Oberholser Gets First Tour Win on ‘Home’ Course

On a course he has played dozens of times ever since he was a teenager, Arron Oberholser finally broke through and grabbed his first PGA Tour victory. The San Jose State University graduate couldn’t have written a better script as he strolled down the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach on a glorious sunny day before a cheering crowd with a five-stroke lead over his closest pursuer.
No further drama ensued as the 31-year-old made a safe par on the famous par-5. Oberholser closed with an even-par 72 for a 17-under 271 total to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and take home $972,000.
Oberholser’s tally was five strokes lower than that of Rory Sabbatini, who also shot a 72 on Sunday. Mike Weir, who shared the third-round lead with Oberholser, stumbled and closed with a 6-over 78 to fall into a tie for third with Jonathan Byrd (69).
The victory came on Oberholser’s 76th start on the PGA Tour. He became the first player since Matt Gogel in 2002 to make the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am his first Tour win. The victory was particularly pleasing since it came on a course he’s revered since childhood.
“I always watched guys growing up win the golf tournament, and the walk up 18 at Pebble Beach is unlike anything else,” he said. “Even when you’re playing here by yourself, or with a foursome, it’s still an incredible walk. But knowing that you’re the champion . . . I wish everybody could feel that way. It’s incredible.”
Oberholser said he battled with his swing throughout the final round, but managed to hold things together as the rest of field fell back. “I didn’t feel that confident in my swing,” Oberholser said. “I think Mike sensed it a little bit, that I was starting to choke on some cotton. He was doing his best to put some pressure on me.”
But Weir’s game left him. Though Weir hit many fairways, the Canadian left-hander couldn’t get up and down for pars. “My wedge game and putting was what killed me,” Weir said.
As for Oberholser, he’ll take advantage of all the perks enjoyed by a PGA Tour winner, including qualifying for a possible million-dollar payday at the Accenture Match Play Championship in La Costa on February 22-26, and an automatic entry in all of golf’s majors.

Broadhurst has Finally Made It

It has taken some time, it has, but English veteran Paul Broadhurst has finally made it into his first World Golf Championships event. He's set to make his debut tomorrow (Wednesday) in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play championship at La Costa against the No 3 seed, Retief Goosen. Both four and five years ago the 40-year-old former Ryder Cup star was fighting for his future at the European Tour qualifying school and wondering what he would do if he did not survive the ordeal. At the second attempt he managed to make it back onto the circuit, however, and now Broadhurst is part of the elite 64-man field at La Costa competing for a first prize of £745,000. He is one of 17 Europeans taking part, but the only one making his WGC debut. It is a story of triumph over adversity, but the experience did not feel very special on the journey across the Atlantic this weekend. "I left home at 11am on Saturday and got here 4pm Sunday," said the Warwickshire player, trying to shake off the effects of jet-lag. "I sat on the plane at Heathrow for four-and-three-quarter hours before they announced they were cancelling the flight because of computer problems. "I ended up going back home, but then getting up at 3.30am on Sunday to drive back to London and have another delay of one hour. "Then when we got to Los Angeles the connecting flight to San Diego was delayed for an hour as well. "Because I have not played for two weeks, the plan was to get out early and get some work done. But I did not have time to do anything Sunday and my first practice round was a bit of a shocker." There is the obvious danger that the event could be a very short one for him - what with Goosen waiting for him in Wednesday's opening round. Amazingly, apart from an unofficial event in Ireland over a decade ago, this is the first time Broadhurst has played match play since 1991. That was the year he made his one and only Ryder Cup appearance, winning both his games at Kiawah Island, and then represented England in the Dunhill Cup. He has played only a handful of tournaments in America during his career and his only two majors other than the Open, where he equalled the major record with a 63 at St Andrews in 1990, were the US Open and USPGA nine years ago. Since the trauma of dropping out off the European Tour and then having to battle to resurrect his career at it's Q-school Broadhurst has had a new lease of life. His victory in last April's Portuguese Open was his first for 10 years, he earned over £625,000 for 22nd place on the Order of Merit and with a runners-up finish to Henrik Stenson in Qatar last month his world ranking is now at what he believes is an all-time high - he is also currently in 10th place in the Ryder Cup race. If he can climb into the top 50 it will open even more doors - such as the Masters at Augusta in April It would be a brilliant achievement to earn a second Ryder Cup cap 15 years after his first, but he says: "I think you have got to be playing all the big events to have a chance really and I am not in a lot of them yet. "I have asked for an invitation to the Bay Hill Invitational (in Florida next month), but I don't know whether I will get it. "It all gets so much more complicated when you play well! When you are a bit lower down the rankings you just get the European Tour schedule and decide where you want to go." Broadhurst could have played in the USPGA last August, but the father-of-four turned it down because he had already organised a family holiday to Florida to mark his 40th birthday. Thanks to the fact he has continued to play well, though, another chance of success on the world stage has arrived this week. And Goosen or no Goosen, he is determind to make something of it.