WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — It was Championship Sunday at the Greenbrier, where Tiger teed off early and seemingly everybody else loomed within two shots of the lead.
We blogged throughout the afternoon, taking only momentary breaks to stuff our faces with dishes from “America’s Tastiest Resort.” A recap of the happenings:
MORE: Greenbrier headquarters
8:10 a.m. Will MacKenzie, today’s second-most popular golfer from Jupiter, Fla., and Louis Oosthuizen composed the first pairing of the morning. I’m not even sure the course officials were here at that point, but we’ll assume everything went well.
8:46 a.m. Paul Casey begins his final round. A week ago he lost a playoff to Bubba Watson at the Travelers. He’s nine shots back with 60-something golfers between him and the lead, so at least Casey has no reason to fear “playoff anxiety” today. Swing easy, Paul. Swing easy.
9:04 a.m. MetroNews photographer Matt Sunday notices a direct message from Maverick McNealy requesting a few of the photos that have appeared on our website this week. Matt, who has been raving incessantly about McNealy “being the future of golf” and “a bona fide presidential candidate in 2046,” happily obliges. I warn him, however, to make sure Mav doesn’t interject some type of Foo Fighters clause.
9:30-ish a.m. The shuttle ride from the media lot also transports caddies, which leads to a few interesting stories from time to time. On this morning’s ride, a guy from New Zealand asks the caddie for South Korean golfer S.J. Park, “Is your guy a Kiwi?” The questioner heard Park interviewed for the first time Saturday: “I don’t have any idea what he said because I was spellbound by the accent.” Turns out Park moved to New Zealand for few years and doesn’t sound anything like you’d expect:
9:44 a.m. The clubhouse has blintzes … CHEESE-FILLED BLINTZES!!! With strawberry sauce for good measure. I make plans to loosen my belt by a notch, maybe two.
9:48 a.m. Back to the buffet for more blintzes. They are life-changing. Wars are fought over this kind of food. The clubhouse kitchen has served up marvelous breakfast fare all week—stuffed French toast, sweet potato pancakes with pistachio butter, a litany of sausages, primo omelettes, biscuits with tasso gravy and Matt says “don’t forget the bacon that’s perfectly crispy on the edges but still chewy like jerky.” All those were stellar, better than any breakfast I deserve. These blintzes, though, they make me say grace with extra oomph.
10 a.m-noon Blintz coma.
11:37 a.m. Still in my food fog, I miss second-round leader Scott Langley stringing together three consecutive birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 6. The guy pooped his pants shooting 74 on Saturday, but he’s back with a vengeance in the money round. He weighs 155 pounds, or at least he did pre-blintzes.
1:19 p.m. Tiger wraps up a final-round 67 and finishes the Greenbrier at 7 under. It’s the first time he played bogey-free in 55 rounds, dating back to the 2013 Barclays. Does this mean he’ll win at St. Andrew’s in two weeks, or like Ghostbusters fans, are we pining for greatness that shall never return? Here’s a golf writer’s take:
Speaking of The Open: Gotta believe his performance will rival that of Masters, not U.S. Open. Might not contend, but won’t be embarrassed.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) July 5, 2015
1:46 p.m. Tiger made scoring strides this week, but insists this wasn’t a turning point. “No, I started to get my game back at Memorial when I shifted the baseline. I shot those numbers, but people don’t really understand that. People who are close to me or people who have actually gone through swing changes understand that.”
1:48 p.m. Tiger on handling the constant scrutiny he’s under: “Well, one, you don’t go online, so I stay away from that.” THat leads to a lot of questions:
— Are his 4.5 million Twitter followers complete suckers?
— Does he know about Spotify?
— Who reads him all the baseball scores?
MORE: Watch Tiger’s Sunday interview
2:11 p.m. I jinxed the Langley kid. He bogeyed No. 17 and fell back to 10-under.
2:25 p.m. Almost four hours have passed since my last ginormous meal, so I’m famished. Good thing there’s pecan-crusted brook trout, smoked tomato grits and upside-down blueberry cake in the clubhouse.
3:04 p.m. 26-year-old Russell Henley drops five back-nine birdies, shoots 63 on the par-70 Old White, and quickly ascends to the lead. Maybe he’ll need to hang around for the 7 p.m. trophy presentation, but he doesn’t sound confident. “I don’t think I’m going to have to wait around long. The greens are great, and it’s warm. Ball is going a long way. I feel like the guys in the last couple groups … I would imagine they’d make some birdies coming in. It’s at least nice to be on top for a second.”
3:05 p.m. If Henley wins this event, he’ll be more surprised than anyone. “No, I don’t think 12 (under) will be enough,” he said. Asked if it might land him in a playoff, Henley said, “I don’t.”
3:48 p.m. Robert Streb is 11 under through 12 holes. Robert Streb is one shot back of the lead. Robert Streb is putting with a wedge.
3:58 p.m. “WedgeWatch 2015” is in full stride. Streb just used a 60-degree wedge to bottom a 26-foot birdie putt on No. 13. He’s tied for first. … A tournament official just clarified that Streb “kind of tossed his putter back toward his caddie on the 9th green, and that’s where it broke.” His putter has been ruled out for the rest of today, and we’ll await an MRI.
4:02 p.m. We’re hoping to interview Streb’s estranged putter, but PGA is afraid it might show more personality than some of the players.
4:04 p.m. Kevin Kisner birdies No. 17 from 15 feet away. He’s your new leader at 13 under. (He’s also a Georgia grad, just like Henley, if you’re wondering why those drunken frat boys are chanting “S-E-C!”)
MORE: Sunday’s photo gallery
4:15 p.m. Every time CBS does a live interview with Jim Justice, you can sense Jim Nantz thinking, “What the hell is he about to say?”
4:17 p.m. Justice was cool and the interview was benign—Big Jim is running for governor, after all.
4:20 p.m. CBS replayed some Shaq highlights from Wednesday’s pro-am. Can’t wait to see O’Neal join Golf Pro Emeritus Lee Trevino as the Greenbrier’s “Golf Pro Hilarious.”
4:25 p.m. After today’s final-round 64, it’s clearly time to Kisner-proof the Old White.
4:34 p.m. Math question: Will there be more golfers in today’s playoff or women once known as Mrs. Billy Joel?
4:35 p.m. And if the playoff stretches until Monday, will the Greenbrier cook up another breakfast?
4:44 p.m. Streb’s putting wedge betrays him on No. 17, leading to a bogey and near-depression in the press center. Haven’t heard groans this bad since watching “The Human Centipede.”
4:54 p.m. Never fear, Streb manned up on 18 and sank a 7-foot birdie putt (wedge). He joins Kisner in the clubhouse at 13 under. LET NO ONE DOUBT THIS MAN’S ABILITY TO ADAPT UNDER PRESSURE!!
5:26 p.m. Danny Lee heads to the 18th par-3 in a four-way tie and knocks his tee shot within 15 feet. Lee goes unconventional by using a putter (scoff!) and leaves it short. He taps in to join the potential playoff bunch.
5:31 p.m. David Hearn strolls to the 18th green with a chance to negate all this playoff hubbub, but his 12-foot, 3-inch putt only travels 12-2. So Hearn joins the four-way extra session.
5:48 p.m. They’ll begin playoff on No. 18 but you can forget those hole-in-one $1,000 dreams. The cash promotion only extended through 72 holes, per insurance stipulation.
5:50 p.m. The four golfers earning a British Open invite are Lee, Hearn, James Hahn and Greg Owen. Check your passports, fellas, and start warming your beer!
5:52 p.m. After a flurry of tweets, the Greenbrier announces the $1,000 hole-in-one promotion LIVES ON. You can always count on those insurance adjustors to make charitable decisions.
6:02 p.m. After Streb and Kisner miss the green on 18, Lee and Hearn advance with clutch birdie putts. Next up: the par-5 17th, and they’ll do it with Greenbrier County under a storm warning.
6:12 p.m. Hearn and Lee hooked their drives way left on No. 17, but Hearn’s second shot caught the incline of the bunker rough. I’m not saying it’s an impossible lie, but Kareem had a better chance of landing the 737 in “Airplane!” than Hearns has of doing much here.
6:22 p.m. Hearn flew the green and missed a do-or-die chip for par before Lee tapped in FOR THE WIN! The 2015 Greenbrier Classic, after 74 holes, ended just as flash-flood warnings took effect.