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HUALALAI, Hawaii >> Standing on the 18th tee box on the first hole of the playoff, Hall of Fame golfers Fred Couples and Ernie Els shared a playful hug before drawing numbers to see who would hit the first drive in the waning light of Sunday’s dramatic Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
They were only five weeks removed from being on opposite sides in the Presidents Cup and now here they were in a three-way playoff with odd man out Miguel Angel Jimenez. The colorful Spaniard had just gone head-to-head with Couples for 18 holes as playing partners, and had trailed the popular senior golfer by as many as three shots on the back nine before carding three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-15 to catch Couples, who struggled a bit down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Els had already finished with a final-round 65 and all he could do was wait to see if that would be good enough to win, lose or draw an opportunity to play on. He got that wish when Jimenez left his golf ball a half a roll short of birdie for a win in regulation. He and Couples closed with rounds of 67 as all three golfers shot 14-under 202 through 54 holes.
Els and Jimenez, who came up a half a roll short again of making birdie on the first playoff hole, parred it. Couples, who now has four runner-up finishes in this winners-only tournament, didn’t. He had made huge par putts on three of the final four holes, but missed a 6-footer coming back to be the first man out.
Back up the hill to the 18th tee they went, with Els hitting a lengthy drive. But he had an awkward approach near the bunkers guarding the left side of the fairway. Jimenez hit a perfect drive to the right side of the fairway and followed it up with a hole-high approach about 12 feet from the pin. Els’ second barely made the front edge of the green, leaving him a 30-foot birdie putt that he barely missed.
But that’s all Jimenez needed. This time he hit a perfect putt, did a perfect Chi Chi Rodriguez imitation of the finishing sword and spent the next half-hour celebrating with a rich-smelling cigar and a wide smile to go with it. He had just knocked off two of the biggest names in the world of golf. It was satisfying, to say the least.
“Well, it’s nice,” Jimenez said after a lengthy trophy presentation. “Played well every year here and it’s nice to win a second time. No, no, no nerves, no nerves. You feel the tense, but no nerves. It’s lucky we were playing well the last few holes and make a few birdies to jump into 14 under par.
“I missed a birdie on my 54th hole because they move the hole,” he said, then smiled. “The second time the ball moved right at the end. But nice to have the playoff. On the last one, nice shot, second shot. Have like three-and-a-half meters for birdie and not going to be short (this time).”
Els congratulated Jimenez on the win. Had Els played the first day as well as he did the second and third rounds, he wins going away in his first PGA Tour Champions event. He chipped in for birdie on his first hole on Thursday. He dropped to 2 under with a birdie at the fourth. But then came the tough par-3 fifth, where his ball found a watery grave that led to a double bogey.
He won’t say it, but that errant shot lost this tournament en route to a ho-hum 72, some eight strokes off the pace set by three-time Hualalai winner Bernhard Langer and Woody Austin. Langer was in the thick of it on Saturday as well before finding the lava at the par-3 17th, resulting in a double-bogey, bogey finish for the talented German en route to a tie for sixth. He was looking for his 41st win on the senior tour. For Jimenez, it was his ninth victory.
For Els, it was the first time in a while that he had a chance to win. He said Friday that he has played so poorly the last three years on the regular tour that he was still finding his game. He felt nervous and a little out of place with the older generation. The South African was trying to become the 19th senior to win in his first event.
“Yeah, disappointing obviously,” Els said. “I would have loved to got it through, but I had a couple of chances. Just didn’t quite get the right speed or the right line. But all good. Congrats to Miguel.”
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