalled about 100,000, tournament officials said.
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