For the last 50 years, the Buick Open has been a staple on the PGA Tour. Held in Grand Blanc, Michigan
the Buick Open is considered one of the favorites by the players because of the rowdy atmosphere that surrounds Warwick Hills Country Club.
Sadly, the people here in Michigan have gotten the worst of our economic recession which has forced the PGA Tour to announce that this will be the final year of the Buick Open.
Nevertheless, the game's greatest player, Tiger Woods, decided to enter the field in search of his third Buick Open title. Without Tiger the field this week would have been a below average one, but with him everything changes.
Coming into today, Tiger was in the lead by one shot which usually means certain victory for him. In 36 tournaments in which he has the lead going into the final round, he's 35-1 in his career. So it wasn't a stretch to say Tiger would win his 69th career tournament today against a much weaker field.
Today, I was assigned to assist CBS announcer David Feherty on the course which is different than my usual duties of spotting a group. Basically, my job was to shadow Feherty around the course with a portable tv monitor so that he could announce from anywhere while watching the broadcast.
Walking with Feherty reminded me of how popular he is on the PGA Tour because of his unique comedic analysis of the golf he watches. At any given moment he'll stop to entertain the gallery by signing autographs or simply by making a smart comment of which is usually hilarious.
On this day, we were assigned the last group of Michael Letzig and Tiger Woods. We caught up to the group just as we went on the air at 3 p.m. and immediately made our way into the fairway to watch Tiger. If you've never been out to watch Tiger you need to realize that when he's in the lead on the course, every fan out there wants to follow him. So for me to get the chance to walk with David Feherty down the middle of the fairway and bypass the thousands of golf fans outside of the ropes was incredible.
When the group would finish a hole we walked through a rope-line of people screaming and reaching for Tiger- so I occasionally high-fived several of them on my way sit in front of the tee box to watch the drives. After the drives I would follow Feherty down the fairway as he would chat with Tiger or Letzig. Several times it would be just myself, Feherty and the players walking down the middle of the fairway... which was unbelievable in itself.
At the turn Tiger had the lead by a two strokes but it felt like he was ahead by ten. His driving was erratic today but he always made up for it with his short game. Meanwhile, Letzig was faltering slowly but surely.
The interesting thing that about walking with Feherty was listening to the gallery chant his name just as much as Tiger's. Every hole some random guy would blurt out something like "Ferehty, you're the man!" To which he replied"I'm actually a woman, thank you."Those kind of quick comments made the day a blast.
As we approached the 16th green, Tiger had an eagle left to seal the tournament, but Feherty decided to walk up to the next hole. As I watched Tiger make his birdie on the green to go -20, Feherty and I walked down to arguably the rowdiest hole on the PGA Tour. He wanted to get up in the stands to interview the raucous crowd that awaited. Thousands of screaming fans gathered to watch the final group play the Par 3 17th.
As the two some approached the tee, the stands were literally shaking due to the fans throwing themselves around and chanting "let's go Tiger"or "save the Buick!" It felt like a college football crowd.
Both players would hit the green and walk up to the loudest ovation I've ever heard on a golf course. As Tiger tapped in for his par, he tossed his ball into the stands and tipped his cap to the deafening mob of fans.
A lot of people bash Tiger for being an athlete that is too serious during his round but this week he definitely showed the fans that he appreciated their support.
As we walked down the 18th fairway the crowd broke the rope-line to follow him to the green. He tipped his cap as they applauded him and cheered as if to say "Thanks for coming Tiger!"
I was standing about 10 feet from the hole when he walked up and tapped in his par to secure the 69th PGA Tour victory of his career. After raising his hands in exaltation, he threw his ball 50 yards behind him into 18 fairway where a riot ensued as the ball landed in the crowd.
Not a bad way to bid farewell to the Buick...
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