Worth the wait

This morning, Ben Curtis walked down the 18th fairway at the Booz Allen Classic with the tournament securely in hand. He didn't get to experience the thrill of thousands of spectators standing to applaud him as he approached the green. He didn't get a roar as he sank his final putt, but it doesn't matter, he's the champion.

Well, so he didn't get a roar from the crowd, but he got a lot of whooping and hollering from me. As many of you know, I've known Ben since before I can remember. It's been quite an experience for me to see someone I've been friends with for this long living their dream, and was even more so when he won the British Open in 2003.

This tournament has been plagued with rain delays. It's the first time in 26 years a tournament has had to finish on a Tuesday and because of the late finish, no spectators were allowed on the course.

It all started on Thursday as Ben came out and fired a 9-under par 62 to take a one shot lead. It didn't stop there though, and Ben went on to shoot the next three rounds under par as well and won the tournament by 5 strokes, finishing one shot off the tournament record at 20-under par.

A gigantic congratulations go out to Ben. I know it's been tough hearing the criticism of so many people who have called him a one-hit wonder and said he just got lucky at Royal St. George's, but he proved them all wrong this week. He also managed to prove someone right...me. If you'll remember a while back I posted an entry and made a little prediction that he would win a tournament this year.

I wish I could have been up there this week, but I'll be out at more tournaments in the future and with a little luck, maybe I'll get to hear those roars as Ben walks to the green with the tournament in the bag.

Congratulations Ben! You deserve it.

Ben and his wife Candace with the trophy at the Booz Allen Classic.