ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ernie Els followed his drive from the 17th tee of the Plantation Course yesterday during the final round of the Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Maui.
KAPALUA, Maui >> Rocco Mediate has close ties to two of the greatest scoring efforts in PGA Tour history. Mediate on history’s
doorstep once again
Els wins Mercedes with ease
Leaderboard dotted with graybeards
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comNot only did the Florida native finish second to Ernie Els and his record-setting 31-under-par performance at yesterday's Mercedes Championships, he also finished second to Mark Calcavecchia, who shot a 28-under 256 at the 2001 Phoenix Open. That remains the lowest scoring total in tour history. Els' effort this week is classified as the best record in relation to par.
"I think as a tour we're getting so much better,'' Mediate said. "We're so much better prepared. For us to come out as a tour, as 36 guys who play out here, play this good of golf, that means we as a whole are getting a lot better. Usually these scores are silly.''
Mediate missed a makable birdie putt on 18 that kept him from equaling the course record of 62 set by Korean K.J. Choi on Saturday. Choi finished tied for second with Mediate, but with seven holes to play, he trailed Els by only one.
"What K.J. did yesterday, I mean, what Ernie has done all week, with the exception of two swings Ernie has made (that led to double bogeys), he might have been 36-under," said Mediate, who shot 18-under over the weekend. "It is amazing. We're really, really good. We're the best at what we do in the whole world. That's the bottom line."
Weather was certainly a factor this week. Usually this time of year, the tradewinds blow hard at least for 36 rounds. But that was not the case this time. The winds stayed low and the golfers took advantage, including Mediate.
"You put us on the hardest golf course in the history of the world with no wind, we will destroy it, period," Mediate said. "We'll kill it and that's what happened here. Today was nothing, just a slight breeze."
Good indicator: Since 1986, when the Mercedes moved to the early portion of the tour schedule, all but two of the winners have finished in the top 30. The lone exceptions are Mac O'Grady (35th) in 1987 and Tom Kite (39th) in 1991. Dating back to 1953, the first year of the Tournament of Champions, the furthest any winner of this tournament has finished a season was 43rd (Art Wall in 1954).
Since 1953, 10 of the Mercedes winners have finished the season in the top spot on the money list. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson lead in that category with three wins and three No. 1 finishes. The only person to win and finish first since the tournament moved to the early portion of the schedule is Tiger Woods in 1997 and 2000.
Wide margin: The eight-stroke victory by Els was the largest on the tour since Calcavecchia's eight-stroke win at the 2001 Phoenix Open. Els still has a long way to go to catch the tournament record for largest margin of victory, which was 13 strokes by Gene Littler in 1955.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shigeki Maruyama winced on the second green of the Plantation Course after missing a putt for birdie yesterday.
Record setter: Els also shattered the course and tournament records since the Mercedes moved to Maui in 1999. That year, David Duval shot a 26-under 266 in similar weather conditions. Prior to Els' phenomenal 31-under finish this year, Duval was the only golfer to break 20-under at the Plantation Course. This year, 11 golfers managed that feat.
Attendance figures: Mercedes officials were reluctant to say what the attendance was for the week. They wanted to count yesterday's final-round crowd before releasing the numbers. Last year, the event drew 25,000 over seven days, but most folks figure that number will be a little more than half that this year. The reason? The world's top two players, Woods and Phil Mickelson, were not in the house.
Byrd man lands big: 2002 rookie of the year Jonathan Byrd finished strong yesterday with a closing 63 to finish in a tie for sixth with a four-day, 21-under 271. After three rounds, Byrd was tied for 16th at 11-under. He earned $155,000 this week.
"It was pretty special today," said Byrd, who equaled the previous record of 63 that Choi broke on Saturday with a 62. "I was telling my wife last night that my goal for today was a top five or a top 10 or something special. I just stayed relaxed. I had a lot of fun."
His 63 equaled a career low. Byrd also shot a 63 in the final round of the Buick Open, a tournament he won late last year. He and Nick Price had the best back nine for the tournament at 7-under 30. Jeff Sluman had the best front nine with a 6-under 30.
Furyk not forgotten: Jim Furyk, who has a home along the 18th hole of the Plantation Course, tied for sixth with Byrd, Texan Bob Estes and Las Vegan Chris Riley. It was the fifth consecutive time Furyk has managed a top-10 finish at Mercedes, including his victory in 2001. He is the only player to have been in this event every year since it moved to Maui.
Low scores: Out of the 144 rounds that were played this week, only nine came in over par. Despite all the sub-par rounds, only Els was able to record four rounds in the 60s. Els became only the third player to manage that since the tournament moved to Kapalua. The other two were 1999 winner Duval and 2001 champion Furyk.
There were 12 bogey-free rounds yesterday and 30 for the tournament. The scoring average for the tournament finished in the 60s for the first time at the Plantation Course. In fact, each round's scoring average was a tournament low. The final round averaged 68.333. The previous low was 70.031. It occurred last year.
The most difficult hole was No. 1. The par-4, 473-yarder yielded 12 birdies, 19 bogeys, four doubles and two triples for the tourney for a scoring average of 4.146. By contrast, during Saturday's round last year, this hole became the toughest on the PGA since the 17th hole in the final round of the 2000 British Open. Some 17 of the 32 golfers in the field bogeyed it en route to a scoring average of 4.688.
The easiest hole for the week was the par-5 fifth. It yielded 10 eagles and 96 birdies with only eight bogeys and one double for a scoring average of 4.264. The tournament scoring average was 69.160 or nearly 4-under par.
Mercedes Championships
