Sidelines
Kid stayed in the picture
until Els’ 43-foot putt
knocked him outIT stopped at the lip. The ball did. The tournament did, and the playoff. The kid's magnificent run did. It all stopped at the lip, and the kid fell to his knees. He'd had his last miracle.
The kid kept coming back. He kept hanging in there, fighting, out of the sand, out of trouble. Pitching. Putting. Another miracle. Another thrill, and then another one, and what a finish this would be. The great champion Ernie Els trying to stay ahead of the free-swinging kid in purple Rodney Dangerfield pants.
"He's young and he's full of confidence and he's got so much talent he just stuck in there," Els said.
"He made great putts and great saves and I just couldn't shake him," the champion said.
Yes, Els finally won yesterday, at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He did it, he finally did shake 21-year-old Aaron Baddeley at the end of the second playoff hole. He did it by standing over a 43-foot putt and sinking it, and even then, there was no jubilation. The look on his face was pure relief. He would play on, play still. For another hole, at least, he'd staved off the kid.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Aaron Baddeley shook his fist after sinking a 10-foot putt on No. 18 yesterday to force a playoff with Ernie Els.
He didn't know yet that Baddeley would be a quarter-roll short on a 20-foot prayer of a putt, no miracles left. Els expected to keep playing. Everyone there thought it would go into the night.
The kid had been so tough. He played as if he were allergic to fairways. He couldn't hit them. He couldn't buy one. He was all over the course, and off it, and it soon cost him his opening two-stroke lead. But all he did was recover. All he did was stay with Els, one of the game's greats.
All he did was never go away.
"I was a little bit nervous," Baddeley said, "more down the stretch, yeah."
But he had ice in his veins at 18, down by a stroke. This was the tournament. Baddeley had a 10-foot putt to stay alive. Everything was still, so still. Everyone's breath sucked in. And then the kid nailed it. Playoff.
They rode back in twin golf carts to do it all over again now, back to the beginning of the hole, champions on chariots. And the people cheered them all the way back to the tee. This was too good to stop now.
Replaying 18, they were both in the bunker again. And then the kid was in the rough again. But he responded with a great chip, what a great chip. And the playoff would play on.
"This is what it's all about, isn't it?" Els said later.
It is when we're lucky.
It was, as Els said, one of those days when "Nobody wants to give up anything."
The people loved it, especially when Baddeley responded, somehow coming alive when all was silent and still and the only sound was the rustle of leaves and whisper of wind.
But Els was so steady. He hit his fairways. And greens. And he played the role of the composed champion, the guy who put all the pressure on the challenger.
At last it was Els' turn for something spectacular, that 43-foot putt. "I don't think he was supposed to hole that putt," Baddeley said.
He wasn't. They should have kept playing. They should be out there still.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com
