Elkington’s Woes Bring Bad Memories to Faxon

Brad Faxon knew firsthand what Steve Elkington was suffering through.

When Elkington let his 54-hole lead slip away Sunday in the final round of the Shearson Lehman Hutton Open at Torrey Pines, he did a rerun of what happened to Faxon a year ago.

In both cases, the golfers had 16-under-par scores of 200 after three rounds. But both failed to break par when the pressure got heavy down the stretch. Faxon, 27, from Orlando, Fla., shot a par 72 last year; Elkington, 26, from Sydney, Australia, had a 73 Sunday.

Faxon finished two threesomes ahead of Elkington Sunday, and he finished pretty well. Playing relaxed after entering the closing 18 in a sixth-place tie, he made an early run at the lead and wound up with a 68.

As Faxon stood near the 18th green and watched Elkington putt out, he recalled his own frustrating experience. Elkington had blown his big opportunity with three early bogeys in a row, and now was reduced to scrambling for consolation money.

“I remember that I bogeyed 17 (last year) when I needed a birdie,” Faxon said. “I never felt that it got away from me, because Steve Pate (the winner) got hot the last day. Nevertheless, it was frustrating.”

Adding to Elkington’s frustration Sunday was having to watch San Diego State alumnus Greg Twiggs come from two strokes back to beat him out by two. After three holes, Elkington still had a two-shot lead over Twiggs. After four, they were even. After five, he was behind for good.

Elkington did have company in his misery. Mark Wiebe, the other member of the final threesome, was even with Twiggs with nine holes to play but he squandered his last real chance by missing an 18-inch putt on 15.

Actually, Faxon’s final round Sunday also left him somewhat disappointed. After climbing within one stroke of Twiggs at the turn, he managed only one birdie the rest of the way.

As it turned out, Faxon and Elkington tied for second place with Wiebe and Escondido’s Mark O’Meara, not bad for a couple of guys who have yet to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. It was the best tour finish for each, but both talked afterward of what might have been.

As fine a rally as Faxon had made, he expressed regrets about his so-so back nine.

“I missed a lot of short putts for birdies,” he said. “I played well overall all week, but I don’t feel like I got everything out of any round.

“I knew from the leader board what Twiggs was doing today, and I was only one or two shots behind him all day. Then all of a sudden he was 18 under par and I was only 15.

“I tried to birdie the last three holes without success. It’s too bad I couldn’t at least birdie the last one, but I figured Greg would have made a birdie if he had to.”

Faxon’s failure to birdie No. 18 led to one of his more embarrassing moments, and on national television no less.

Thinking his 20-foot birdie putt was going in, Faxon turned his back to the hole in what might be termed a showboat move. As soon as he realized he had missed, he pulled his visor over his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

“When it was three or four feet from the cup, I thought sure it was in,” he said.

Elkington gave due credit to Twiggs, saying, “Greg played well throughout the tournament. He earned it.”

Still, Elkington couldn’t help but bemoan his mistakes.

“It was anybody’s tournament after about five holes,” he said. “Then I made those bogeys, and that was it. I missed two short putts, and I earned the other bogey with a bad tee shot.

“I didn’t play that badly, but if I’d played better, I could have won.”