By Bill Kwon
Winning the same tournament in consecutive years is nothing new for Brad Faxon, though he would like nothing better than to do it again at next week’s Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club.
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| “Playing in the Mercedes, a tournament with only 30 to 35 guys, means I’ve done something right,” says defending Sony champion Brad Faxon.
Advertiser library photo • Jan. 21, 2001 |
But first, there is a matter of a little business — and pleasure — to take care of at the Mercedes Championships starting today at Kapalua’s par-73 Plantation Course.
For Faxon, there is no better way to start the PGA Tour season than playing in Hawai‘i in the winners-only tournament at Kapalua and then the first full-field event of 2002 at Waialae.
“Playing in the Mercedes, a tournament with only 30 to 35 guys, means I’ve done something right,” said Faxon, who arrived Saturday with his three daughters from a previous marriage for a little relaxation on Maui as well.
His wife, Dory, is back home in Rhode Island, expecting their first child at the end of this month.
What Faxon did right was winning the Sony Open with a record 20-under par 260 last year to earn a ticket to the Mercedes Championships for the third straight year.
It’s a tough ticket to get. Just ask Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Tom Lehman, among the notables who didn’t win a PGA tournament in 2001 to be eligible for the 72-hole event which has a $4 million purse for the 32 players. Only Phil Mickelson and 38-year-old Argentine rookie Jose Coceres, who each won twice in 2001, aren’t here.
The elite Mercedes field includes player-of-the-year Tiger Woods, the three other major champions — David Duval (British Open), Retief Goosen (U.S. Open) and David Toms (PGA Championship) — as well as defending champion Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia, who’s making his first appearance in Hawai‘i.
The young Spaniard will also stick around for the Sony Open along with Furyk and Toms.
Those are the guys who figure to make the headlines this week. But don’t count out Faxon, particularly if his showing in the Sony Open last year is any indication.
“My score last year even surprised myself,” said Faxon, a wire-to-wire winner after staring down Els and Lehman in the last group on the final day to win by four strokes and pocket the biggest paycheck ($720,000) of his career. “To shoot 20-under for a par-70 was really something.”
Faxon, one of the tour’s leading putters, didn’t just do it on the greens. He also posted four eagles, matching his entire 2000 output, in playing the par-5 holes 11-under-par. That feat is even more remarkable, considering the course has only two par-5s.
That led Lehman to remark, “He’s hitting it longer. It’s got to be 20 yards further.”
So here’s a trivia question that might surprise people and earn you a beer at some bar:
Who finished second to Mickelson with the most eagles on the PGA Tour last year? No, it wasn’t Tiger, who finished sixth. It was Faxon.
“I’m 40 and it’s hard at my age to improve. But I’ve set some pretty high goals for this year,” he said. “For one, I’d love to start off the year like I did in 2001. It was as well as I’ve ever played. It was a little disappointing that I couldn’t keep it going, especially at the end of the year.”
Playing consistent golf throughout the year is yet another goal.
“That makes you appreciate a guy like Tiger. It’s hard to do and he does it at a high level. He is unbelievable,” Faxon said.
Obviously, winning a major is another of his goals.
“I think about it all the time. I don’t think my career will be empty for not winning a major. But everybody remembers those guys who win a major,” said Faxon, whose best showing in a major was a tie for fifth in the 1995 PGA Championship at Riviera.
That’s why he’ll go the extra mile to play in a major as he did in trying to qualify for the British Open in 2000 instead of committing to the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y., as its defending champion. He failed to qualify for the British, but rushed back to the states in time to win the B.C. Open for the second year in a row.
“It’s a great tournament. Too bad it conflicts with the British Open,” said Faxon, who passed up the chance to make it a rare three-peat in Endicott by playing in the 2001 British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
So he would like to make it back-to-back in the Sony Open after this week on Maui with Tiger and the boys.
